Late night with friends

We stayed in bed late. I didn't want to get up and find out that we were snowed in, or the roads covered in ice. But Chris got up and googled the weather and it was freezing, but dry. So we had our breakfast and checked e-mail, then packed.
We were on the road by 10:30. I packed four bottles of water. As I drank them on the trip, we had to make pit stops. We listened to a Stefanie Plum novel on CDs. I texted Silvia updates on our progress to Augusta. We were listening to the last CD when we arrived at the Doubletree hotel.
I called Silvia and she said she would pick me up. It was too cold to wait outside so we went inside the hotel where they were having a gaming convention. We talked to Janet for awhile. Chris went off to find Keith and came back with Greg, too. Then the men left. Janet and I kept talking until Silvia came in. She said she tried to call me but I guess I could not hear it in the noisy hotel.
So I called Chris and he went out to his car to get my stuff. Silvia and I carried it to her car. Then we went to the hotel lobby to wait for Mary and Linda. We had a nice chat. When Mary arrived, we went out and caravaned to our hotel – Ecco. We brought my stuff up and the four of us sat in our room and talked for an hour or more.
Then we went to Cracker Barrel for supper. We asked for the table by the fire. We had to wait for them to clear it, but it was so nice and warm. We talked as we chose from the menu. But when it came time to order, they were out of the special of the day and a few other things. But eventually we settled on something and place our orders. The place was not full but the food was not quick. It was good and that was the important thing.
When the meal was over, I took the ticket to the counter to pay. I had two gift cards and they were more than enough to cover the cost. We walked around the shop, remarking on various items. To one side was a sale rack on sweatshirts. Since it was so cold outside and getting colder, I bought a pretty light blue one. I paid for it with the remaining gift card and put it on in the bathroom. When we walked outside I was mighty glad to have it on! The ladies thanked me for dinner and I replied that it was probably my sister that paid for it. Thanks, Faye.
Then we went back to the hotel. Mary had a food box with chocolates and wine and snacks. She also offered me a bag of fish jerky that she didn't want. I thought it was ok. Just dehydrated fish and salt.
So we sat and talked all night pretty much, catching up on friends and family. We passed out gifts to each other. We joined hands and prayed for Celeste and her family. Finally I was ready for bed. Mary said breakfast would be served in an hour. I thought she was kidding, but no. Anyway, I put on my pajamas and got in bed. The others did too. I am not sure how much we slept, but I think everyone slept some. They got up at nine. They washed up and went to breakfast. Then I washed up and ate my packed breakfast. I plugged in my laptop to recharge and deleted the first round of e-mail and started reading the rest. Then I remembered my blog, so I wrote down what I could remember and posted it.
* this is from the gaming convention. I wish I had a pic of us friends, but we were having such a good time that it slipped our minds. *