June 22

Tomorrow Abby and I head back to California, so we savored today, starting with the morning fuel-up at the Mother Ship. As I sipped my blonde americano, I saw that Jimmie Cone's weekend flavors had been posted and that black raspberry was on the list, so despite the misty rain that fell from the sky, we hopped into the Silver Bullet (as I've been calling our rental VW Golf Sporttrack) and enjoyed some colorful cones. (We'll call that "early lunch.")

After finally making contact with my mom, we arranged to meet her at the Cheesecake Factory for lunch, so we made that drive and enjoyed not only our food, but some good window shopping as well. 

We then braved rush hour traffic (which quite honestly was nothing compared to the Bay Area crazy we've endured over the years, but maybe it was an off-day) to get back to Bobby's. He put the stamp of approval on my plan to get Ledo Pizza for dinner, so Abby and I picked up the pies. 

In addition to a cheese and a pepperoni for us, I also ordered a small one with cooked bacon for my grandma, so before we returned to eat, we took it to her. It was surreal being there in her house one more time, knowing that... well, knowing that she's 100.5 years old and so very tired but still in a good mood, still thanking us for coming to see her, still remembering that Abby goes to school in Illinois and that the boys play baseball just like their great-grandpa. And hearing her say again that it's too bad that he didn't get to see them play and that he would've been so proud of them. One of us was in tears by the time we left, and that's okay because it's hard to see people we love sunsetting in this life. But what a life it's been. That's what I try to remember when I feel the sadness well.

Anyway, Reaya and Bri were still out when we got back to my brother's, so Bobby and Brendan joined Abby and I for slightly cool pizza and laughs around the dinner table. And then a few episodes of Scooby Doo. (Or Mystery Incorporated or whatever it's called!)

It was another sweet day. As this trip comes to a close, I'm so grateful to Adam for keeping the ship upright at home. And I'm thankful to God for all of the new memories my girl and I will share moving forward, like mirror selfies and wild poodles and the silver bullet. And bovine horses, too.