Gallivanting Geismom: Time is Flying By!

Do you ever get side-tracked? I, for one, am almost an expert at that subject. I often compare my days to the book, "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie." I have the best intentions, then get dragged off in a totally different direction. And, that is why I am nearly two weeks late in getting out this post. And I decided that I couldn't let another day go by without sharing our trip to visit our grandson, Joshua. After all, he deserves to be celebrated!

He was super excited to hear that we were coming, and was curious as to when we would arrive....trying to get me to pinpoint a time. Well, I always hesitate in honing on on a time, because it's such a long drive, and there are so many variables that could change the ETA. So, I decided to set him up on Find Friends, so that he could follow our progress on the way down. After getting over the confusion on my part that he had named his ipad "James Monroe", we were all set up for his stalking, and he was very excited!

The weather was perfect for travel, and I had packed a picnic lunch so that we could limit our exposure to people. We are both immunized, but why throw caution to the wind?

And, it really is a good idea to take breaks and stop and smell the roses....or as in this case....the tulips. Aren't they lovely?

Joshua kept tabs on our travel, and I updated him with photos.

Which pretty much involved Marty behind the wheel. Or should I say, clutching the wheel? As truck traffic was jaw clenching! But, finally, we reached our destination.

We were greeted with enthusiasm, and immediately thrown into game playing.

at least for a short time since it takes nearly the entire day to make the trip.

Soon we were on our way to settle into our hotel room. I had stumbled upon this gem when we made an emergency trip back in December. It's called "The Sessions Hotel". It's a renovated warehouse that was converted to a hotel, opening less than a year ago. Beside being visually appealing and comfortable, it has the added plus of NO ROAD NOISE! Something that I can't say about any of the other places where we've stayed. In fact, Marty used to have dreams that he was clutching the steering wheel when he was sleeping!

The hotel has a country music theme, but, obviously, has some sort of tie to the Bristol Speedway, since this mural takes up a good portion of the outside wall.

I haven't a clue who that man is, by the way.

Here you can see that the hotel has done an excellent job with decorating. This photo is actually from our December trip, but the room is quite similar to the one where we stayed two weeks ago.

The lobby has a clever crossword on the wall.

And, a copy of this original sheet music was hanging in the room.

A vintage radio added to the aura

And I loved the photo above the bed!

Here you see framed guitar frets. I can't come up with an explanation as to why that was a good idea. Makes me wonder what happened to the rest of those guitars?

Hanging microphones were actually lights. Quite clever, if you ask me.

After a good night's sleep, we headed to Bluebird Bakery to pick up some donuts for Joshua along with a loaf of their famous bread.

He was not disappointed, and he even let me borrow his Koala cup for my coffee!

After breakfast, we headed to Bass Pro Shops to look at the fish

and to try his hand at some fishing in the pond that is within walking distance of the store.

I walked around a bit while Grandpa popped on the worms and offered his fishing tips.

It was a bit drizzly, but as you can see, the trees were budding and the flowers were blooming. Beautiful!

Finally, Joshua caught a fish....all on his own. How's that for excitement?

And the fun continued at home with a jam session on the front porch.

Joshua is conquering chords with a gusto!

Sunday began with the sporting of matching shirts....purchased the previous day at Bass Pro.

Then we delved into game after game of Sly Fox.

Poor fox only managed to win twice, much to Joshua's dismay.

I decided to take a break from the sly guy, and assist Joshua in putting together this very cute lego kit that his Aunt Stacey gave to him. He was very excited about putting it together....for about 15 minutes. Then, he decided that it was way too hard. But he was eager to play with Snoopy, so I decided to "help" him out. It was a real challenge, but he was thrilled to have it when it was finished.

The Red Baron was very busy for the rest of the day. Only I must have skipped a step because Snoopy falls out when the plane turns upside down. Kind of adds to the excitement when you're a nine year old boy.

We managed to get outside for a bit while the rest of the gang was busy doing household upgrades (like stripping wallpaper and replacing sink fixtures....not exactly my idea of a fun time)

And Violet was very eager to share her soccer ball moves

which are extremely entertaining!

We then moved inside to continue working on Joshua's Lego city. He was busy building an ice cream shop

with outdoor tables and an outside window for orders

and, apparently, BatMan was there to be sure that all was safe. What an imagination!

The trip was short, but sweet, and we were blessed with gorgeous weather on the way home. We stopped at the New Market Battlefield for lunch. We pretty much had the place to ourselves.

And music man wanted a photo with the mountain in the background. What you can't see at this angle, is the word "LOVE" adorned with flags behind Marty.