Sunday morning comin' down

Ah. That's a pretty good Johnny Cash song. In fact, I like all of his non-Jesus songs. They're definitely good for road trippin'.

I just talked to my folks on the phone. They got back from Italy and France on Friday. I'm a little jealous because it sounds like they had a great time. They were in the Lake Como area of Italy and drove to Provence in France. They stayed in three star hotels and rented a car so they could visit the small villages that are in that area. That's definitely the way to do it and is how I like to travel. I'm not really down with the packaged trips. I want the freedom to go wherever the heck I want.

They did come back to some bad news though: their fridge died about a week before they got home so they lost more than $300 worth of food since they had steaks and smoked salmon in the freezer. Bummer. I would be pretty pissed since it's a pain in the ass to replace condiments and other stuff like that. Their kitchen redesign starts this week and should be finished by the end of July.

I was going to drive up in July to surprise them, but I think I'll do it in August. Of course, it's not a surprise anymore because I told them, but that's ok. I'm actually pretty bad at keeping surprises because I get a little impatient. It'll probably take more than ten hours to drive up there, but I'll split it up over two days. It won't be cheaper than flying since gas is expensive, but it'll be more interesting for sure. There is a lot of stuff to see along the way. I might drive up the OR coast as well since that's pretty cool. Maybe I'll drive to Coos Bay/Gold Beach the first day and then up to Portland the next. Coos Bay is a little more than halfway, but I'm probably good for six or seven hours of driving in one day. I guess I'm just sick of flying. You have to snag a ride to the airport, you need to get there early, you have to deal with all the other travelers and you have to spend your time in a cramped cabin. Plus, it'll be nice having a car when I'm up there since my parents both work. I might take some day trips while I'm up there or maybe down to Bend to visit my cousins. Who knows?

It's nicer out today than it was yesterday, but my allergies aren't any better. I've been hacking up something like a cat with a hairball.