Travelogue

We’ve graduated the class of 2017 and sent the rest of the students home for the summer. Ben was bored within hours of his last class, pacing the floor, wondering what to do with himself. Anyone need to hire a teenage boy?

I supposed Kenny could put him and Nate to work. We had a storm with high winds blow through yesterday afternoon. When it was all over they discovered one tree had fallen across their driveway out to the road and another had blown down across the driveway from their house to Mrs. Connie’s house. They couldn’t go out either exit. Too bad he doesn’t heat with firewood any more. He’ll have plenty.

UPDATE ON MOM
Mom has continued to do well over the last few weeks. She made it back to church last Sunday and again today as well as last Wednesday evening. She’s also made it to Mrs. Jean’s for her hair appointment the last two weeks so life is returning to normal for her a bit.

WASHINGTON, DC
I really should have written this up last time, but I didn’t. Nate, along with the vast majority of the eighth grade at school, went on a school trip to Washington, DC. They flew out from Nashville early on Wednesday, April 26, and returned late that Friday.

They flew in and out of Baltimore so the first day of the trip they visited the Naval Academy and took in a baseball game where the Orioles defeated Tampa Bay 5-4. Thursday they went to DC where they visited all the major monuments, Arlington, and other historic sites. Nate caught up with Andrew Swann who is a junior at George Washington University at some point on this day. Friday they went back to DC to see more sites and visit the Smithsonian before heading back to the airport and home.

I had a marvelous opportunity to see a lot of our nation’s capital when I was a summer missionary there in 1989, but if you are going to make a quick trip I think a class trip like this would be a lot of fun. I’m glad Nate got the chance to go.

A VISIT TO VIRGINIA
Vicki and Jenna made a weekend trip to see the Jones family right after I wrote last. They left home on Friday, May 5, and came back that Tuesday.

Vicki and Jenna wound up helping the Jones family move. You see, the apartment they have been renting while their house is under construction is a basement level unit. The upstairs neighbors are a family with several small children. So when a neighboring, upstairs unit became available they jumped at the chance to get out from under all the noise. To be fair, Vicki and Jenna had a heads up with the chance to back out before their visit. But hey, that’s what family is for.

Vicki did say that even though the driving distance to Waynesboro is about 200 miles farther than Athens, she’d rather drive to Virginia than deal with all the traffic in Chattanooga and Atlanta. I remember that whole trip through East Tennessee and up the Shenandoah Valley is very scenic and I’m looking forward to driving it again.

ROLLER COASTER FUN
Vicki and the kids used to make a trip to a nearby amusement park each year after school was out, and they decided to do it again this year. This time they went to King’s Island in Cincinnati. Their original intentions were to leave super early last Thursday, but when they saw the forecast was for storms there they left around 9:30. They had hoped to get a little time in the park that evening, but the storms were lingering in the area so they ate out and took in a movie and went to their hotel. Friday turned out to be a beautiful day and they enjoyed their time riding the rides. They still have one day on their passes that can be used anytime in the next six months so they’ll probably do the water park when they return.

So it seems everyone has gotten to go somewhere except me. This is fine. I’ve been to DC, my time to visit Virginia will come, and I’m not a big roller coaster rider. It was nice to have a little quiet around the house and get a few things done.

Joe