Vacation Week
This was a great week. I had the first of the week to anticipate meeting Joyce and Linda in Natchitoches to have a three-day vacation and then spent the last of the week with them. Monday I waited all day for the air conditioner guy to come by and check out my A/C unit. I have the sinking feeling that the compressor is shot. Hopefully he will get here tomorrow. Of course if repairs or a new compressor is going to be too expensive, then we will have to do something else to keep cool. I have a window unit in my studio and when I was living alone I would sleep in the studio during the summer. But I hate to do that with Brian and Christy melting into two puddles in their bedroom. I guess if the cost is too much for repairs or new compressor, then I will just buy a couple of window units and put one in their bedroom and one in the living room. The rest of the house will just have to be hot. Why does everything have to be so expensive? I certainly am glad that Brian is paying for the utilities.
Tuesday was Bible Study day that was great as usual. Still no AC repairman but Christy was going to be here the rest of the week so she could let him in. I have been looking and looking for a pair of Lee Riders jeans in a dark blue but could not find my size at Wal-mart where I had gotten them before. I finally decided to go to the outlet mall over in Arcadia for they have a Lee outlet. When I got there I almost left for there were so many racks of jeans and I could not find what I wanted. I do not like shopping and especially hunting through hundreds or items. Just about the time I was going to leave empty handed, I looked up and there was a rack of Lee Riders. Found my size and tried them on. When I came out of the dressing room there was a lady straightening up merchandise and I asked her if they had any white jeans, as I was not going to look for them myself. Wonder of wonders she found a pair in my size so I left the outlet mall with a blue pair and a white pair of jeans. When I got home it was about seven o’clock but I made a call to Stage to find out when they closed. They closed at eight so I made a mad dash down to the store and found a black tee and a hot pink tee that I bought. Now I had to get home and wash my new purchases. I do not like to wear clothing until I have washed it.
I left home about noon on Wednesday and when I got to Natchitoches and did not see the Holiday Inn Express I realized that I had turned the wrong way. I stopped and asked for directions and the guy told me to turn around and go west instead of east. Another guy said, “You cannot miss it.” After driving about three miles I saw a sign that said the motel was one mile ahead on the left. You guessed it, I MISSED it. When I realized that I had definitely missed the motel, I turned around and then stopped again and asked where the motel was located. The lady told me it was behind Shoney’s and that made it easy to find. I finally got checked into the motel and Joyce and Linda arrived about twenty minutes later. Brian and Christy arrived at the motel about seven to join us for dinner. I was not finished with incorrect directions for I was thinking of the location of The Landing and we were going to Antoon’s Riverfront Restaurant. Finally found the restaurant and we had a great meal together.
We were all stuffed after our meal so Joyce, Linda, Brian, and Christy decided that they wanted to take a walk along the river. My knees will not tolerate much walking so I sat on a bench beside the sidewalk and watched the traffic and a few people walking by. Glad I did not go with them for they ended up walking about four blocks and they would have been carrying me back had I gone with them. Brian was doing the driving in Joyce’s van and of course he had to take our visitors on a drive through Natchitoches after the walk. Funny thing is that we ended up on the street where the Dairy Queen was located. So of course we had to go in and have treats. It was getting late and Brian and Christy had over an hour drive back home so he drove back to the motel and they left for home and Joyce, Linda, and I relaxed for a while and then went to bed.
Linda and Joyce are early risers so Thursday morning they were up early and went down for breakfast and left me sleeping. I finally woke up about nine thirty and found they had brought up a huge sweet roll for me. We left and drove to the Adai Indian Museum but it was closed for a meeting. The lady let us into the gift shop and gave us free passes for the next day. Of course all three of us left with a purchase. Since it was shortly after noon we decided to go to Merci Beaucoup Restaurant for lunch since they are not open for dinner. Merci Beaucoup has a very large gift shop so Joyce and Linda did some looking after lunch while I sat outside on a bench and read. We needed to go to Wal-Mart so again while they shopped I sat but this time I listened to a book on tape. By then our lunch had settled and we wanted dessert so we went to The Landing Restaurant to satisfy our sweet cravings and to check it out for dinner that night. The Landing is right on Front Street where there are many little shops so again I sat on a bench and listened to a book on tape while Joyce and Linda had a great time shopping. By late afternoon we were all tired so it was back to the motel to nap or read or just relax and wait for Brian and Christy to get there for dinner. Dinner at The Landing was delicious and after taking us back to the motel, Brian and Christy left for home for all of us were tired and wanted to go to bed.
Friday morning after breakfast we went out looking for a used bookstore that Linda had seen on Wednesday night. We found it and spend over an hour in there talking with the owner. Linda even found three books that were on her to-find list. Then it was time to meet Brian and Christy at Lucky Village Chinese Restaurant for lunch. Brian told us Thursday night that he was going to take off half a day so he and Christy could come over and spend the afternoon. After lunch we went back to the motel and Joyce showed Christy all the wedding handkerchief samples she had with her. Christy picked the one that she would like for Joyce to make for her for her wedding. I still have to pick out the one I would like to have. I do know that I want black and made of bamboo cloth. Joyce does beautiful work and I am delighted that I will finally get one of her wedding hankies.
Brian had brought his box of cards and poker chips and Joyce had Dominoes for Mexican Train so we went downstairs to one of the conference rooms to play Razz Poker and Mexican Train Dominoes. We were having a great time when a young man stuck his head in the door and asked if he could play. The room we were in had a huge window facing the lobby so anyone in the lobby could see us. He was working at the motel and looked like a college student. We told him of course but he had to go do a job and we left before he came back. The Gottreu clan and those who married into it are great game players. I was never much of a game player but over the years that I have been in the Gottreu family, I have learned to like them and have a great time. Of course I like some games more than others.
By the time we finished playing our games it was time for dinner so we decided to go to El Nopal Mexican Restaurant where we had another great meal. When Scott lived in Natchitoches, we used to eat there a lot. One thing is for sure; we all ate well for three days and nights. We called it an early night for Linda and Joyce wanted to leave early Saturday morning and wanted to get to bed fairly early.
Saturday morning, I got up early with Joyce and Linda and we said our goodbyes in the room and they headed for the elevator with all their stuff on a rolling rack. I waved to them from the window, then I called down to the front desk and asked for a wake up call at ten, and crawled back into bed. I woke up a few minutes before ten so I got up, dressed, and checked out of the motel. I had wanted to go to Shoney’s for their breakfast bar for quite some time so since I was right there at a Shoney’s I went in for breakfast. I had enough bacon and bacon grease (the bacon was almost dripping) to last me for a LONG time. I like to go there so I can have all the bacon I want. That was the first time I had been to Shoney’s in probably two years, maybe even three. With a full tummy I drove home. I was happy that I had gotten to spend three nights and two days with two of my favorite people. I hope that Joyce and Linda had as much fun as I did.
Linda Joyce
Sometime back I thought that I would stop going out to eat every Sunday after church but when I get home from church I seem to always drive to Ruston for lunch and then spend the afternoon in the library. When Don and I maarried we went out for lunch every Sunday after church and I have just kept up the habit.