"He Makes a Hell Of a Good Hood Ornament"

We are on day two of our three day drive to deliver the Subaru to its new home in Boulder.  Today we were in the car for thirteen hours, driving from Columbus, Ohio to Kansas City, Kansas.  It was long day, but after all the activity of the past few weeks, Ben and I enjoyed our quiet time together in the close confines of the car.

Paul is in Disney World on the 8th grade class trip, so it was just us and Spikey, who turned out to be a great companion.  We didn't worry about him being on his electronic devices too long, didn't have to go out of our way to find a Wendy's, didn't have to monitor our conversation or music to be sure they were child-appropriate, and, just in general, didn't have to be an "on duty" parent.  It was nice!

Day one of the trip ended with hugging my brother Jim and his wife, Kathy, at their house in Columbus, Ohio.  Their daughter, Tamara, and her family, who all live in the area, came over for a visit, and my other brother, Glenn, and my nephew, Daniel, who both live near Cincinatti, drove the two hours up with their families to visit.  Since we had to come on a Sunday night and everyone had school and work the next day, Glenn and Daniel drove their families back home the same night, meaning that they drove four hours yesterday just to spend a few hours with me and Ben.  I was very touched and so very glad to see them all again.  

The children all enjoyed petting and "walking" Spikey.  He seemed to handle all the attention very nicely.  As a matter of fact, I'm developing the idea that he likes a lot of human attention and really doesn't like being in his cage all the time.

Today he basked in the sun up on or near the dashboard for much of the afternoon.  At one point Ben said, "Well, he sure make a hell of a good hood ornament!"