The first stop on our trip was Rockville, Virginia. When we arrived, we found ourselves unable to use the driveway. A line of storms had recently passed through, leaving many trees lying on the ground, including the large tree in my in-law’s front yard. Luckily, the tree fell away from the house.
The highlight of the Virginia visit was game night. We played Apples to Apples and a game called Guesstures, which is similar to charades. Before we started, my father-in-law told us he couldn’t play due to his strong accent. :-) Everyone who played, myself included, really got into doing the gestures and and trying to figure them out. My nephew Caleb was a natural and was able to figure out nearly everything anyone acted out.
After a few days in Virginia with Susan’s family, we headed northwest to visit my family in Ohio. Along the way, we stopped very briefly in Morgantown, West Virginia to visit my old friend Carolyn. She was at work, so we only stopped for 20 minutes.
The heat wave in Ohio prevented us from doing a few things we had planned, but Mom had plenty of jobs to keep us busy. Our first job was to remove an old, dead pine tree along the driveway. It was a lot of fun for me, using the Stihl chainsaw. Andrew had a great time, too, because he got to drive the tractor back and forth from the tree to the burn pile.
A couple days later, we decided to light the fire. With the help of a little bit of “burn juice” we quickly had a rip roarin’ fire going. The fire was too hot to stand within 20 feet, which was a problem when the dry grass around the fire started to burn. We quickly got the hoses connected and I gave the Andrew and Mikey some buckets and they soon had the grass fire under control. Later, Aunt Patti and Kelli came up with Emily and we tried to roast marshmallows. Note to Mom: Marshmallows don’t stay fresh forever; buy some new ones next time!
The one thing I wanted to do most in Ohio was take Andrew down to the creek. We’d been down there in the winter, but not in the summer. We called my cousin Chuck and he came out with his family, including Anita, Jessica, Jacob, and Jordan, and we all headed down to the creek. Years ago, Chuck and I followed the creek down to the valley and now, about 20 years later, we were doing it again with our families. How cool is that?
Just like last time, once we reached the valley, we were all too hot and tired to walk back up the hill. To our utter horror, phone service was very spotty in the valley. Both Chuck and Anita tried to call Mom, but both were unable to get a connection. We walked about a quarter mile up the road and Susan tried. She was able to connect and ask Mom to come down and rescue us.
Saturday was our last day in Ohio. Mom decided to extend her time with us and rode back to Florida with us. Along the way, we stopped in Charleston, West Virginia to eat lunch and visit my cousin Nicole. She told us about some waterfalls along a route that leads our next destination - New River Gorge. Unfortunately, Kanawha Falls was not much more that a dribble. I guess they need some rain.
Since we were planning to stop at a motel, we had some time to explore. I wanted to stop at the New River Gorge. When we arrived, the power was out, so the Visitor Center was closed. Andrew had to pee, so we stopped at the gift shop and they recommened we try the campground about a half mile away. Luckily, it was open, so Andrew got to pee in the dark. Finally, with that taken care of, we were able to return to the Visitor Center and hike down to see the gorge and the bridge.
We arrived home Sunday evening after dropping Mom off for the night at the C&D B&B. The trip was too short and maybe a little bit too hot, but it was still nice to get away and see everyone, including some graduates from my high school. The saddest part of the trip was seeing my grandmother. She is now in a “home” and is on medication. Her condition is strikingly different from what I saw last time I was home.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment