DC was a whirlwind after our leisurely stays in the Outer Banks and Hot Springs, but man, was it great to be back with our old friends, Mike, Tia, and their small one, for a few days. And also great to be in civilization for a weekend. Rations were running low! So we flooded their house with Amazon boxes to replenish our troves. Made lots of calls. Checked emails. Ate a delicious home-cooked meal full of vegetables. Read VolNation, Huffington Post, the Tennessean, etc. online.
We got a lot into the weekend. We had lunch in their new neighborhood in Alexandria and Mike mentioned it was the area near the baseball park shooting. Hazel’s nursery was on lockdown that day. Made us realize how sometimes the news feels very far away, but can be really close to people you care about.
Speaking of people we care about, Tia’s lovely family gathered together for a dinner with us. Casey’s known Tia’s mom, Mary, since she was a teenager working at Hatch Show Print with Mary’s brother, Elek. Mary brought her gangly group of teenagers, Tia and Jen, along to Nashville to meet the Gill Girls back in the late 90’s (see photographic evidence of this first meeting above). Who knew all those skinny kids would grow up so well? It was great having some time catching up with Mary and Jen (thank you both for the stellar podcast recommendations that have made our trip a pleasure) and I always love to have some time shooting the breeze with Keith.
On Sunday, we took a day trip to a Virginia peach picking farm (where you are not supposed to climb in the trees or eat the fruit, but many people did, much to Mike’s chagrin) and a winery (definitely not owned by Trump).
Zeke learned how to walk up wooden stairs. Who said you can’t teach an old dog a new trick? Rested, resupplied, and well-fed, we headed out to upstate New York Monday morning.
summartime.blog 