Saturday

Wow was this ever a busy day in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. The morning started with great weather with some clouds which held the temps down to the high 70's. After a 7 AM wake up we got ready and headed down to the restaurant for some tasty breakfast which came with the room. After making sure all had eaten we headed out to sister Dee and Mike's beautiful place so the kids could run in their huge yard. Their 2 doggies helped to make sure the kiddos got plenty of exercise as they chase them around outside.

We played and visited with them until it was time to head back to the motel so we stopped and purchased a few items at Wal-Mart before deciding to have a lite lunch at Subway. We knew it would be hours before we would eat again as the reception wasn't due to start somewhere around 5-6. After lunch we headed back to the motel and sure enough Gabe went down for a nap as his eyes were heavy with sleep. Bob and I took Annsley down to the indoor pool for an hour or so of swimming  as she and Bob had to leave early for the 3 PM wedding. Jill had been gone most of the morning doing the makeup for the wedding party so we never saw her until it was time for them to leave for the church.

Gabe continued to sleep so finally around 2 PM we woke him up and got him dressed then set out for the church which was about 30 miles away up in the mountains. Yikes what a beautiful drive as this is the country where I use to run these hills. My how the area has changed so much since I left home in '64. Lots of the old farms and homesteads are falling in and abandoned as well as lots of new houses everywhere. There aren't to many farms still in operation. I recognized a couple I use to farm on with making hay, etc that are still a working farm.

We made it to the church about 5 minutes before the ceremony started and wow was there ever a crowd. The setting was just beautiful outside between large maple trees that are along the edge of the cemetery. We were in the shade the hold time with a nice gentle breeze. Bobby did an excellent job as he brought these two together before us and GOD and married them. While the ceremony was short and unique it was a tear jerker for me as well as others. Nancy and I kept Gabe as Annsley was the flower girl and did she did a wonderful job and was cute as a picture.

We broke down the chairs and all the wedding stuff and loaded it in a large trailer afterwards as there were plenty of men to help with that project as the pictures were being taken before heading out to the reception hall which was about 5 miles away. The reception had us snacking on cheese trays, fresh fruit and peanuts. After all the formalities we ate buffet style pulled pork sandwiches, chicken salad on a croissant, mac and cheese, pork and beans, diced spuds, yikes all this was homemade and plenty for seconds.

The dancing started and lasted until lots of the guests who where from out of sate had to made very early flights out of Washington D.C. the next morning left. So we once again broke down the reception hall and loaded the remaining arrangements and left overs and left the hall clean as a whistle. It was nearly 10:30 by the time we dropped off what we where carrying back to the Dillon residence and then headed back to the motel. Finally after a shower I hit the sack and Nancy was still wired with her picture taking so she was still on the computer when I did lights out. LATER

Friday

Well here I am blogging from the Hampton Inn in Woodstock, Va. Wow this is really a nice facility and loaded with amenities such as twin queen beds, a large spacious room, free full breakfast, indoor heated pool and spa, workout room, etc. You will guess it been years since we've stayed in a motel or some place other than a home with family, oh well!!!

We left our cabin in the woods around 9:30 or so and headed into Galax where we picked up Rt 221 instead of using the interstate. It was a nice local drive through many small mountain towns but a bit on the curvy side and at times very steep, especially Bent Mountain. Now I know why its named Bent Mt., yikes its straight down with so many curves we met ourselves on the next curve. We picked up I-81 at the Roanoke Exit and headed north to Harrisonburg where we exited and picked up Rt.11. What a drive through the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. We did noticed lots of tree damage along side the road all the way from the cabin as we travelled north. We passed several Civil War monuments along side the road as well, especially in the New Market area where a tremendous battle occurred. The beautiful farms and majestic old homes are scattered along this road once know as the Valley Pike. The area seems to have had plenty of rain as the soybean and corn crops are lush and green. There is good evidence of a great hay crop as "cow sleeping bags" that what our daughter-in-law, Jill calls them are lined up along the roads and in the barns of the numerous farms.

We reached our motel about the same time as Bob and his family did and we unload our luggage together and entered the motel with the kiddos riding on the cart. We have adjoining rooms which make it easy. Bob and I took the kids to the indoor pool and the kids worked out some of their energy by jumping and diving and I got in a good swim as well. The first swim for me in ages and great exercise for me and the knee. It seems to be healing nicely and I hope to return to hiking and eventually pickle ball again.

Bob and Annsley took off about 5 PM for the church to do the rehearsal for Saturdays wedding. Nancy, Jill and I were entertained by Gabe until we headed out to the Mexican Restaurant which is about 5 minutes away from the motel. We ended up with about 40-50 folks for the dinner and the food was okay but nothing to write home about. We got to meet Jordan's(groom) folks who traveled from Colorado, Kentucky and Texas to be here and most of them are staying here at the Hampton as well. We meet several in the lobby while checking in. Also lots of Kelly's friends from Belgium and Hawaii. Halley Jo(Kelly's older sister) is gorgeous and we wanted to hook her up with an old friend of Bobby's but he was unable to be here so she brought a friend who did not impress us. Anyhow we stayed as long we were able to entertain Gabe as it was really past his bedtime.

Bob took Gabe home and then I stayed and drove the rest of the gang after visiting for another hour or so with the wedding family, LATER  

Thursday

Well I wore a long sleeve flannel shirt all day but with shorts as the morning temps started out just above the high 50's. It was damp with overcast skies but the sun did show its face for about 2 minutes just before lunch. We were rain free except for late this evening when we got some light rain. After our 6:45 wake up by son Bobby who had driven all night from Florida;  he called to let us know that he had arrived safely in Shallotte, N.C. at our cousin Tammy's house. We are thankful for his safe trip of 10 plus hours with his family.

After our quiet times and a cup of hot tea and coffee to start the cool damp morning we had cereal and fruit for breakfast. I ventured out in the wet grass and decided to use the weed whacker for the first time in over 3 weeks since the knee injury. I was able to walk up and down the property without any real pain while using the trimmer and eventually Nancy took it down the driveway to trim along the entrance to our road. While she was doing this I fired up the riding mower and did all the yards but the back woods yard which grows much slower due to all the shade trees. She headed back up the driveway as I finished mowing the last yard and her arms were give out. It took her a couple hours for her arms to readjust after using the trimmer.

It was going on 2 PM and we both could feel the need for something to eat. I finished up a left over Italian sausage and she made a cheese wrap with pickles. After lunch we chilled trying to recoup for an hour or so then I decided to burn the trash and she made some phones calls to the family in Florida. I gathered up lots of sticks that had littered the back woods yard and used them for kindling for the trash fire. I then loaded up all the cans and bottles we would drop off at the dumpster on our way to Galax tomorrow when we head out for our trip north to Winchester.

Nancy did some packing and we started getting ready for our trip. We decided since we had such a late lunch we would go meatless and roast a couple small spuds in the oven along with some fresh cauliflower and a can of green peas for supper. I doctored my spuds up with some home grown jalapeno peppers as well as some sour cream and were they ever dewisheous. After the clean up I rested my leg watching Fox News. We are getting excited about traveling north tomorrow and staying off of the interstate. The towns along I-81 on Route 11 are just full of Civil War history and many of the homes and buildings are from the 18th century, plus the scenery is just awesome as well in these small quaint towns.

Tomorrow we will head to the church where I attended as a youngster for the rehearsal of our niece's wedding that will take place on Saturday. There we will meet up with son Bobby who will officiate the wedding as well as be able to love up on granddaughter Annsley, grandson Gabriel and their mother Jill. They will accompany us back to the cabin for a few days next week after the wedding.The weather looks as if it will be pleasant compared to the triple digit temps from last week-ends heat wave that struck the Shenandoah Valley. It will be good to see all my family who I haven't seen in over a year and will also attend the festivites; they come from Pennsylvania, West Virginia and the local area. This will be the first wedding in ages on my side of the family.

Well Nancy once again has the camera out as she just loves to see the place mowed and trimmed. The pictures don't capture the smell of the newly mowed grass, the quietness and the beauty of the flowers and trees plus the business of the bees, butterflies, birds and the majesty of Old Glory as she hangs from our cabin, LATER The last picture is of a hummingbird moth which is seldom seen as this is the first one this year we have seen.

Wednesday

Well it was a duck weather day as it rained most of the night and then finally let up around mid-morning, until late this evening when it started again. We slept in until after 8 AM before starting the day. The soft rain on the tin roof made for great sleeping while snuggled in the warm snug covers as the out side temps dropped down into the 60's, yikes was it ever a change from last week this time when we had upper 80's and dry as a bone. After our quiet times we had a bowl of oatmeal with a peach and a banana.

We decided to clean house and then Nancy headed down to the basement to do some laundry. I caught up on some bill paying and then found a different route to Winchester instead of using I-81 as the construction around Salem is causing massive back ups like the 30 mile back up I was in on Monday. We will take the scenic route and visit the small towns along the Shenandoah Valley. There is a lot of history on the valley pike know as Route 11 which parallels I-81.

After the rain stopped I headed out to pull some weeds in the gardens and then separated a bunch of Zinnias I had started from seeds which had grown to about a foot in height. We ate a lite lunch of salad,watermelon and a couple cookies. Nancy took off after lunch to get her walk in for the day by hiking out to the mailbox. She caught up with Jodi and they made the trip together with her 3 dogs. I stayed home as I'm not ready to tackle the hills just yet. I do feel the knee is getting stronger but not a 100% just yet, hopefully by next week I can run and play a little or at least hike.

Nancy made oven taters with fresh Rosemary and baked a couple Italian sausages for supper. We invited the neighbors Gerald, Jodi and Gabe up for domino's and then the rubber game in Spades. Gerald won in domino's and the gals won the deciding game in Spades. It was close to 10 when we called it a day. They are leaving tomorrow for their home in Raleigh tomorrow,so we will be the lone chickens on the hill for a few days until we get back from Winchester on Sunday afternoon with son Bobby and family, LATER

Tuesday

Well it rained softly most of the night on the tin roof which made for good sleeping in weather, plus the air cooled down considerably which called for a quilt on the bed in the early morning hours. After rolling out around 7:30 we did our quiet times with hot green tea for me and hot java for Nancy. After our quiet times we sliced up a home grown tomato from our neighbors(Jodi and Gerald) garden near Raleigh and placed that on toast, mayo, fried egg, onion, lettuce and hamburger dills for an egg sandwich breakfast style, Yeow is that ever tasty and one of our favorites breakfasts.

After eating I headed out to check on the gardens and discovered since I was last in the garden down below the worms were about to eat up my cabbage plants. I took some bug spray and sprayed them and then fertilized them as well as chopped some weeds. The weeds have just about taken over the garden down below except for the cucumber and potato plants. Its been just to difficult to walk down the back yard to reach the garden with my bad knee. Today was the first time I really was able to navigate walking down the hill without any real pain and discomfort. Walking on a flat surface has been getting better each day as I walked all around Wal-Mart for nearly an hour while shopping.

We ran some errands in town then headed to Wal-Mart to do some grocery shopping as we get ready for Bobby and family coming for a visit next week. After our shopping we did the $5 buck pizza which is now $5.99 at Little Caesars for lunch. That's the first pizza this summer in Galax and it was dewisheous. After lunch we stopped and gassed up at $2.97 a gallon before heading home. It was raining in town and by the time we reached the parkway it was really foggy so much so we could barely see the roadway.
We got back around 2:30 and the gravel road coming into the cabin was really wet and we learned it had rained nearly a 1/2 inch while we were Galax.

After putting away the groceries we headed out to the top of the mountain as the rain has stopped and the sun was shinning but the temps were in the low 60's; Nancy was hiking and me on the golf cart. I returned a book that Joe Browning had lend me to read while I have been recuperating from this knee injury. Nancy caught up with me at their house and we invited them down to our place for some wine berry plants they could transplant into area near their garden.  They stayed for a 1/2 hour or so and visited. It was close to supper time so after they headed out to transplant the berry bushes we ate a salad for supper then headed down to the neighbors for cards at 7 PM.

We learned it was Jodi's 47th birthday and her husband Gerald and son Gabriel purchased a multi flavored(4 different flavors) cheesecake to celebrate with and wow was it ever dewisheous. I as well as Nancy sampled a couple  of the flavors. We then played a couple games of Spades and once again we split with each team winning a game then we played 5 Crowns and once again Gabriel whupped us  by a wide margin. We headed out on the golf cart in a light rain which has been falling the past couple hours and has also dropped the temps down to where Nancy is wearing a sweat shirt; what a difference from this time last week.

Well that's about it for this day as it hot shower time and then hopefully sleep to the sound of a soft rain falling on the tin roof. LATER  

Monday

Well today was a special day as I helped out our friend, Eddie who had an ankle replacement about 6 weeks ago by driving him to Salem, Virginia which is about 2 plus hours from the cabin; but due to the traffic back up on I-81 it took nearly 4 hours one way. I tried several ways to get him there in time for his 1:30 appointment but the traffic was so heavy and so backed up we made it there around 2:45. Anyhow after an hour with the doctor they removed his cast and replaced it with a boot so he can now remove it at nights to shower and slowly begin to put pressure on the joint as well.

I started the day with a 7:30 wake up and after my quiet time I had a bowl of cereal with a banana and a peach. The morning temps where in the high 60's and there was the threat of thunder showers forecasted for the day. We did run into some heavy rain in the Salem area around 4 PM but none reached the cabin. The temps have now dropped into the low 70's so we will have some good sleeping weather tonight.

I got back to the cabin around 6:30 and Nancy had pan fried a pork chop along with some sauteed squash for supper. After eating Gerald, Jodi and Gabriel came up for cards and the boys won the first game of Spades by a wide margin and then Gabriel whipped us big time in 5 Crowns so we played another game of Spades and the gals won by 1 point on the last hand. We had a raucous time until nearly 10:30 and then decided to call it a night, LATER

Sunday

Well the morning started with warm temps in the low 70's and eventually reached the low 90's as it got downright hot once again during the afternoon. After our quiet times and a lite breakfast of  oatmeal with fruit we got ready to head out to Cornerstone for an awesome time of worship. Pastor B had a great message on Faith and the praise music was just so inspiring. We stopped off at the veggie stand on the way home for some goodies.

I tuned into the last couple sets of Wimbledon where Federer beat Murray 3 out 4 sets while Nancy made an very tasty lunch of nachos. We had picked up a couple avocados at the veggie stand and I picked some fresh cilantro from the garden as well as some hot peppers so she made guacamole and yikes did that ever make for a superb lunch. That held me until we cut a cold watermelon we had in the down stairs fridge for a couple days for supper. We took half with us to share with neighbors Gerald and Jodi when we went down to play domino's and spades later in the evening. We played in their basement which was in the low 70's, wow did that ever feel great. Gabriel once again was the big winner in domino's and the gals beat the guys in spades.

I spent the afternoon with my leg elevated with an ice pack on the knee watching baseball. The Rays came back from a 5 run deficient to beat the Indians in the last inning. I watered the gardens after the sun was shaded by the tall trees that surround the cabin. Well not much else is going on except tomorrow I'm driving our friend Eddie to Salem, Va to have his cast removed from his ankle. LATER