Going Blog Silent

 As you can see from the above vehicle sitting in our driveway, big things are about to happen. As I write this, my brother-in-law, wife and three teenage children are boarding a flight for the middle leg of their journey to Midwest America. It was supposed to happen about this time in 2020 but we all know how that year went. Their tourist visa's run out at the end of this year so it is better late than never. 

When they were last here in 2016, actually before they arrived, I searched for rental vans good for 10 passengers and found then extremely expensive. Somehow though, I stumbled on a place that rents such vans in the heart of Amish country about 80 miles to the northeast of us. Due to their primary clientele and/or location, they rent them for a small fraction of what a rental company like Enterprise does. What I rent it for through this company for all three weeks of use, is less than 40% of one week through Enterprise. This time around, I didn't even bother to look elsewhere. I just reserved it several months back and we picked it up earlier today as I write this.

The only problem is that they don't have navigation which for a long road trip we are planning, is necessary. I have a gadget that mounts to a vent that will hold my smart phone but when I attached it, the vent fell right out. A little plastic protrusion that holds it in place had been snapped off, no doubt by someone else doing exactly what I had hoped to do. So being short notice, I had to break down and stop at that large blue box superstore on the edge of town that I avoid at all costs normally. I found something that I can attach to the dash but it wasn't easy. Everything is locked in cabinets there these days forcing me to track down a worker wearing a blue vest who are actively trying to avoid all customers. Then, because everything is behind glass and locks, they moan and try to get me to hurry up while I pick one box after the other to see which one will meet my needs by reading the print on the back and sides, none of which is visible behind locked glass doors. Eventually though I found one and made it through a sea of customers all checking themselves out and having problems as evidenced by the busy blue vested people husting from one self checkout to another. I finally gave up and found someone who was still checking people out and survived my trip to the store. If I never see the inside of one of those stores again, I'll be a happy guy.

I've gotten side tracked. 

What I started this post is to tell you, this is the last one I have in the can for you to enjoy while I'm on the road. As I select the publish date, you will be reading this while we are nearing the end of our stay somewhere in SE Virginia thinking about finally heading back towards home. Our guests will have a handful of more days left in their stay in which we will try to enjoy the coming holiday and show them life in the Midwest. As soon as they are on a plane heading back towards home and we have returned our rental van, I will resume blogging and maybe show you some pictures from our trip with perhaps a tale or two. 

So until then, my blog will be silent.