The drive to Ohio was as eventful as always. We originally considered stopping somewhere along the way to rest up, but instead we drove all the way to Hueston Woods on Wednesday night. Besides a minor confrontation with Johnny Law, we had very few problems and got in sometime around 2 or 3 in the morning. Johnny must have been out searching for drunks on the road, because we escaped with just a series of warnings from him.

I slept in on Thursday, and when I finally awoke I found that the troops were being assembled in the hall. I quickly put on all the clothes I had with me and headed out to the paintball field. What a way to start off Thanksgiving, with a good ol’ family war! I was only shot once throughout the day. Some of the bystanders said it was because I was hiding, but little do they know just how good I am at this “game” called paintball.

After I was completely worn out, we headed in to a giant buffet style dinner in the lodge. They had just about everything you could ask for on Thanksgiving, and it was very good. I had to stop after my third trip to the buffet line. I might have continued to stuff myself, but a hockey team had arrived and cleaned out the remaining food. The rest of the night was spent visiting with Kim’s family.

On Friday we took care of some small errands and things, until it was time to head to my Aunt Barb’s new house in Indiana. They moved quite some time ago, but this was the first time I had seen the new place. It is really nice, and actually not too far away from civilization. We had a great time visiting with all of my family and later in the night we headed down to Paxton’s in Loveland, where my buddy Ken was finishing up his bartending shift. My other buddy Jon was there, as well as Ken’s sister and her new husband, Bryan Shova, who we used to play hockey with. Once Ken was done with work, we headed over to The Works to finish off the night. It was great seeing my buddies again!

We thought about doing various things Saturday afternoon, but never really got off of the couch at my parents’ place. Later on in the night we finally decided to head down to the Silverton Cafe to check out The Rusty Griswolds. I don’t think I’ve seen them in years, but they were just as I remembered. Jon came out to enjoy the packed bar as well. We left before the band was finished since most everyone with us had to get up early for the Bengals game the next day.

Yesterday was just as exciting as Wednesday. We left Cincinnati earlier than we ever have, and still didn’t get back until after 8PM. I had a hockey game at nine that I barely made it to. We lost again, but I had a great game. I think I had a goal and at least three assists. When our team scores nine goals in a game, I expect to win, but the other team scored eleven somehow.