Sunday ushered in days of perfect weather, so naturally I spent a good chunk of the morning locked in a windowless basement room counting money. Afterwards I spent the afternoon driving. We went down I-81, enjoying the scenic Blue Ridge mountains on the way to Roanoke. Roanoke was a very good destination because it’s on the way to Jul’s house, Bryon was being confirmed Tuesday, … AND … there were negative COVID tests all around. Woo-Hoo. For dinner, we enjoyed al fresco dining at a very good Mexican restaurant next door to our hotel. The weather was still picture perfect. The food was plentiful and good and cheap. We topped our dinner with large fried ice creams. Back at the hotel, the indoor pool was filled with kids and Moms. Danita wisely chose to use the pool early Monday morning, and had the pool all to herself.

We got to Jul’s on Memorial day. This was an unusual visit. We hadn’t been there since COVID. It was the tail end of a holiday. We weren’t taking the grandkids on any adventures. But we managed to get into the swing of things eventually. Bryon’s confirmation was at 7. The priest gave a very good homily about the sacraments in general and confirmation in particular. When Jul asked Bryon what kind of cake he wanted, he said he wanted Chick-fil-A nuggets. So we that was dinner. I was surprised how good they are. Jul picked up a cake at the last minute. Bryon has an unusual name with unusual spelling. Based on past experiences, Jul decided it was better to leave the inscription to just “Congratulations”.

We took two days going back. Going up I-95 was less scenic and had heavier traffic, but it let us stop at Bud’s on the way home to drop off clean clothes and pick up dirty. We stopped overnight in Richmond. The hotel wasn’t nearly as nice. But we took the opportunity to visit the Edgar Poe museum and we found a pleasant restaurant for dinner. We were back in town, safe and sound Thursday.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.