VIRGINIA HERE WE COME!!

It seemed like all we were doing was EATING out!  But I sure was not complaining as I got out of cooking.  I really am getting out of practice at home.  Haha

Last week ended with three meals out on Saturday!  First breakfast at the Dutch Haus with Men of Faith, then lunch at the campground for their annual Camper's Appreciation Day.  We enjoyed meeting with other campers who we do not normally see.  And yummy fried chicken!!  Vicki and Sandy your work was appreciated and Vicki and Scott we appreciate the nice campground and all that you do to make it even better.  Thank you!!

Vicki (co-owner) and Sandy (Bingo-lady)

They served many!!





Rosemary, Anthony and Joe who camped same place near us back in the '80s!!

Ro, Joe, Tony and Janine camped beside us at Timashamie when our children were very young.  We left and sold the trailer after a couple years because Scouts and Soccer began keeping our boys tied up, with no indication that we would have time to go back to camping.  However, these friends never quit, except for Janine.  It has been good to visit with them again!!

Audrey with new acquaintances.

From this luncheon we went on to the First Friends Church annual Disaster Auction benefit Chicken BBQ!!  We knew that we really did not need this meal, so we enjoyed the side salad and a piece of pie and saved the half chickens and sides for another day!!  Whew!!  Don't need another day like that!! No wonder we are putting on weight.

We sat with a couple from Hartville and our friends Sandy and Niles.

Jim Moffett and his sister Dianne who were neighbors of Audrey's from back in the '50s!!

 

We never know who we are going to meet up with.  We see Jim almost weekly, but I have not seen his sister, Dianne, in years!!  I thought my family would enjoy this picture. 

 

On Sunday we went to the Skyline Restaurant north of Salem for dinner after church and had Gary's friend, Rick, and our son Richard and his family meet us there for dinner.  They have such good food and they were very busy.  Planes were flying in and out of the runway strip beside the restaurant. So Richard, Lynn and Richie stayed after dinner and watched them for a while.  It looked like there were students flying.

 

The week ahead kept us busy getting ready for our trip to the Outer Banks, to begin on Thursday. We were so looking forward to that as we wanted the R & R time with Richard and his family.  And we had plans for sight seeing on the way and a couple visiting stops on the way, as well.

 

We left by 7:30 am and had a good day on the road, arriving early enough that we were able to go to LuRay Caverns for a tour.  They were awesome, of course!!

Luray Caverns

 

Lake reflecting the stalactites.







Some were only 1/8 inch thick. Amazing!!

Unfortunately, I can not remember all of the explanations for the different types of formations, but they were very interesting. 

 

One of the attractions in the cavern was the Organ room.  The man, who created the organ's sounds, had to find and cut 3500 different stalactites to get each sound correct for the organ keys.  They were then attached, each to a hammer that was then operated by the organ.  It was difficult to hear, but awesome, non the less. 



This was a good finish to our first day on the road.  Day two started out in rain and kept up with more and more rain!!  But we started driving down Skyline Drive and enjoyed it in spite of the rain.  You could not see much from the overlooks, but I could imagine what it might be in the fall.  We will have to go back!!

One tunnel coming up - - -

 

The deer were not shy - - -



After the tunnel we decided it was time to get off Skyline Drive.  So we went on to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home.  If we thought it was going to get any easier, Not!!  When it was time to leave the main floor tour, it was POURING.  So we ended up returning to the car and then the motel soaking wet!!   

On Saturday we drove on to Richmond area, and looked up one of our son's babysitters. Now that is going back into history.   We had known that she lived in that area near her daughter, but missed seeing her on our previous trips through. 

Terry, Trina, Elayne, Audrey and Gary

Terry, Trina and Elayne

This time we not only visited with her in her apartment, but also went out to eat Mexican for dinner with Elayne and her daughter, Trina, and son-in-law, Terry.  Since Terry was a mechanical engineer, he and Gary had plenty to talk about and us gals had loads of catching up to do.  It was great!!  Thanks for suggesting dinner out, Trina. 

Sunday we drove on to Windsor Baptist Church to worship also knowing that we would see a dear friend, Margaret, and acquaintances from our prior stops there.  It was fun to surprise Margaret, the Candy Lady!!  It just made her day, which was our intention.  She and Audrey have been e-mail buddies since we first met in 2010.

Margaret Gaskins, The Candy Lady

She carries a full bag of candy everywhere!!  She has her audience.  We are no exception.

Now on to The Outer Banks!!  Stay with us.