65

N’s Birthday

Some people dread birthdays, but not N. He has been looking forward to this one to signal his entry into “Senior citizenhood”. He’s 65 today and is loving it. We celebrated it by driving to Abilene yesterday in his NEWEST smart car named Maxwell (yellow and black and NOT a convertible). (You did get it, I hope)


Oliver and Maxwell Smart with friend

He mentioned yesterday, that this car gets more attention than a $100,000 Lambourgini would get.  And he is right,  We got smiles, waves and several folks came up to us and wanted to talk about it.  It is impossible to go anywhere in a hurry in the Smart because there are always folks who want to ask questions--and we don't mind. If you are one who has wanted to drive it or just sit in it, ASK. We love to share the experience. We went to a movie theatre in Abilene and the ticket seller just screeched into the little microphone she has in her booth "I just LOVE your car".

N had read in Texas Monthly about the top 50 barbecue places in the state and one is in Abilene. It is only open between 11am and 2 pm, so we planned our trip to get us there at 11. The meat was tender, but lacked something in the sauce, it was very sweet but bland.  The sides were very good and the peach cobbler was WONDERFUL.  They served cornbread that seemed to have been deep fried like hush puppies.  All in all an interesting meal. But maybe “they” should ask us to be judges for the next barbecue issue.

We went to Sam's but kept an eye on the size of the things we bought--we did not get a particularly large item we wanted, didn't figure it would fit in the back of the smart car w/ all the other stuff we had in the basket. 

On the way home from Abilene, we had to stop by the grocery store to pick up some Blue Bell- which topped off the birthday celebration. Only one more special meal and the birthday will be officially over. Whataburger for lunch Sunday.

My birthday is next------

21 hours, 85 Pikes, and 1 smart car

Reunion
It was a day and a half reunion--- with all that entails.
People you haven’t seen in 2 years,-- too much food, -- consoling those families who have lost loved ones since the previous (2006) reunion. --lots of looking at old pictures (and not knowing who is in them),-- taking of too many pictures, asking the older members of the "clan" --now just how is that person kin to the Pikes?



It was fun day and a half and I’m glad it is over. N and I are in charge of getting the word out to 108 families and I’m not sure how successful our mail-out was, since we had about 38 families attend with a total of approx. 80-85 people there at various times. We had folks from the immediate area as well as Washington and California. The next reunion will be the 3rd weekend of June, 2010 in the same building in Saginaw.

We enjoyed the attention we got driving our little blue smart car, especially the convenience store employee who was walking thru the parking lot as we drove up and gushed all over us and the car. SHE LOVED IT. Family members were also enchanted by the car’s “cuteness” and several asked and were granted permission to drive it around the block.



We did see an equally unusual vehicle as we were leaving Saginaw. I should have whipped out the newly refurbished Kodak and taken a picture, but of course, I didn’t. Have you ever seen a white “Hummer” stretch limousine? Talk about BIGGGGG!