In the morning (after sleeping late), I discovered that I hade made a very foolish mistake. I had brought my laptop with me, primarily so that I could keep track of expenses on the trip, and update the ledger every morning, as I usually do. However, I forgot to bring the power cord! I knew the battery wouldn't hold out all week, so unless I could find a power cord, I was out of luck.
We drove to Ashley's house, where I dropped Terry off, and went to buy some groceries. When I came back, Terry and I made pancakes for everyone. We have a set of two pans that interlock, so that when the pancake is done on one side, you hook the two pans together, and flip the whole thing over, and the pancake falls into the other pan and cooks on the other side. Believe it or not, we actually brought those pans with us from L.A. - along with a bottle of real maple syrup.
Speaking of groceries - the grocery store that I went to was a Kroger, which is essentially the same as Ralphs here in California. Much of the contents of the store are pretty much the same as you'll find here, with some local variations. One local variation amused me. Here's something you're not likely to find in a California grocery store, but I suppose it's essential in the South - a jar of rendered bacon fat!
After breakfast, I went off to an electronics store to buy a power cord for my laptop. Unfortunately, when I tried to plug it in, I discovered it wasn't compatible. So I took it back to the store, and resigned myself to a marathon ledger reconciliation project when I got home.
We spent the rest of the afternoon just kicking back and relaxing. Ashley made a cake, Terry took a nap, and I did crossword puzzles.
Then, in the evening, we went to have dinner with some friends of Ashley's, Emanuel and Andrea. When we got there, Emanuel wasn't home from work yet - he works for Andrea's father in his construction business - so we visited with Andrea, and her mother, Irma, and her two impossibly cute daughters, Jimena and Isabela. One of the daughters is two, and the other is four, but I don't remember which is which.
Andrea and Irma don't speak much English, and I don't speak much Spanish, so Terry, Ashley and Carlos did all the talking. Eventually, Emanuel (who does speak English) showed up, along with Andrea's father, Cristobal, and brother, Cristobal Jr. And we all sat and talked until late at night. Andrea made guacamole, and carne asada, and Mexican street corn, and quesadillas. And later on, Emanuel brought out his guitar, and he and I and Cristobal Jr. traded songs. It was a delightful evening.