Friday Travel Day

The day started with me waking at 5 and finding breakfast, yogurt, and a banana with liberal coffee made in the French press. I then cleaned up, shaved, and dressed in my Jupiter Disco T-shirt and my blue cloth pants. My belt is pulled to the newest holes and barely holds on my pants. I am still losing inches and some weight. I finish, and then my colon decides it needs attention. I finish all of this just as Matt V arrives at 6. We move his red Prius into Air Volvo’s place in my driveway, and Matt takes over the piloting. We set navigation to Redwood City and head south in Air Volvo.

While traveling, we talked about gaming items. We are both DMs, and we play and run games for each other. We talked about the 5E version of Dungeons and Dragons and the upcoming enhancements coming in 5.1 (most known for correcting the once-popular ranger class, which was less well-received in 5E). We also talked about some history. The time seemed to go by fast. Matt V and I have known each other for decades, but we seldom have taken the time to chat. We are busy playing. It was nice.

At noon, we stopped in Redding, California, and we refilled Air Volvo. We stopped at KFC and had the special two chicken legs plus a side and a biscuit for 2.99. I had three legs, and Matt V got all the carbo-loaded mashed potatoes and biscuits. I had a side of coleslaw.

We have no issues and no close calls until we reach California. Some unusually aggressive drivers came close to scraping the paint, but Matt avoided any issues. We arrived in Redwood City about 4 (16:00) and soon found a Best Western with free breakfast and a nice room with two beds. Matt was surprised by how nice the room was. I find Best Western useful on trips like this with their free breakfast, clean rooms, and lack of price grubbing. We got a slight discount for seniors, and Matt is a former military member.

We have a tire warning for Air Volvo. I will reset it when I have a chance. The tires all look good and are solid. The temperature change usually triggers this, so we will just monitor it.

Once that was settled, Matt let me rest for forty minutes while he got some missing items. Across the street, we have a grocery store with a South American vibe and some Mexican food joints, too. It’s an excellent area.

Next, we headed to dinner at Harry’s Hofbrau House, which I had spotted on the way and Matt V had seen in his research. The rotisserie-cooked turkey leg with the usual Thanksgiving fixings for $12 looked like an excellent choice. Matt also wanted to try the Santa Slay stout beer–he loved it. I had a Spaten Lager. Dinner was, and we were told some of the best food in Red Woodcity, excellent and old school. I did not finish the starch-heavy potatoes and stuffing as the steroids are already playing havoc with my sugar levels. I had warm red cabbage and a cold pea salad with my meal. We also spoke to a local guy who looked great and was 68. Matt and I talked about some weight-loss options, and he told us about some memory-helping drugs he is talking about that he feels helped him. I added comments about walking but mostly listened. I had to turn to the right to hear him as he was on my left side, which is now profoundly deaf.

He told us there was a concert at the square in the old town. We all headed out. We moved Air Volvo and found a coin-pay parking spot. Matt V had coins and paid fifty cents to prevent a ticket. It was a few blocks from the party. The local bars and restaurants were busy. The crowd was not overwhelmingly large, but it was well-behaved and enough to fill the streets. We reached the music, and the Reggie band started to play again, and the streets were full of folks sitting in chairs enjoying the evening. We found Ghostwood and got some more drinks, wine for me, and beer for Matt.

We enjoyed the evening and the feeling. It was an excellent ending to our day. We rolled down the windows, killed the AC, and enjoyed the night air as we were Air Volvo brought back us to the Best Western.

I got some Tylenol and broke the ten-minute limit on walking. I was tired, and my feet were sore. I took more than 4,000 steps today!

Soon, I will be showering and getting ready for bed. I have to take steroids and anti-virals to try to stop the Bell’s Pasley and soon reverse it. It is not getting worse.

Thanks for reading!