Remembering This Past Week In Photos

Topsail, July, 2026

I'm up way too early—5:30—but Drew beat me to it, up at 5:00 because he's driving to Richmond this morning to help his daughter Halle move into her new apartment. I'll wake Evie around 7:45, and after her shower, we'll be off at 9:00 to visit my sister Ellen, then head home to the lake.

On Saturday, I was the first one up, so I got some photos of the sunrise and finished the blog before we left for Bristow. We'd packed the car Friday night, so all we had to do was gather a few things—computer, phones, medicines—toss them in, and hit the road. We said our goodbyes and were on the road by 7:15.

Our Son Tom's Family

For the first hour and a half, we wound our way through North Carolina, switching from one backcountry road to another with no idea whether we were headed in the right direction. Finally we hit Interstate 95, and for a while it was smooth sailing. We stopped for breakfast at a crowded McDonald's and were out in 10 minutes—amazing.

Our Daughter Jill's Family

Within 15 minutes, though, both of our GPS's blinked: a 25-minute delay, traffic slowing, and yep, we ebbed and flowed, starting and stopping for a good 25 minutes. We resumed normal speed once we passed the car that had stalled in the middle lane.

Our Daughter Beth, Son Tyler, And Girl Friend Renee

And you cannot drive on a three-lane highway, packed bumper to bumper, without some dumbass weaving lanes back and forth, risking everyone's lives to gain a couple of minutes. Once we got through Richmond, we hit what I guess is a high-accident area, where the 70 mph speed limit dropped to 40 and we crawled stop-and-go until Fredericksburg, where we finally got off the highway. I've had it—never going on 95 again.

The Gen Zers

After exiting, we stopped at Chick-fil-A and decided to eat there rather than push on. It was crowded, but the service was great, so it was a much-needed break after five hours of insane driving conditions. The rest of the way home wound through hilly Virginia countryside, past horse farms and green meadows. Finally, six and a half hours after starting, we pulled into Jill's, exhausted and ready to relax.

Our Grandchildren

Jill and Drew arrived about 20 minutes after us, then Hayden and Halle another forty-five minutes after that. Everyone was wiped out—Evie and I rested.  Around 4:30, we were all in the living room to say goodbye to Hayden, heading home to her apartment in Alexandria. A half hour later, we said goodbye to Halle, off to Richmond to move into her new place. Then we sat around enjoying a glass of wine or two before deciding, at Jill's suggestion, to order Domino's for dinner along with their brownies. The pizza was good, the brownies better, and by 7:30 both Jill and Evie had gone up to bed, while Drew and I stayed up until 9:30 before turning in ourselves.

Great Grandson, Rhys

Great Grandson, Tommy

Below is one of 42 posts Trump published on Truth Social yesterday in a span of three and a half hours when he should have been doing business for the people, not glorifying himself. He's insane.