Blackbearry Ridge: Evansville or Bust

We made the trip up and back from Evansville with no problems. We left mid-morning on Friday, and having good weather to drive up to Indiana, we stop at a couple of thrift stores. One just outside of Atlanta, and the other is in Evansville. Needless to say, we were able to find some treasures at both stores.

We had a good but short visit with Greg and Renee. They both had to work on Friday and Saturday, so we arrived Friday afternoon and went out to eat at a Greek restaurant. which was great. Cookie made the trip and enjoyed her time with Annie. Saturday, while the kids were working we headed off to obtain the final ingredients for the "Pre-Thanksgiving dinner later that night. Of course, since we were in the neighborhood, we did happen to return to the thrift store. After running around from store to store in the morning and returning to the apratment to take the dogs out and put the turkey in the oven, we proceeded on our quest to mecca aka Menards.

We were going into Menards to get our oak stair treads for The Ridge and ran into a small issue. After getting to the aisle with the stair treads, risers, handrails, etc. we had immediate sticker shock because the price had risen on the stair treads since our last visit in October. An increase of $4 dollars per tread is not the end of the world but when you have budgeted a certain amount into the purchase, the additional $50 dollars gets you a little disappointed. Now we stand more dumb founded than usual in the middle of the aisle and after some debating and fusing, we decide to check out prices for stair treads on the internet after supper. We leave Menards empty handed. In just a matter of minutes, Menards has fallen from a building supply shrine status to teetering on making Brent's "X" list. If you know about Brent's "X" list it is trouble for any compnay to make and be "Xed" out. The family has just recently been able to include Outback Steakhouse as option to eat after an eight (8) year boycott which was because of a non bowl game invitation.

That night we did enjoy a Thankgiving feast of turkey, dressing (grandmother's recipe), real mashed potatoes, corn, green beans and rolls. Greg did the honors of carving the turkey and for desert Renee supplied a homemade pecan and pumpkin pie.

After checking on the internet and getting over the dissapointment of the price increase, before leaving on Sunday, Brent went back to Menards and purchased the solid oak stair treads. In summary Menards dodged the "X" list. Even though it was a short visit, we are thankful for the time to see the kids.

We did miss spending time with Jennifer and Jessica on thier 22 nd birthday on Sunday. We have moved our celebration with them till Wednesday night as we all will be at The Ridge for Thanksgiving. Happy Birthday Girls!