Day Eight, Nine & Ten - O'Fallon to Fishers

Good Morning from Fishers. Let's see, were did I leave off? Ahh, Sunday....we were still in O'Fallon. Weather was not so good, so we only ventured out to get some lunch. The girls caught up on some sleep. And the adults caught up with some visiting. We really enjoyed being with Juan and wished Darah was with us too. Tony & I gave Juan and Darah their Christmas gift. Darah joined us via iChat. Gotta love modern technology. Later that evening Juan built a fire. And we gave the girls their gifts. Again Darah was with us via iChat. Being a school night, the girls headed to bed a bit earlier and Juan studied for a quiz he had to take before the next day. All in all, a very quiet and relaxing day...well, as quit as it can be with an 5 & 7 year old! We all headed to bed early, not sure we were going to be able to leave the next morning. We woke to school closing in the St. Louis area on Monday morning. St. Louis is approximately 20 miles to the west of O'Fallon. Temps were hovering around 32 degrees. Cars were icy, but the roads were ok to drive in O'Fallon and non of the schools were closed. So we took off with caution. We did hit one slippery overpass on I-70...Tony's first experience with fishtailing in a car. YIKES! His eyes got real big, and I don't think he quite knew what was happening. And if you can believe it, the Prius started to ding to warn us! Well, he just let off the gas and waited for terra firma on the other side of the bridge. The wheels gripped and we were ok. It was a gentle first reminder of how dangerous driving in winter weather can be. I know, you midwesterners are going bahhh. But if one's not experienced in winter driving, it can be a bit frightening. There are no icy parking lots in San Diego to practice skidding. We rolled into the Combs parking lot around 1:30...just in time to say hello to the kids before they headed off for naps. We caught up with Sandy and Travis who later took us out for dinner at Maggiano's for plentiful italian food. We were encouraged to order the family meal for four. Wow! Way too much food. But delicious. The pasta coma set in around 9:30. Thanks again Travis and Sandy. So here we are, It's 8:30 and we're sipping coffed from Travis' new Bunn coffee maker. Anna, that's why he called you on Sunday. He wanted to know if T & I liked our coffe maker. It's great. Ahhh, the simple things in life. A cup of coffee and people we love.