Thanksgiving Day we left home sometime around 1:30 PM and drove 120 miles to Jacksonville, where we checked into the Hampton Inn on Beach Boulevard. This is where we prefer to stay when we are in town for an appointment at the Mayo Clinic.
On our first visit to Mayo, a few weeks ago we stayed at a different Hampton Inn, on Marsh Landing Parkway. I was very disappointed in everything about it. They are our hotel of choice when traveling, but this one did not meet the standards we are accustomed to. It was noisy, the people at the front desk did their job efficiently but were not the least bit friendly or welcoming, and housekeeping was lacking.
Lacking to the point that we stepped on several of these that were in the carpet in our hotel room. Some people call them stickers, some people call them sand spurs, some people call them goat heads; but whatever you call them, they hurt like hell when you step on them. When I showed them to the manager the next morning when we were checking out, she didn’t apologize, just said that apparently the people that had the room before us carried them in on their shoes. Umm, yeah, that’s why you have housekeeping clean and vacuum a room between guests.
Anyway, back to Thanksgiving. Once we were checked in and dropped our luggage off in the room, we drove a few miles to a Golden Corral for dinner. We expected the place to be busy, and we were right. There was a line out the door, but they were moving people through very quickly and it didn’t take long for us to get inside and get seated. No, it wasn’t a home-cooked meal with family and friends around, but for a buffet it was pretty good. They had a lot of selections, from turkey and ham to steak, and everything was fresh and hot.
Back at the hotel, we changed into swimwear and went down to their indoor pool and hot tub. The biggest thing I miss from our life before we became fulltime RVers is the big hot tub we had, sunken in our redwood deck behind the house. Terry and I used to go out there just about every night, even when it was snowing, and it gave my back a lot of relief. If there was any place at all to have one here, I would. We alternated between the hot tub and the pool for a while before going back to our room and going to bed early, because Terry had a 7 AM appointment at Mayo Friday morning.
Anybody who has read this blog for long knows that I am not a morning person, and when I know I have to be up early for something, I don’t sleep well the night before. Between that and being in a hotel bed instead of my own at home, I spent more time tossing and turning than I did sleeping. When the alarm went off at 5:15 AM it was all I could do not to throw it across the room and cover my head up with a blanket.
But instead, we went to the hospital. This was Terry’s last pre-op before Monday’s procedure, and we were in and out by 8 a.m. and headed back home. By the way, this is the only sunrise I have seen in at least 15 years, and if I go another 25 years without seeing one, that will be fine with me. Did I mention I’m not a morning person?
We had a couple of stops to make in Daytona Beach on the way back to Edgewater, then we grabbed lunch before heading home. By the time we were unpacked it was all I could do to keep my eyes open. I sat down at my computer, thinking I might get some work done, but the words were swimming across the screen. I gave up and sat down in my recliner, thinking I would take a quick nap, and woke up over two hours later.
We go back to Mayo Monday morning, and the first of Terry’s procedures will be at 11:45 a.m. Please keep your fingers crossed that this gives her some relief. She sure deserves it.
Be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of Caddo Cold, the seventh book in my pal George Wier’s excellent Bill Travis mystery series. George is a prolific master storyteller, and if you have not read any of his books yet, you don’t know what you are missing! To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening.
Thought For The Day – Sure, I could kill you with kindness, but let’s see what else is lying around first.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
Praying everything goes smoothly for Terry and that the procedure works and helps her tremendously.
You’re both special people, and Ray and I are thinking about you.
Ray & Carol
Firstly … sending all the best thoughts to you both for a successful and relatively comfortable day on Monday. Many folks are thinking of the two of you.
Secondly … Goat heads are the worst! Perhaps even more painful than Legos! That being said, I NEVER walk around in my bare feet on hotel carpet. I cannot bear to imagine what other crusty, fungus laden feet have been shuffling around before mine. I always stick a pair of floipflops or light scuff slippers in my bag. Easy to use and keeps my mental horrors calmed down.
Thanks for being so diligent about writing this daily bag. It has become a scheduled part of my morning routine and I just love the peek into your lives and the interesting things that you put out for our perusal.
All the best for this coming week.
I am also a night owl. On the rare occasion I have to get up that early, I don’t even try to go to bed. I just nap in my recliner. No tossing and turning. Of course, that doesn’t work so well in a hotel room.
Finger, toes, and eyes crossed for Terry. Makes it hard to type but she’s worth it.
Sending all positive energy your way. Hugs.
We put a hot tub in here at the townhouse when we stopped full-timing.
That made it officially home. One of the few things we missed in 14 years on the road. We soak just about every day.
Warm thoughts that Terry can get the relief she needs. Big Hugs to you both. She’s a fighter.