6 days, 5 nights,7 homes, 3 parents, 2 brothers, 3 sisters, 2 cousins, 3 brother-in-laws, 1 sister-in-law, 4 nephews, 2 nieces,1 friend of a niece, 2 nephew's girlfriends, 4 dogs, 9 cats,1 bird,1 snake, 147 pictures, 7 states, 3 interstate traffic jams, 1422 miles, 69 gallons of gas, 6 wrong turns, 1 broken wiper blade, 2 rainbows, hours of great company....Priceless!
It wasn't Friday the 13th, but it sure had a lot of bad signs as if it was. I went to work lastFriday (6th) expecting a pretty easy morning and being able to leave by around 9 or 10. I only had to write one order for some fiberglass storage tanks and out the door. The problem starts when the supplier in Wisconsin is one hour behind our time plus he isn't expected in the office until 11 central time. With a lot of pursuing of other angles to get the order complete, I managed to get someone who had the authority to provide the final information and write the order. The next obstacle is passing the information through my boss for approval. A true poker face that pulls a trump card out of nowhere. He managed to come up with a questionable technical glitch that sent the engineers back a step and me heading for a later departure time. I finally finished the task with approval by 11 and was gone before something else popped up. So I'm driving home from work in a little bit of a hurry (in my mind) and manage to get behind everyone else who could care less about the expected pace of things. I had granny's, farmers, rubber neckers, mopeds (DUI Mobiles), pull-out-in-front-of-you-without-respect-to-your-presence-on-the-road-idiots, slow pokes and cel phone callers. Last but not least was the guy hauling horses who came off the interstate without stopping, then turn left at the very next street (after only going about 15mph until he arrived there. Yes I was finally at my last nerve. I knew right away that Gin was to drive the first leg of our trip. So, all is good, I arrive home safely, in one frazzled state of mind, ready to commit a crime unmentionable in this Blog. Gin is very understanding as I get out of the car and throw a hissy fit along with a half a bottle of water. It's good to vent and let the Italian-Irish-Scottish feelings out. What a relief.
I pack my bag as Gin loads the truck. We check over the list of what to bring and ask each other if there is anything else. After a salmon burger sandwich and final traffic checks due to the fire in Apex, NC, we have a plan to get to Rocky Mount. Our estimate was to get there by 5 or 6. We had to stop in Charlotte to deposit my check, since my company is not advanced enough to grant me direct deposit. After checking with Mom and Ray on the traffic conditions in Apex, we decide to take I-85 most of the way to Rocky Mount. I start driving after the credit union visit and immediately take a wrong turn (#1) onto the I-485 bypass. So a few miles later we are heading in the right direction until we meet up with I-85 and a few hundred other travelers crawling at 15mph east. Not a problem, we get off at the next ramp and decide to take the back roads. The back roads are good, and we had to head up to I-40 to avoid Apex. We make some good time on I-40 and we think we may be able to meet up with Mom and Dad for the Marine Band concert at 7:30. That was a good thought until the traffic was brought to a crawl for several miles in Duram and Raleigh. We finally arrived around 7:45 worn out and weary. I only managed to get one finger from an irritated commuter that I honked at after he couldn't get around me during the slower heavy traffic. I'm #1.
Mom and Dad went on to the show knowing we might not make it. They were back home close to 9 and we had some good conversation and popcorn while I enjoyed the Yankees losing to the Tigers. (Side story about the popcorn: Dad made a batch of popcorn and placed it in a large bowl and several smaller bowls, in the den with the rest of us. Being the prankster that I am, I grabbed a handfull and placed it in the first small bowl, then took the large bowl for myself. Well, Dad walks in a few minutes later and has a second large bowl for himself. Gin and Mom got a big kick out of my little trick backfiring in my face.) Dad didn't seem to enjoy the gameas much as I did (them bums).
Saturday morningwe rode to Wal-Mart for a few items then back to their house for lunch and picture trading with Mom on the computer. Lunch was a nice deli sandwich with popcorn and whatever else was available. Nothing special is my favorite type of meal. I wish we could have spent more time with you Mom and Dad, I look forward to being there this Christmas.
Saturday afternoon we headed a little south to Laurie's and a night with the Struttons. We started out shooting the breeze and catching up on our lives. Carly and Russel were there for a while until Russel had to leave for his first day on his new job. Pretty soon, Daniel was breaking out the card table for a round of Aggravation Rummy. We listened to music (Ry Cooder will never be thought of the same.) and played a few hands until dinner. We went to an Italian resturaunt and enjoyed some delicious dishes. I had the chicken pasta with onions, peppers and mushrooms. Gin split anta-pasta salad and a spinach calzone with Laurie. Daniel had his own pizza and Ray woofed down a (I can't remember what it was, but I know it was good because he ate it) dish. Russel couldn't go with us because of starting his new job at a sandwich shop. We returned to the Strutton manse to complete a new game of Ag-Rummy. While anjoying the game I managed to copy some of Ray's classical music collection. Ray also managed to copy some of my music library as well. We retired for the night at a very late hour and were up by 7 on Sunday. Thanks Laurie, Ray, Russel, Daniel and Carly for making our visit enjoyable.
Sunday morning we left Laurie's by 9:30 and headed down to Greenville, NC to see Joe and his ladies. We managed to arrange the visit to Joe's before Sydney's soccer game later in the afternoon. We had a cold cut sandwich lunch with a delicious brownie desert. Sydney and her friend Mya were playing resturaunt in Syd's room and shared their fun with us. Luckily Joe diverted us out of there before we ate more (pretend food) than we needed to. Sydney and Kelsey showed off their collection of stray kittens (cats) they were keeping in garage. Better them than us. We squeezed in a few group pictures and were off to Norfolk. Joe, Ingrid, Kelsey, Sydney and Mia, thanks again for lunch and hopefully next time we are in town we can spend more time with you.
Gin started and finished the drive to Norfolk, which was plesent even though we managed to take wrong turn (#2) just outside of Greenville. Thanks Joe for straightening us out. We kept telling each other we would stop along the way for fresh water, but we managed to not stop at what eneded up being the only place open until Suffolk. We managed to get to wrong turn (#3) in West Norfolk on the way to the Mid Town Tunnel. The roads have changed significantly and I wasn't much help on the navigating. We finally made it to Ghent and the 7 Eleven for a well deserved Slurpee. A few blocks later we were at Jean's place and unloaded for a few nights. We left Jean's to head over to Susan and Richard's for dinner and conversation. Susan showed us there landscaping work in the back yard. Shortly after that we were off to Little Creek for a seafood supper. The resturaunt is in the marina near the Amphib base on shore drive. Everything was good and so was the company. We drove back to the Duffee's for more visiting and some good music. We left their house not too late and returned to Jean's. Susan and Richard, thanks again for hosting us Sunday night. We were up pretty late at Jean's sharing picure and music files. I helped re-arrange her cable modem box and located a wire that became disconnected from the printer.
Monday morning Gin and I were able to get out early for a short jog in the neighborhood. After cleaning up and breakfast we prepared for the rest of the days activities. We had lunch at Dumar's and then it was off on our separate ways. Gin and Jean headed for Ocean View and the old neighborhoods. I was off to Greenbriar to meet my cousin John. John and I met in the food court of the mall and then drove over to Starbucks to catch up on times past. We have not seen each other for over 19 years. It was the first time that I can recall, we had talked personnally in all of our lives. I remeber visiting his parents house when we were younger and we played games together, but we were kids. We never became close, I don't know why and it doesn't matter now. That time is gone and I'm not concerned about the answers. The important thing is that we were able to sit down together and share our lives as they are now. We have a lot of things in common such as the type of work (commercial/industrial construction) we are involved in, coaching youth sports and recent awareness in our personal health. John, thanks for spending the afternoon with me. I look forward to getting together more often with you and Judy.
John dropped me off at the mall where I parked the truck and he went off to pick up Judy. I drove over toY-Not Pizza in Kempsville. Let me back-up a little, I did manage to make wrong turn (#4) on Indian River Road which lead to wrong turn (#5) on Kempsville Road. I forgot to go over Indian River Road to Reon then Providence Road. Oh, well so much for my pride, I am geographically challenged. After arriving at the resturant early, I walked over to the music store in the strip mall to pick up a few CDs. Gin and Jean arrive soon after and we grabbed a booth. Chris arrived before 5, then John and Judy arrived. It was great to have my brother and cousin together for dinner. Chris and John found out how much their lives intersect each other right now. Lauren Edwards is playing volleyball and Chris' life revolves around the sport. There were several people that Chris has met who are friends of John and Judy. Overall I'm happy that we all were together for the brief time and hope that this is continued throughout our lives. Thanks Chris for having dinner with us. You know you can always call me if you need to talk. Tell Alicia that we missed her.
Gin and Jean headed back to Ghent in one direction and I in another. I managed to arrive a little behind them due to a ramp closure on the interstate in Downtown Norfolk. I choose to drive through the scenic VB Blvd neighborhoods. I was only a few minutes behind them in time. After arriving back at Jean's we discussed and decided on dessert at Fellini's on Colley Ave. Jean had a butter pecan cake, Gin had cookie dough cheese cake and I enjoyed a carrot cake. It's good to be bad. Back at Jean's we did some more music file sharing then loaded Google Earth satelite software for Jean's enjoyement. She was excited to be able to get a bird's eye view of Norfolk, Kate's neighborhood and our house. We managed to get to bed earlier Monday night for some well deserved sleep. We were up by 6 Tuesday morning and out of Jean's by 7:40. Jean, thanks again for putting us up for two nights. I enjoyed spending the time with you and sharing our little family reunions.
We drove up Gramby Street to the I-64 ramp past Tausig Blvd. Traffic jam (#3) was just a 1/2 mile up the road on 64. We jumped back off at 4th view and drove through OV to the ramp near Monkey Bottom. The interstate was still crawling until we finally passed a wreck on the east bound side. The rubber necking was at it's worse. Once we got moving again we made it to Lightfoot and the Williamsburg Pottery by 9. Gin wanted to pick up a serving platter in which the selection was pretty sad. I remember that place having so musch variety in plates and dishes. Now it seamsto be a seconds place for factory rejects. We got what we needed and departed. Gin drove up to the outskirts of DC (Woodbridge) where we stopped for lunch. Taco Bell was the decision and it was spectacular. I took the wheel for the rest of the journey to Kate's. We had some heavy traffic through DC but experienced not delays. We made it to Kate's by 1:30 just after making wrong turn (#6) at the US-29 on ramp (my fault) which only put us out of the way by about 1/4 mile. Kate wasn't home when we arrived and Gin was crossing her legs. Gin reached Kate on her cell phone and a neighbor provided a spare key. We entered and let Molly free from her pen. After being smothered by boxer dog love, Kate arrived and all was well. We talked a while and played on the trampoline with Molly. Sammy arrived a little later and we had some fun conversations proclaming several "Man-Laws" about various topics. David arrived close to 6 and went back out for his training run before the Saturday 1/2 marathon (Good Luck). I drove over to the high school to pick-up Richard from football practice. Once every one was home and cleaned up from all the sporting events, we went out for a delicious meal at a lakefront restuaraunt. We picked up Richard's girlfiriend Angela along the way (Watch out Rich, I think your brother will take your place if you ever mess up with her). I have to admit, I fell out of the health nut tree and into the high calorie/fat pit. Luckily I am able to rebound, plus spinach is making it's way back to the grocery stores. We retreated back to the McDuff's for more conversation and a good night's sleep. Wednesday morning we were up with the family and said our goodbye's as each of the guys left for work and school. Gin and I met met Molly's boyfriend Clark before we hit the road. Kate, David, Rich and Sammy, thank you for entertaining us and sharing your time and home.
We planned on taking the scenic mountain route home and it was a good decision. We hit a few showers in southern Virginia but nothing major. We did loose a windshield wiper blade sometime after Roanoke. The RainX helped keep things clear until we arrived in Johnson City. We witnessed two different rainbows in the southern part of Virginia and near Johnson City. Overall the drive was relaxing even though it took about 10 hours (not counting rest stops). I highly recommend taking a trip on I-26 between Asheville and Bristol for some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the Appalachian Mountains. We were in Spartanburg County by 8 and met Caris, Patrick and Jessica for dinner at Nacho's near the lake. It was great to be back home. The trip was well worth the time, miles and wrong turns.
I would like to do a similar trip like this again sometime in the near future. I started writing this Blog entry Thursday morning and sat down at the computer for several sessions, pecking away at this with two worn out fingers. Thanks to all my family, I appriciate all your love and support you share with Gin and me.I consider my family as my best friends.
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