Matt In The Middle Foley in a Fiat Down by the Lake

Seriously in the MIDDLE of nowhere - snow cannot even find us here

I worried that I wouldn't be able to blog today because the cabin we are staying in didn't have very good service last night. When I say not very good I mean I could not use my phone or computer because we are in the MIDDLE of nowhere. There is a lake off in the back of out cabin and a hot tub on the back patio and we are surrounded by trees. It is almost noon now and Cha Cha and I just came in from the hot tub. Splenda and her boyfriend Andy came out to the cabin last night but she had to work and had classes today. We are meeting them an a restaurant in town for lunch at 1430. Then we are taking her shopping for her birthday. I just paid the $700 balance on the one card I am using for everything these days so I am fully loaded. I have been using the Citi Bank Visa almost exclusively for the last couple of weeks because I want to start racking the Hilton Honors points to help get on our next trip. We already have over 42,000 points and what I just paid will earn us 2,000 - 3,000 more. I could figure it out exactly but you get different points for different purchases. The best point , other than staying at a Hilton, are gained from grocery stores, gas stations and something else that I am too lazy to research (I am on vacation, you know).

Remember the Grape Nuts dude?

We are eating Tostito's Oven Baked Tortilla Chips and Trader Joe's Guilt Free Chunky Guacamole made with Greek Yogurt. I have never had this guac but Cha Cha brought it down. It is really low in calories and fat and pretty damn delicious.Yesterday I didn't eat much as we spent almost five hours driving down here so I was pretty hungry and didn't eat much yesterday. We stopped on the way down and I had a Subway chopped turkey breast salad and then when we got down here we went to the store to stock the fridge at the cabin and I had: some snap peas, carrots, pineapple, cantaloupe and grapes. I am in the MIDDLE of the woods and eating like a forager except for Subway and the supermarket.

I cannot believe it is only your Friday. I took tomorrow night off so I don't have to be back to work until Sunday night. I am pretty sure that I will be tired that shift as I will be driving nearly the entire state of Illinois from south to north before work. I hope to leave early enough from here to be able to catch a few Z's before work.

We really made good time on the way down. Once we got about an hour south of home and all of a sudden there was less snow. We got about half-way here and there was no snow.I gambled on bringing the Fiat down and, so far, it has worked well. I may even put the top down on the way to lunch. I watched the news here last night and they said it was supposed to really cold here today "maybe even getting down into the 20's at night." They are not really aware of what cold is apparently. The day we left home there was about 15" of snow on the ground and the temperature had reached NEGATIVE eight degrees at eight in the morning. This feels like The Bahamas here to us! The sun is shining brightly and I was outside in a short sleeve shirt with not even the thought of a jacket to take that photo up there.

After shopping we will probably go down to Hanger 9 because my buddy Greg said I have to have a cold one for him while we're down here. I always try to help-out a friend when they make a request so I guess I will have to stop there sometime today or tomorrow.

I wish I would have put the Starsky and Hutch stripe on that car

Writing about driving down here in the Fiat and Greg made me remember a time when I drove down here with four other guys. I had a bright orange two-door Ford Pinto and came down here with: Me (or course), Greg, Spiro, Billy and Artie. It was a standard transmission so the front had bucket seats where Greg and I sat and the other three sat in the back scrunched together to the bottom of the state here. The things crazy college kids do. That wasn't even close to the craziest thing but that is memorable. If you look at the photo of the Fiat up there I would say the Pinto was about the same size with a bit more trunk space.

Okay, I have to wrap-up to get ready for lunch and shopping. If I get a WiFi signal I will blog again tomorrow. Than you for stopping-by. I hope this blog brings with it a little warmer weather if you need it where you are. TTTT...MITM (out) TA!