A Welcome Break From The Heat

Fun Afternoon At Barrel Oaks Winery

Ready To Party

Halle And Her Granny

It's 7:45 and we are still in Virginia.  I have been up for an hour, watched Hayden get ready and go off to commencement practice and Jill has just left to drive Halle to school.  Drew left for work in DC at 5:00 to avoid the worst traffic going and coming.  

A Dog Day Morning

Yesterday was another day of parties for Jill and the family.  Fortunately, they did not start until noon so that all of us could have a relaxing Sunday morning.  There was not much to do other than empty the dishwasher and worry about what to have for breakfast.  I had my usual, yogurt with granola, bananas, and blueberries.  Around noon, the house began to empty, Jill, Drew and Hayden to parties, Halle to a friend's house.  So Evie and I decided to hit the local shopping area which is more like a mall because it has almost any store you might want and it keeps growing.  It's ten minutes from their house, too convenient really because it makes shopping and spending money too easy.  Both Evie and I were looking for shoes so we spent a good forty-five minutes looking, or at least Evie did.  I found what I wanted within ten minutes.  Evie finally settled on a pair which gave us enough time to quickly hit Pier One and a walk through Home Goods.  By then, I had enough so we headed home to take it easy, have some lunch, a chicken sandwich with leftover guacamole and wait for the gang to come home from party two.  

Farms Surrounding Barrel Oaks

Storms Arising

Picnic Tables In The Rain

Around 3:30 the four of us left to pick up Drew's mom who lives in a great 55 over community about 20 minutes from Jill's.  We then drove to Delaplane, to the Barrel Oaks Winery set among the green hills of Virginia.  We were there in the fall and it's a beautiful setting, among farms, set up on a hill overlooking the surrounding farms.  It has lots of tables outside and is a magnet for wine/beer drinkers with dogs.  It seemed as if every other table had a dog.  We were lucky to find a table inside because just as we arrived it started to rain and sometimes hail throughout our stay, it really began to pelt the ground and the garage doors had to be closed and sandbags used to keep the water from coming in.  

Barrel Oaks Bar Room

When we walked up to the bar, a small group was playing tunes, surrounded by dog huggers.  Unfortunately, just as we arrived, a traveling oyster bar was closing up so we had to stick to pizza which was quite good,  We stayed until closing at 6:00, drove home in the rain, passing two scary accidents on RT 66, the main highway into DC.

It's A Dog's Life

We then spent the rest of the evening out on their porch, enjoying some snacks, a margarita or two and watching the first half of the NBA game.  At half time, everyone went to bed except for me.  I stayed up to watch Golden State finally find their game in the third quarter, play well and take a ten point lead which they were able to preserve for a victory.