Behind Infinity

Some of you dear people may know these dear people.

They used to live in G-Raps, but now they live here:

These are the Blue Ridge Mountains.

I’ve been wanting to visit them pretty much ever since they took up residence in the mountains, and figured that going to a conference in Virginia afforded the perfect opportunity to swing by and say hello and hang out for awhile with my friend Marion and her boys and husband.

So, after I finished up at the conference on Friday, I got myself a rental car (first time!) and drove 2.5 hours from Leesburg, VA to Roanoke, VA. It was a nice drive. Just me and the open road and my radio blaring. There were lots of cows and little farms along the way…just the sort of scenery I like, really. I arrived at Mr & Mrs. P’s apartment late in the evening, and we had a nice time chatting and catching up before we went to bed.

THe next morning, we had a nice breakfast and Mr. P was kind enough to take the boys so that Mrs. P and I could have some fun girl time. We went to downtown Roanoke to see the farmers’ market, which was very nice. As you can see here, Mrs. P bought some peaches, with which she made an absolutely delicious peach cobbler that we ate our way through for the rest of my visit.

After the market, we spent the rest of the morning and afternoon pottering around antique shops and such in downtown Roanoke, and then went for a drive in the mountains.

Of course, pictures don’t really do them justice.

That evening, we attended a very fun party with some people from their church.

On Monday, Mrs. P, Gudge, Ankie, and I set out for historic Lexington, VA. The thing about Virginia (or at least the parts of Virginia that I spent time in) is that there’s American history pretty much everywhere you turn. Revolutionary this and Civil War that, battlefields and railroads and museums galore. So if you like that kind of thing, it’s a pretty cool place. (It’s a good thing that I like that kind of thing.)

George likes cannons. Not surprising, being that he’s a little boy and all.

We visited Stonewall Jackson cemetery, where Stonewall Jackson is buried, and spent about an hour looking at really really old gravestones. it was pretty cool, if you like that kind of thing.

After the cemetery, we visited Washington & Lee University, where General Lee, his family, and his horse Traveler are buried.

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It was a lovely visit. But it couldn’t last forever, because as if I hadn’t had enough traveling already, I had MORE places to go and stuff to see! Lots more in fact.

To Be Continued…..

I know I haven’t written about my trip yet. This act of negligence on my part has been a matter of regret and sadness every day. It’s just that, apparently when you’re gone for 10 days, work piles up at work and at home and also, on the freelance side of things. So between my very busy job and my very busy life, I have only had minutes here and there to sort the hundreds of photos and think about what I wanted to say. But now, a mere month later, I’m finally caught up with life (knock on wood) and can spend some time sharing my adventure.

I’ve been struggling with a little bit of writers’ block regarding my trip, too. I think maybe it’s because it wasn’t the stunning journey of revelation and rejuvenation that I hoped/expected it to be. That’s not to say it wasn’t wonderful; I had a lovely time. I guess I was hoping that I would fly off on a jet plane and learn some mind-blowing things about web programming and then commence with my vacation and learn equally mind-blowing things about myself. But that didn’t happen. Don’t get me wrong; I learned some cool programming tricks at the conference, but nothing mind-blowing. As for self-revelation, there weren’t a lot of surprises there either. I mostly learned that I am not my favorite traveling companion, and my roots go even deeper than I thought they did. Oh, and also, I love flying.

But did I mention that I had a lovely time?

Because I did.
So without further ado, here’s some photos and words about my trip.

DC: A Taste

The whole reason I got to go to Virginia in the first place is that work sent me there for a web programming conference. I spent my days attending sessions about Coldfusion. In the evenings, however, after marinating in code all day surrounded by ubergeeks, I felt the need to do something else. The first night I just went for a run and then relaxed in my hotel room, but the second night i felt the need to get out, so I took a taxi and a shuttle bus in to Washington DC. My desire that evening was to see the National Museum of American History. On the way I passed by the capitol (above).

The Julia Childs exhibit (above) was my motivation to see this particular museum. Being that I am enamored with both cooking and vintage style/decor, it was kind of a big deal for me. I hope someday to somewhat model my kitchen after Julia’s.

Another big deal for me: the hall of musical instruments, with several Stradivarius violins. It was kind of a bummer though, to only be able to look at them through the glass and not to play/hear them.

I also enjoyed first ladies at the smithsonian, which featured many beautiful gowns but went beyond clothing and talked about the changing role of the first lady (and women in general) in the US.

I saw a few other things there too: the (original, ginormous) star spangled banner, and a very moving exhibit on Americans at War. Being at the museum reminded me of all of our homeschooling field trips growing up, and it made me miss my siblings. Somehow, I find exhibits more fun when I can see them with kids and we can discuss the artifacts and their importance. As adults, we kind of tend to say, “huh. interesting,” and move along, but kids, even though they can be troublesome and even though they get bored, have such a cunning point of view and they sometimes notice things that I would have walked past and they ask silly and funny and poignant questions.

That’s all the time I have for now. But soon I will post photos of the Roanoke, VA leg of my trip, wherein I visited with friends Mr. P, Mrs. P, Gudge, and Ankie!

Four years ago, this lovely, amazing, showstopper of a mare became an integral part of my life and I became a horse owner.

Four years ago last week, my dad and I drove to Arkansas and brought home my mare.

Mare and I have become quite the team. Back then, we were both a little fatter and a lot greener. Now, we keep each other in shape, and we are hands-down the best pair at our barn. (ha, ha. that’s funny because we ride at home!)

Horse ownership has been hard and life-changing and life-rearranging and poop-filled and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Four years and so much love. Whenever I go out to the barn, I know I’m the luckiest girl alive.