They came. They saw. They shopped.

They were here. The General and her Lieutenants.

They came. They saw. They shopped. And, they got lost.

So, true to form, the General left a bit later than she intended. I got a text message from her at about 10:00 a.m. Tuesday morning asking if I had room for some meat in my freezer and saying that they were planning to leave about 10:30 a.m.

I called at noon to see if they were on the road and couldn't get a hold of her.

At 2:00 p.m., she called me and said they would be there about 8:00 p.m. Because I can add, I figured out they left Clinton at noon - a bit later than their scheduled departure of 10:30. But, hey, in the General's world, that's just about right on time.

Anyway, that evening, I headed out to the barn a bit later thinking I would just ride Abby until they got there. Knowing how the General drives (mach 3 with her hair on fire), I figured they would end up getting into Lincoln about 7:30 or 7:45.

So, Abby and I rode. And rode. And rode. At 8:10, I got another phone call from the General. It went a little something like this:

"Hey. I thought I would let you know we're going to be a little bit later than 8."

"Okay. Why?"

"Well, I missed I-29 coming into St. Joseph."

"Seriously? How did you do that? How fast were you going?"

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, I figured I could just hit I-29 on up the road, but it was business 29 and I didn't want to take that. So, we just kept going and took Nebraska Route 75 north. We're just now getting into Nebraska City."

"YOU'RE JUST NOW GETTING INTO NEBRASKA CITY? You're still an hour away! I was going to ride Abby until you got here, but I'm not going to do that now. I'm going home. Call me when you're getting into Lincoln."

Of course, about the time I got home and sat down on the couch, the General called and said they were just getting to the outskirts of Lincoln. I jumped in David's car and headed for the stable, already having armed the General with directions to get there. Ten minutes later, another phone call:

"Was I supposed to take Nebraska 77?"

"No, I told you NOT to take 77. Did you take 77?"

"No, I'm pulled over in a subdivision. But this just doesn't seem right. I still haven't seen Lee's Chicken."

"You probably haven't gone far enough."

"I don't know. I just don't think I'm in the right place."

"Alright. Just stay where you are and I'll come find you. This shouldn't be this complicated."

"Well, hang on - I'm at 23rd street."

"Then you should be right on top of the stable. Geesh...okay, I see you."

This was quite a process. At any rate, they finally arrived a little after 9:00 p.m. Tuesday night. We headed into town for a late supper and then back to our apartment to turn in. The General decided to stay with me for the night and let her two lieutenants have the model apartment. So, we drove over to the model, got Grandma and Grandpa into the building and got them set up for the night. Then, the General and I headed back to my apartment to settle in for the night.

In my case, it was a short night because the General snores.

The next morning, I got up and headed to work for a few hours (way too much stuff to do to take off a full day) while the General and her lieutenants made breakfast, chatted for a little while, and headed into town to meet me at the office.

And that started our day of antiquing. A lot of antiquing. We spent the afternoon cruising around Lincoln, looking for and shopping in every antique shop we could find. And we found a lot of them. And, the General found a lot of stuff, too. Finally, after a long day of shopping (and a little bit of riding, too), we grabbed a bite to eat and headed back to our respective apartments, trusting that Grandma and Grandpa could get into the building and find their little abode.

We apparently trusted them a little too much.

After the General and I got into our apartment, I headed for the shower and the General settled into a phone call with Chuck.

By the time I got out of the shower, it was just past 11:00. I plugged my phone in and noticed I had a voicemail. Since I had already called and talked to David, I couldn't imagine who would have left me a voicemail (especially since Grandma and Grandpa don't own a cell phone). I listened to the message and this is what I heard:

"Uh, Rachel? This is your Grandma Shirley. We can't find our apartment. This nice young lady has let us borrow her cell phone, so please call us back."

I was half way out the door when I called the number they had given me. A very nice lady answered the phone and said that she had helped them out and they found their apartment.

Oh geez.

The next morning, they were on the road by 9:00 a.m. I was stuck at the office until 6:00 that evening, so I called the General to see if they had made it home yet.

"Oh, no. We aren't home yet. We just went through Cameron."

"Uh, mom. If you just went through Cameron, you have more than four and a half hours left to drive. Did you get lost again?"

And, that's the story of how the General and her two lieutenants visited the great state of Nebraska. They dropped off a horse. And probably took home what equates to the weight of a horse in antiques. And, they got lost.

But, it was fun.