Nomadic connections.....

7:00 am - Friday - December 21st - Nashville, KY - 43º F, 85% humidity, wind 15 mph out of the northwest.....heavy cloud cover with rain today (still) and a forecast high of 43º F.....we have already reached the high for today at 7 am.

Thursday was about hanging out with long time friend Merlin, whom we first met at Tahoe Valley Campground several years ago.  Merlin was the night ranger that year, and him being retired law enforcement was an excellent opportunity for me to learn how to diffuse unhappy, in some cases, quite inebriated customers.  We became good friends that summer and have stayed in touch via text, and phone calls over the intervening years.  Merlin moved to Nashville from California about a year ago to be near his daughter who just got a job as an intern at a prominent sound studio in Nashville.  We've met Schyler before, and she is a pretty sharp young lady.  We met Merlin at Brothers Burger Joint in Nashville which was highly recommended by Merlins' daughter, and we were not disappointed.  Yelp gives them 4.5 stars on 121 reviews.  I had their Jumpin' Jack burger with pepper jack cheese, caramelized onions, candied bacon, and it was amazing! TLE had their Sweet Bacon Blue burger, and loved hers, too.  

 The Jumpin' Jack Burger....you actually get way more fries than this internet picture portrays.....way MORE!

 (Internet pictures....it was raining when we were there)

As we sat talking endlessly, and cherishing each bite of our burgers time seemed to stand still, but before we knew it 2 hours had sweetly slipped away.  Reconnecting with good nomadic friends we have met on our never ending odyssey is one of the 'cherries on top' of this vagabonding experience, and being able to sit with Merlin and talk for two hours was the highlight of our day rainy Thursday.  After saying our 'until next times' we bid Merlin adieu, knowing we will reconnect again somewhere in the future.  Love you Merlin!

From our lunch with Merlin we headed over to the local Trader Joe's to stock up on a few things we only get from them.  Trying to find a parking spot at any Trader Joe's can be challenging as their stores are always packed, and adding the rain factor into Thursday's adventure just made it more difficult, but after circling the parking lot a couple of times found a spot.  Getting out of the parking lot proved to be quite a bit more challenging, but in the end no small animals or children were harmed, and we escaped it's clutches without a scratch.

The drive over to the local COSTCO was a whole other matter.....there was an accident on the route we would normally have taken, so we opted to take an alternate route recommended by Google Maps, and it took about 30 minutes.  I've been wanting to transfer my blood pressure medication prescription to COSTCO for some time, and since I have just a month's supply left I decided to go through the process that day.  Upon our arrival at COSTCO we proceeded directly to the Pharmacy counter to begin the process.  I provided the proper documentation and the lady advised it would take about 45 minutes to an hour.  We then went and shopped, took out stuff out to the car, and then sat there waiting for the 'text' message to arrive on my phone announcing the readiness of my prescription.....after 90 minutes I went back inside and was told it would be another 10 minutes, but that stretched into another 30 minutes, but finally, at the two hour mark, it was ready and we were on our way home.  I knew it would be a little complicated, and even though it took much longer than I expected, it is now done, and I can get my refills at COSTCO wherever we may travel.

By this time it was after 4 pm, however, and smack dab in the middle of Nashville 'rush hour', and man do they ever have a brutal 'rush hour'!  It took us another hour to get back to the Newell where we arrived after a very long day about 5:15 pm.  While TLE put away the groceries I went inside to pay for our stay here at the Madison Elks Lodge.

When I returned TLE was just putting away the final things from our shopping and it was time for both of us to sit down and relax.  We watched a couple more Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel, and were in bed by 10:30 pm.  It looks like more rain will be with us on Friday until early afternoon, so I think we'll take a day off, and just rest.  If we were still working we would have been back at work Friday, so you can imagine the big smiles on faces this morning!

Thanks for stopping by!

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