short holiday in virginia
I stayed away from my computer for awhile, anyhow, due to my hand. Most of you saw the photo on the last entry showing my beautiful burn sustained from our Easter ham. In the attempt to wrangle ham and pan out of the oven without spilling ham juice and oils all over my kitchen floor, my hand grazed the top of the oven which resulted in a pretty nasty burn. It didn't seem like much to begin with, but a day or so later it really turned vile. So for the rest of April and the first part of May I could hardly type. It was that sore. Then as the burn turned into a cool scar and felt heaps better, we took a drive out to Virginia.
We left on the Saturday before Mother's day and got there about 3am that Monday morning. No we do not stop for hotels. It is expensive...and we take our Jack Russells with us. (and this trip also included our newly acquired hamster, Oliver) Besides, with two people driving and adrenaline kicking in to hurry and get you back to family and friends, it is not such a horrid drive. 29 hours, including stops for petrol and food/bathroom breaks along the way. It was a great break and we were also there in time for my Mum's birthday on the 14th. We were also able to attend Addison's very first birthday party. He is my Godson and a very very cute little boy.
Another highlight was meeting Anna (Clare's Godmum) at her place of employment, the Mariners' Museum, and having our own "tour" guided by herself, to show us the turret of the Monitor. It was mind boggling to actually see this thing that had been dredged up from the waters after sitting there for about 140 years. Totally breathtaking. I had been dying to see it in person since the museum acquired it last year. You can see pictures of the turret being brought to the museum on her website, here.
Of course, if you aren't a museum person or a history freak, I suppose it wouldn't be all that exciting to you. But with us, being both, well, seeing something like that in person is beyond description.
We were on the go the entire time we were in Virginia. Places to go, people to see...it was simply wonderful. Other highlights included meeting Stephanie at the Coach House Tavern (located on Route five between Williamsburg and Richmond) which stands on the property of the historic Berkeley Plantation. We had an excellent lunch and I was able to pick up some more cross stitch patterns of historic houses of Virginia at their giftshop. Something I can't exactly just run out and purchase in the wilds of Colorado!
Also on the agenda was Busch Gardens. We had to postpone it a day due to rainy cold weather, unusual for Virginia this time of year, but when we did get to go it was fabulous. Clare had a blast, my parents enjoyed themselves, Greg and I had never been there together, and to top it off Tiffeni was with us. She is Clare's other Godmum, and it was actually her suggestion we go. I was curious to see the newly added country of Ireland, since Busch Gardens in Williamsburg is themed off of Europe. It was ok, but I didn't see the step dancing show or go into the pub. We had already eaten in Germany so by the time we hit Ireland noone needed any food or drink!
And of course we had the long depressing drive back to Colorado. It seemed to take extra long since we were simply exhausted. We encountered two very very odd occurances on the way back (one in West Virginia and one in Illinois) but those stories are quite long and detailed and need to be saved for another day!
We arrived back to hot temperatures and new neighbours, (it had been snowing and sleeting the day we departed) so they now occupy "the cave". They seem very clean, unlike our other neighbours, which is a plus!
But it seems we shall be out of here soon enough. I am now armed with a letter from the specialist researcher immunologist who has discovered I have this very rare disease. Even though he has contacted other immunologists worldwide, has had no luck finding another soul with this same problem. Well at least we now know why my immune system isn't working. Bad thing is I am the only documented case and the disease is still un-named. Good thing is this might be just the information the Air Force needs to be coaxed with to get us moved out of Colorado and get us back East. One can hope, right?
It's me! Standing on a bench outside the Shoeshop in Colonial Williamburg, where I used to work, making 18th century shoes to the delight of tourists!
