Day 13 - Lebec, CA to Morgan Hill, CA (Happy Thanksgiving)

[Lebec, CA to Morgan Hill, CA] Slept really well last night. That bed was about 40" off the floor. Very comfortable. Maggie got to sleep on the couch for fear she might fall off the bed!

We decided to get up at 7:00a.m. and set the alarm for same. That worked! Went for our complimentary breakfast. Cereal, bagel, danish, fruit, milk, orange juice, and Raw Bits Twang Twang. John missed his malted waffle, though.

It was nice that we left only about 240 miles for today. It made the drive "reasonable" and would let us get home at a reasonable time as well. We figured that since we had planned on going to a Hometown Buffet in San Diego for Thanksgiving dinner, we'd stop by the one in Gilroy on the way home and check it out. If it looked OK, we'd come back after delivering Maggie home.

The traffic was more than John expected. He thought everyone would have traveled the day before and already be at their Thanksgiving destination. The worst traffic was in the Starbucks in Buttonwillow. This was a necessary stop for John as he needed his caffine fix. It gave Linda a "needed" break as well. There was a long line in the drive-thru and a longer line inside. When John got to the counter and placed our order, the clerk asked for his name. Thinking there would be several "Johns" in the place, he said, "Igor". When our order was ready, the server said "Triple Venti Mocha" and that was all. John looked on the cup, and sure enough the order taker had written "Egor" and the server didn't have the wherewithall to call it. Try it some time, it's fun!

Two more sections of pretty bad traffic. One at a nice rest area (yes, it was open!) and one at an accident. Other than that, it was a really nice drive. It felt good when we finally turned off onto Hwy 152, even thought we still had over 50 miles to go.

Went by Costco to get to HomeTown Buffet. Costco was closed, but Wal-Mart was assuredly open. Nice that Costco gives their employees Thanksgiving Day off. Hometown Buffet parking lot wasn't packed. Linda went in and actually spoke with the general manager, Eddie Perez, and looked around. Her report was very positive. Off we went to Morgan Hill. Maggie was glad to see her back yard and crate. John was glad to see the ADA commodes (they are taller than normal ones... easier on old folks knees!) It felt good to be home, but we didn't unpack or unload much yet. We headed back to Gilroy for our Thanksgiving dinner.

OK, here's the report on HomeTown Buffet for Thanksgiving dinner. It was delicious. Roast Turkey breast (moist, tender and succulent), ham and roast beef for meats. Sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cornbread dressing, gravy, cranberry relish, broccoli, etc. for accompaniment and fresh rolls and cornbread. If you had room for dessert (we did) pumpkin pie, bread pudding, apple and peach cobbler, chocolate cobbler, ice cream and toppings. For $12.95 less senior discount, it was a great meal. Oh, and John's favorite beverage, milk, right from their refrigerated cow! We signed up for the 2010 Senior Plan where you get a good break on lunches between 1 and 3 p.m. during the week.

Rolled ourselves out of the place and stopped for some milk on the way home.

After letting the meal settle a while, we started unloading Wilma. No big rush as we're not going anywhere right away.

Road trips are great fun.... but it always feels good to come home. Linda thinks she must have been extra excited about coming home. Thursday was the only morning on the whole trip that she forgot to take her vitamins and prescriptions. She noticed when she was unpacking that Thursday's slot was still full o' pills.

Thanks for traveling along with us. We have heard from a few people who have been gluttons for our punishment. We both enjoy taking photos and find that it seems to sort of make one look at things in more depth. And we each have our preference for favorite types of subjects. John likes old things and odd angles while Linda gravitates towards quirky signs and series of objects. And both enjoy trying to capture beautiful scenery.

If you have any suggestions or feedback for us, we would love to hear from you.
Were the videos a good addition? Too many photos? Too much information? We won't be bothering you for a while. We haven't set a destination for our next road trip. There are so many places we have not been yet and we were really inspired by the recent PBS series about the National Parks and Monuments. But now it's time to hunker down and save some dollar$ and cent$ for a while. Build up the coffers for our next adventure, so to speak.

Results of the Mileage Madness Game in tomorrow's wrapup post.