Catching Up on Travel Updates: Mom Visit & East Coast Trip

Thursday 6/30-Friday 7/8: Austin, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Austin

During the middle part of J & B's family vacation in Costa Rica, I headed to Austin to spend time with mom and take a trip back East so she could visit her sister and several long-time friends. 

Due to an outbound flight delay, I arrived after midnight but had luckily booked a pick-up in advance so didn't have to worry about getting to mom's house. And since I took Friday off to spend with her, I could even get a decent amount of sleep before embarking on the day. We took care of the final step for securing a Texas title to her car, practiced the drive to J's house a couple of times, and had some meals at Solstice. I even had time for a mini swim workout in J's pool in the afternoon (though I totally goofed and forgot to put the vacuum back in the water -- ugh!).

Mom and I had an early morning departure on Saturday for our flight to Newark. The experience at the Austin airport for a wheelchair was less than impressive, but luckily I was able to push a chair with one hand while pulling my bags and having Mom hold her bag on her lap! Our flight was on time and uneventful, and we had a wonderful helper with the wheelchair once we got to Newark. Not only was she friendly and kind to Mom, but she took us all the way out to the rental car area, helped us get to the front of the line, and stayed with us until Mom could get into the car. Amazing service!!! 

We had to wait a little bit for our room to be ready at the Residence Inn since we arrived prior to the usual check-in time. But we eventually were able to get settled into our two-bedroom suite and then headed off to Bristol Glen to meet up with C & G and see Aunt J. G had arranged for Mom to have dinner in Aunt J's room, so then C & G & I were able to go out to dinner on our own at a local farm-to-fork style restaurant that was absolutely lovely. 

On Sunday morning, Mom and I ate breakfast together down in the public area and then popped off to a nearby grocery store to stock up on a few provisions. This particular Residence Inn offered an egg white option of some kind each morning as part of the breakfast buffet, including a DIY omelet station, which was definitely a perk for me. 

In the late morning, we headed to C & G's house for the afternoon. They had picked up Aunt J right around the time we were leaving the hotel, so she was already there and settled in when we arrived. Mom got to spend lots of quality time with her sister, and I got to catch up a bit more with C & G. In the early afternoon, while Aunt J was napping, Mom and I went for a swim in their lovely outdoor pool. We finished off the visit with an early dinner of grilled salmon, vegetables, farro salad, and ice cream or gelato. Yummy!

Monday was our first friend road trip day, taking us to Sunbury, PA to visit with Aunt S for a couple of hours. She lives in an amazing house with lots of great art, furnishings, and architectural details, most of which were designed by her sister and friend when they lived in the home. Too bad the backyard pool had been filled in years ago, as another swim would have been a nice activity for me while Mom and Aunt S chatted. Luckily, I had brought my elephant adult coloring book and colored pencils, so that was a good way for me to be present during the visit even if I wasn't actively participating in all of the conversation.

On our way back to New Jersey, we stopped at a Subway for lunch and arrived at the hotel with just enough time for me to do a short swim before we were due at Bristol Glen for another short visit with Aunt J. After an hour or so, we returned to the hotel for the evening, where we had dinner together in our room (grocery store sushi for me, takeout McDonald's for Mom).

Tuesday was for our second friend road trip, this time to Hamden, CT to see M & M. We had a wonderful visit with them, and I was much more involved in the conversation, probably because I had spent quite a bit of time with them not only as a child but also when I was older and in college in nearby Middletown, CT. I took time out for a walk around the nearby school just to get some activity before Mom and I got back in the car to return to New Jersey. Another Subway stop for lunch and then some traffic (no surprise...), but we still were on time for our final visit to Bristol Glen and to say our goodbyes to Aunt J, C, and G.

We had an early afternoon flight back to Austin on Wednesday, so we could take our time in the morning with breakfast and then the drive to the airport, including the rental car return. We again had a very helpful and prompt experience with the wheelchair service to get to the gate (quite a distance!) and were rather early so had a couple of hours to wait before boarding the plane. Another uneventful flight and easy pick-up at the Austin airport (I again had to be responsible for the wheelchair pushing in Austin -- such a difference between airports!!!). We got back to Mom's cottage at Solstice in the early evening and had plenty of time to unpack and settle in.

On Thursday and Friday, we did some other chores and errands, practiced the drive to J's house, had a few meals in the dining room and others at the cottage, and just generally relaxed, and talked, and read, and enjoyed being together. I also got to swim a couple more times at J's. My return flight to Sac was late afternoon on Friday, so I was definitely a bit tired by the time I got home, but it was great to have the whole weekend here with Caly and Mr. E before jumping right back into work on Monday.