Monday, November 25th

Monday was spent in the car. We left Asheville after breakfast and with a ten hour drive if we made no stops, we were ready for a long day (as we did have stops planned). Speaking of stops, here’s a tip — if you’re ever driving through London, Kentucky, and think it might be a good place for a stop? A good lunchtime break? Keep driving. Definitely do not stop at the Ruby Tuesdays, no matter how much you want a salad, because the sullen inattentiveness of the employees who clearly don’t want you to be there….? Well, you will not be able to keep a straight face.

This section of driving also brought me my second FO of the knitting week, a hat for Amy! Her ears were cold, I had the perfect yarn and the right set of needles… so a hat it was! It also brought me the knowledge that although I had realized I forgot to pack the power cord for my laptop (crisis averted – Tim’s job gave him a laptop to take and the power cord is compatible with mine)… it was at this point, three days into the trip, that I realized I had forgotten to bring a hairbrush. HI, I AM FERAL. When was the last time I brushed my hair?! Usually I just wash it and put it up in a bun. I frequently forget to brush it. AS EVIDENCED BY MY NOT NOTICING FOR THREE DAYS THAT I DIDN’T HAVE A BRUSH. Derp.

High point of the day? We made a side trip in Cincinnati to Jungle Jim’s. Long time readers will remember we try to go there any time we’re within a couple hours of Cincy; this place is a mecca! It stuns me that some people are lucky enough that this is their weekly/regular grocery store. They do have regular grocery store things… but then they also have three or four times the floor space devoted to foods from different countries (more Pocky than you can shake a stick at. A stick. See what I did there?!) including so much cheese that I had purchase anxiety and almost couldn’t choose… teas from England…. candies from every country imaginable… rices, spices, and even cooking utensils.

You’re not supposed to take pictures inside (they want you to buy postcards, which are non-strategically placed *after* the registers, so you don’t see them until after you’ve paid)… but, I was feeling like a rebel so I brought in my cell phone and snuck a few shots of my favorite things… the things I try to explain to people who have never been there but I can’t quite seem to get across the enormity of the awesome tackiness. I’ll let those photos speak for themselves.

And after that we still had a few hours to go to get to South Bend. We hit a little snow flurry (I was excited! Maybe there would actually be snow when we got there!) and a little weird construction, but got to Tim and Amy’s parent’s house late at night and with about two inches of snow on the ground. Both of those things made me happy.