Monday Afternoon

Well we are back from a whirlwind trip to northern Virginia on Sunday and then again back here on Monday afternoon. We had a great visit with my half sister, her husband and grand daughter who she is raising as her daughter. I got to see all three of my sisters and their husbands and Paw Paw. We spent the night at Dee and Mike's house in Woodstock.

The trip up the valley started around 9:30 Sunday morning after an early start that included our watching the Bridgepoint service on line before heading out. The weather was perfect with some early morning fog that quickly burned off before we reached the interstate and headed north. We made great time until we got close to Salem, Va. then the interstate suddenly became clogged with traffic so we went at a snails pace for several miles before finding an exit which we took. We should have used the GPS but instead ask a local about using another traffic way. Which turned out to be a hundred mile detour across two mountain ranges which eventually landed us in Covington, Va. I must say the scenery was awesome and the trout stream were just beautiful in the valleys and the mountain tops had great vistas. We barely made it to Woodstock for appointed time to leave for Martinsburg, W.Va. which is where we were meeting up with family and the half sister's family.

We had a joyous reunion with some tears flowing as we went back some 60 plus years. She retired after 40 years as an English and History teacher at a private christian school and has taken on the role of mothering her grand daughter from the age of 9 months to now at 12 years of age. She and her family live in South Carolina near Augusta. We had a great time as we explored and shared our life story. We are hoping to start a family relationship.

Well we left Dee and Mike this Monday after a delicious breakfast of eggs and bacon with yogurt and fresh fruit around 10'ish. They were both off today as it was a holiday and little did we know or plan because of having neighbors up from Florida. Speaking of Florida it looks as the panhandle is in for another hurricane as one is churning in the Gulf of Mexico and headed north, oh well. It seems our Potus and the governor are preparing for the worst and getting folks and supplies in position. We made a stop in Galax for some goodies before heading back on the mountain which is cloudy and with rain showers at times. We made it up the back steep trail only to hear the rain coming through the trees so we turned around and headed home just in time before the skies opened up, LATER