Morning In Northern Virgiinia (Bristow)

On The Road Again

It's almost 8:00 in our daughter Jill's house, a busy home in the mornings.  Drew left for work around 5:00, Jill took Halle to an appointment at 7:30, then to school, and Hayden, a senior, is awake and getting ready for school.  Only Evie is still sleeping, lucky gal.

A Curious Virginia Cardinal

We consider ourselves fortunate to have had an easy drive from the lake to Virginia yesterday.  We woke up at the lake to a beautiful morning, four or five inches of fresh, white snow, the temperature in the 20's and no wind. It was the kind of morning that made me want to get on my skies and head out on to the lake or a beautiful day for a road trip.

Hard To Leave

Instead, we packed the car and started our drive through the Allegheny forest and south then east.  It was a spectacular morning until about noon, blue skies, sunshine, tree limbs sparkling with ice and the roads clear.  By the time we were off Interstates and in Berkeley Springs, WV, it had clouded up.  Still, it was easy going although we noticed lots of trees and branches down on the side of the road, a result either of an ice storm or heavy winds.

Ice Art

Our GPS said we should arrive at Jill's home at 3:10 and we did even though we had a couple of stops for gas and food.  Our first road trip in at least a year turned out to be fine, mostly because we pick the right day to travel, avoiding the snow and ice.

When we arrived, Halle and Drew came out to greet us and help with our bags.  Hayden, however, was upstairs taking a nap after a tough couple of days.  Jill soon arrived home from work and we quickly got caught up on the past week.

A Cool, New Screened In Deck

And we admired their new screened in deck which looks amazing, will be great for three seasons and should be completed in the next couple of weeks.   Everyone seems fine, the girls busy as usual, both Jill and Drew working hard.  I had forgotten what it was like for both spouses to be working, all the kids in school.  It makes for busy mornings and nights, quite a contrast to our relaxed mornings at the lake with little to do but plan our day.

Evie had made a couple of dinners on Monday that she had to freeze because we had to put off our road trip for a couple of days.  She brought them along yesterday, however, so all she had to do was pop one of the chicken casseroles in the oven and we had an easy dinner along with a salad.  The entire family was exhausted from Wednesday's funeral for Drew's Dad and the gathering at their house.  So everyone was ready for bed by 9:30, including Evie and me.