I got back on Sunday from my last trip to tiny village in Southern IL. I added a day to the trip (using all but one of my vacation days), but it was worth it.

The picture here is an interesting tree as viewed from the porch of the house I stayed at -- the house where my Dad was born and raised. We figure it's been in the family for about 90 years. And, as of next Tuesday, if all goes as planned, it will no longer be in the family. It was bittersweet, but we also realized that it's time to let it go.

My Mom had several things she wanted to take back and they all needed to fit in the back of her little Escape. I wasn't sure how it would all go in there, but all hints to maybe scale back or at least prioritize fell on deaf ears. So, I had to to do it. I just channeled my Dad's packing gene and actually it all went it there fairly well. Which made my Mom happy, which is all I wanted. I guess I'm a little ahead of her in the giving things up and selling houses area.

One of the things I worried about was have a terrible rental car. I don't like driving big cars, but my last rental, I felt like my butt was dragging the ground. It's a two hour drive from the airport to tiny village and no one wants a crappy car for a two hour drive. Once again, I lucked out. I wound up with a Chevy Sonic, which I guess is a new model for Chevrolet. I had no idea what it was when the rental agent told me what I was getting. It's a little hatchback and it had quite a bit of pep. It turned out to be a fun drive. We scooted all over in it. Plus, good gas mileage to boot. Can't beat that. I checked it out online when I got back and found out it's turbo charged; which would explain the pep.

I got back late last Sunday and took off Monday. Such a good idea. Got to sleep a bit and hit the grocery store (to make sure I had lunch) and start back to working out.

After the time off for the move, I sorta thought it was ridiculous to take a vacation. Turns out, it wasn't. Plus, I got to say my good-byes to the house. Not sure where I'll go next year to re-charge my batteries, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.