6 Traveling Days....

      Wow! This last week has been so busy, I wasn't sure if we were leaving or going somewhere all at the same time. The week started out with us traveling to Nashville, TN to visit with family and friends. Sadly, the main reason we traveled to TN we did not get to accomplish. We were not able to connect with Mike's wife after his passing. We had got the bad news on Friday and they are good friends of my husbands, so we were going to connect with him prior to his passing. Unfortunately God called Mike home so he is now at rest. We had everything all set to go when we got the call that he went to Heaven. So we were then hoping to connect with his lovely wife, but she had already went to Indiana where she has a great support system, to help her with the loss of her husband.  We decided to travel to TN anyways, since the Hotel was booked and it would be great to get out of town for a couple of days. We headed out on Tuesday for the wonderful town of Nashville! We arrived late, and went to visit family when we got there for a couple of hours then headed out to see Bill's nephew (Sean), who is one of the managers at J Alexanders in Nashville. We had a great time visiting with him there and at his home. We then left Sean and headed to the hotel to check in for the night now that it is after 11pm and we are ready for some comfy  beds and pleasant sleep.  Well, needless to say, the beds in the hotel, left a lot to be desired. Bill and I both woke up with bad backaches the next morning. We had some Motrin on hand, so with that we headed out for the day. It was a lovely 60 degrees in Nashville, warmer then being in Chicago. We headed out to get some breakfast. We traveled to the Loveless Cafe, a place that is famous in Nashville not only for the Biscuits but also for running into stars that stop in to eat. The biscuits were absolutely wonderful, they were light and fluffy and the homemade jam was great. We brought some Blackberry jam home with us. Sadly, after eating such a large breakfast the stomach decided that we had consumed too much food and the waves of nausea came a flooding over me. The wonderful hubby did offer to take me to the hotel to lay down, and rest til I felt better. Naw, I am fine, just need to find some medication and I will be ok. I did not want to interrupt his day of visiting friends he was so looking forward to seeing that afternoon.  I started looking for the medication to help and of course I could not find anything that would help. I started to search the car for a script or anything, a lost pill or something, anything! I am in Nashville and I don't want to feel like this here and now! Well, I was blessed, I found a script hidden in the console of the car, and we headed to Wal-Greens to get the medication. Okay, well the first one we ventured into, their computers are down and they are not able to help. We then got the directions to the next Walgreens and headed there. Thank God they are all over in Nashville as they are here in Chicago. We got there and they are able to fill the script. Yes!!! We are in luck, I will feel better soon!!!! Except, we have to wait and hour for the medication to be filled. Grr an hour, really....I need something now! I am not feeling good at all and want to toss my cookies, and you tell me to wait an hour! No, fill it now! So we ended up waiting an hour for the medication. We wondered around the store aimlessly waiting patiently. When we finally got my medication, and a Coke to wash it down with, it was time to wait for the medication to kick in, meanwhile we are on the road to see the next friend! About 10 to 15 minutes I was feeling so much better! Thank God, the waves of nausea were now at bay, and if they returned I was armed and ready to do battle!
The rest of the afternoon was spent with us visiting friends of Bill's that he wanted to catch up with, since he left Nashville 10 years ago. He has talked with them over the years but it was nice for him to sit down and really talk to them about his friends passing and how life was going for him and his dear friends in Nashville. After visiting with his friends we headed out to get something to eat, since it had been 6 hours or so since breakfast and we were starving. We headed down the road to an old favorite in Nashville, we were heading to Chick-Fil- A! After eating we headed out on the rest of our journey, next on the agenda was visiting with family. We got to see everyone that night except Bill's nephew that we saw the night prior! We had a great time visiting, taking pictures, filming short videos and laughing, enjoying true family time! After several hours we headed back to the hotel for the night, watched some TV and fell asleep on the uncomfortable bed! When we got up it was Thanksgiving, a time for family, football and lots of wonderful food including pumpkin pie! We checked out of the hotel, stopped for some breakfast then headed back to the see the family for a couple of short hours before heading back to the windy city!
          After that long trip home, we only stayed here for less then 12 hours before heading out again! We left on our next adventure when Bill arrived home form work on Friday. We were now on the road again to Michigan to visit with my dad and see one of my truest friends ever! Saturday morning we were up and out of the house headed to Bringer Inn. It is a favorite place to eat when we go to see my dad. It has the best food and it is cheap! My husband got a 3 egg omelet that he was not able to finish! Yes, it was really that big, and he put a big dent in it, but he was stuffed.  After breakfast we headed back to my dads and visited for a little bit before heading out to get some fresh ground burger meat at the butcher shop.Well, before we could get to Frankenmuth, we were traveling along the highway when something fell off the trailer in front of us and hit my car! Then the driver had the nerve to speed up to prevent me from getting the plates off the trailer and off of his big red truck. We got the info and then reported it at the state police in Michigan. We then went off to the butcher shop to get some fresh burger meat. Sadly, they had closed 45 minutes prior to our arrival. So we went on with our day. We were then off  to Sears to look at Washers and Dryers for my dad. Of course he decides that the ones he has is fine and that he doesn't need one now or in the near future. My friend joined us at the mall and then we headed to Denny's and had some pie since it was going on 4pm already. After visiting for a bit over pie and cheesecake we were on the road to Bronner's the Christmas Wonderland. It is located at 25 Christmas lane in Frankenmuth MI! It is the largest Christmas store ever built! It is a place that everyone must see before they die. It is filled to the brim with all the Christmas stuff you could ever think of or imagine. They have ornaments from every country in the world, light inside and out that will just WOW you! When you walk through Bronner's you have to look everywhere, on the shelf, up high, all around you, or you will miss a lot of the store. My husband swears that you need to visit at least two times or more before you really see it all. I have been going to Bronner's since I was little and they have expanded several times in the late 90's and early 2000's. It is truly amazing, they do have an online store, but it has no where near what you will find in the actual store. After 3 hours of shopping in the Christmas Wonderland, we went home and relaxed for a bit. Then Sunday morning we slept in then got up and head back to Bringer Inn for something to eat. After brunch we headed back to Frankenmuth Mi to see the rest of the town.   After shopping for a short time we headed back to pack the car and say our good-byes to head back to the windy city. It was a wild 6 days, but it was a ton of fun to be able to see everyone and visit with all the family! Now off to work on Monday!