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We arrived home close to 5PM last night - a long day. We stopped for a nice 'sit-down' lunch at The Apple Shed restaurant in Tehachapi. Good food and fun. The kids played with 'brain teaser' puzzles that were on the table - and we purchased one for keeps. Another well spent $6.99 + tax, as it kept H. occupied most of the trip home. The drive was pleasant enough. Thank goodness for the new car's Sirius satellite radio - we listened to comedy stations all the way home and laughed a lot. Passed the time fairly quickly. Traffic was OK - not too bad.

We made quite a few stops at Starbucks during our weekend travels and introduced staff all over CA and AZ to the new 'gold card'. Turns out the discount isn't 'automatic'. The register person has to hit a 'button' on their register in order for the 10% discount to be calculated. So now that I know that, I can ensure I get the discount, which I did not for most of the first week of having the card. Oh well. I intend to write a letter about that and already got a 'free beverage' card from our local store who couldn't figure out how to give me the discount before we left town last week.

On our way out of town on Sunday, we visited the cemetery where my mom and dad are buried. And while we were there, we also stopped in the office and located the grave sites of my dad's parents and put flowers on their graves, also. It was a 'nice' stop - the sadness isn't there anymore and it felt good to 'honor' them by making a special stop before we left town. My sister and her (new) hubby also went with us and I know they will be returning now and then - more often than we can get there - to tidy up and keep pretty flowers on the graves. I really like the cemetery - I know that sounds strange. My parents are both in the mausoleum section - and it's beautiful there. There's a trickling fountain, and they always play pretty music. Benches and chairs allow for sitting and 'visiting'. That probably sounds maudlin but it's really anything but - it feels peaceful and serene - and isn't that what you want to feel when you've lost people you love? They're not 'there' - and yet, they are. And it feels so 'right' to see their names on the tomb together - my mother, who never remarried after 30+ years of being a widow, finally with my dad. I didn't have that feeling of 'ok-ness' about it all 8 years ago when she joined him. It was a funeral and it was sad. But visiting again, it just felt 'right'. They are together...as they should be.

The boys returned to school today and J. returned to work. I am off....but looking at mountains of laundry and stuff around the house to do. I will be busy. Chloe can be picked up later this afternoon - the kennel owners aren't home this morning and I was relieved when J. told me that, knowing I don't have to rush to get her nor feel guilty for not particularly wanting to get her right this minute. The quiet is nice. Just the cats coming down for a 'hey, there's no dog here' visit with me - gently scolding me for being gone so long but rubbing against me constantly to acknowledge they forgive me. They survived, as did the bird.

The trip was great. I haven't done the math yet on what we saved by driving. I think we saved a little - but perhaps flying for the summer trip is something to consider. It was 4 days of travel time that we could spend visiting and vacationing, vs. driving. I'll have to think about it. I know we probably saved at least a few hundred dollars by driving - but I'll have to think about 'was it worth it?'. It was a lot of time in the car - and we arrived after 6-8 hours of driving each day exhausted and ready to crash. I could never drive it straight through, I don't think. I have done that - in college - but now, I don't see how it's feasible. I'll have to start budgeting for the trip in the summer so we can hopefully fly and rent a car while we're there.

OK - time to get to work. At home. I'm not checking my work email quite yet. Soon, but not yet.