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As I'm sure most of you are aware, I snuck over to Virginia in the dead of night Saturday and surprised my family with a week-long visit. Here's what has happened since then.
Saturday at 11:59 pm I took off from Salt Lake International. Four hours later, at 6 am (time change), I landed in Charlotte, North Carolina. I ate a cinnamon roll and boarded my flight to Baltimore. In Baltimore, I was stranded for an hour at the rental car place due to a little drama involving fees I was not informed of and limited money. Finally, Avis Rental saved me and I made my way from Baltimore to my hometown of Nokesville, Virginia. The family was about to head to church, so I waited in the next town over while having lunch at Cracker Barrel. Fully fed, I rolled up to the farm to the less than thrilled welcome of our female beagle, Shilo. She never remembers me and it sometimes takes her a day or two to warm up to me again. She and I walked around the farm as she followed the scents of rabbits, groundhogs and other animals we have here. Then we sprawled out for naps on the living room floor, before it finally came about time for the family to arrive home from church. I had gone through at least 20 different scenarios for surprising them ranging from hitchhiking on our street to Skyping from the front lawn. The humidity was murderous Sunday, so I opted for a simple plan. Sit out on the lawn and wait to see their confused looks. Here is a picture of what I did, though the umbrella was in the middle behind me when they drove up...and the dog is not going potty as it may appear.
So when the family did drive up, the dog was running around in front of them. They saw her first and wondered why and how the dog was out. Then they see me to the side and had the classic: "Wait...what?" look. According to sources in the car, my mother wondered aloud if I had maybe lost my job. Angela did exactly as I predicted, jumping from the moving vehicle to run and hug me. Camilla also did as I expected, saying things such as "What the? You didn't even tell us!?" Mike knew so he just laughed. Annie was not home but when I tagged her in my reveal on Facebook she called from where she was babysitting and asked what I was doing here.
Monday, I returned my rental to an Avis Rental close to home, had Chick-Fil-A, played through my old songbooks and sheet music on piano, and awaited the arrival of Amelia and brother-in-law Max, who I only ever saw once before briefly at the wedding. They came down for dinner and family night to see me since they live up by Baltimore and won't have much time later this week. We all had a joyous time Monday night.
This morning, Tuesday, mom, Mike, Camilla, and I drove 2 hours up to Gettysburg and took an audio tour of the battleground. It was really cool driving along the actual lines of battle, standing where soldiers stood, seeing how the entire battle played out from all angles. I uploaded all the pictures to Facebook, but here is one anyway.
The rest of the week is yet to be fully planned, but, I will go into DC to see the Smithsonians at some point, see the Avengers in Imax 3D, do some shopping, go to the beach, and see as much as I can before I have to head back to reality, where next week, a heavy load of work awaits.
Song of the day is an easy choice. It's "Back Home Again" by John Denver.
Saturday at 11:59 pm I took off from Salt Lake International. Four hours later, at 6 am (time change), I landed in Charlotte, North Carolina. I ate a cinnamon roll and boarded my flight to Baltimore. In Baltimore, I was stranded for an hour at the rental car place due to a little drama involving fees I was not informed of and limited money. Finally, Avis Rental saved me and I made my way from Baltimore to my hometown of Nokesville, Virginia. The family was about to head to church, so I waited in the next town over while having lunch at Cracker Barrel. Fully fed, I rolled up to the farm to the less than thrilled welcome of our female beagle, Shilo. She never remembers me and it sometimes takes her a day or two to warm up to me again. She and I walked around the farm as she followed the scents of rabbits, groundhogs and other animals we have here. Then we sprawled out for naps on the living room floor, before it finally came about time for the family to arrive home from church. I had gone through at least 20 different scenarios for surprising them ranging from hitchhiking on our street to Skyping from the front lawn. The humidity was murderous Sunday, so I opted for a simple plan. Sit out on the lawn and wait to see their confused looks. Here is a picture of what I did, though the umbrella was in the middle behind me when they drove up...and the dog is not going potty as it may appear.
So when the family did drive up, the dog was running around in front of them. They saw her first and wondered why and how the dog was out. Then they see me to the side and had the classic: "Wait...what?" look. According to sources in the car, my mother wondered aloud if I had maybe lost my job. Angela did exactly as I predicted, jumping from the moving vehicle to run and hug me. Camilla also did as I expected, saying things such as "What the? You didn't even tell us!?" Mike knew so he just laughed. Annie was not home but when I tagged her in my reveal on Facebook she called from where she was babysitting and asked what I was doing here.
Monday, I returned my rental to an Avis Rental close to home, had Chick-Fil-A, played through my old songbooks and sheet music on piano, and awaited the arrival of Amelia and brother-in-law Max, who I only ever saw once before briefly at the wedding. They came down for dinner and family night to see me since they live up by Baltimore and won't have much time later this week. We all had a joyous time Monday night.
This morning, Tuesday, mom, Mike, Camilla, and I drove 2 hours up to Gettysburg and took an audio tour of the battleground. It was really cool driving along the actual lines of battle, standing where soldiers stood, seeing how the entire battle played out from all angles. I uploaded all the pictures to Facebook, but here is one anyway.
The rest of the week is yet to be fully planned, but, I will go into DC to see the Smithsonians at some point, see the Avengers in Imax 3D, do some shopping, go to the beach, and see as much as I can before I have to head back to reality, where next week, a heavy load of work awaits.
Song of the day is an easy choice. It's "Back Home Again" by John Denver.
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