California: The Final Week

We're back in the Hotel on base, and today was fairly quiet. Well, it was more spooky than quiet, I guess. We arrived just at seven, meaning John was going to be a little late to work. He figured he'd drop me off and I'd wait in the lobby until about ten or eleven, when the room would be ready. Then I'd call him and he'd run back and check me in. I can't check myself in, since I'm not technically here. I'm a "guest." It's a long story, and rather boring.

When we got here, there were people congregated outside the hotel, talking quietly. We went on in and they immediately said they'd put us in a room immediately. What? Okay, fine with me. I really didn't want to sit in the lobby. Somebody would come clean the room within an hour or two. Was that okay? Sure, fine. Linens had already been changed, but vacuuming still had to be done. (There was coffee in the pot, too, but I didn't see that until they left later.) 

Here's the weird part. The reason they were getting everyone stuck in rooms quickly and quietly was to get them out of the way of the group outside, who were waiting for the coroner to come out. Their mother had died during the night in a tent at the RV park on the other side of the hotel from our room. They were going to check out and went to wake her up when they found her. They were out there for several hours. 

The only other interesting thing that happened was learning that the hotel registration clerk had messed up our dates and we are slated to check out Friday morning, not Saturday. John's work is going very well. Since he's running ahead of schedule, he discussed the situation at work today, and they agreed we can head home Friday. Whoopee! Happy Trails to us. 

Of course, Mom wasn't thrilled to hear I will miss the Friday Bingo games with her, but I'll spend tomorrow afternoon with her. I'm even bringing her a pre-cooked batch of my chicken tacos. All she'll have to do is heat it up, fry the tortillas, and put the sauce on them. First, though, I'm going to sit down and have a nice visit with Christ Francom in the morning. That's been a long time coming. It seems I only get to see her every couple of years for more than a few minutes. That's a shame, since I enjoy her so much.

Tomorrow night we'll cap it off with a visit to John's old college pal, Dan Moretti, and his wife Pat. They visited us in Loveland, and invited us for dinner tomorrow night. (Gee, with Jean, Mom, Ellen, and now Pat all feeding us on this trip, I think we're actually going to end up money ahead—probably pounds ahead, too. Oops.)

I have to admit, this has been a very short trip, but one of the best we've had. Don't worry, Sherrie. I've saved Wednesday for you!