NOVA 2017 - On the Road Again

The HVAC crew showed up by 8:30 AM. Shane and I hit the road right after!

I knew I was back in NOVA when someone cut across four lanes of traffic. I grew up there, so it doesn't surprise me.

We did a quick drive-by of the townhouse Shane was a baby in. The current owners were Green Bay Packers fans.

We just did a drive by, because there were other places to go. First stop, Robinson!

Bill and Dan attended Robinson. I wrestled against their team and Regionals were held there every year. My first substitute teaching job was at Robinson in the WAT classroom (Work-Awareness-Transition) 13 years ago. I walked in and got put to work inflating and selling balloons. Later, I got a long-term subbing position. There are two people I care about who work there now.

First, Diane works up front. Shane and I dropped in to say, "Hello!" (and incidentally, RSVP for Dan and Shar's wedding....oops).

I used to always drop in and say "Hi," when Diane worked at Woodson and I had a training.

Next, we went over to see Matt G. He's got a part time job up at Wolftrap for the summer to fill time, try something new, and make some extra cash on the side. He already had some stories.

We picked a bad day to drive near my old alma mater, GMU. High school graduations had the streets PACKED. It took forever to drive over to University Mall for lunch (We went to Nana and Pop's favorite Thai place).

Jama was next. We caught her and her boyfriend, Ed, on their way to a Paul Newman movie.

We tried to watch it.

But Shane was more interested in the chickens.

He had too much energy to be contained.

One of the residents commented as Shane sprinted up and down the hall. Her kids used to run track and she said Shane had good form.

When we poked our head back in the theater, Ed was there, but Jama was gone! We found her upstairs in her room.

She put on a TV show for Shane and promptly passed out mid conversation.

Which was fine, because we had other places to go! Jama got to sleep in peace and we went to bother John at work.

He's a circulation manager now. Shane got a tour of how the library worked.

Shane zeroed in on the Pokemon section in no time.

We went to Matt and Renee's next. After unloading, we walked to the local Subway for some dinner.

We walked back to finish up.

Shane was fascinated by Renee's sewing machine, so she gave him a demonstration.

John came over and joined us. After Shane went to bed, Renee watched the bachelor while Matt, John, and I hopped online to meet up with Patrick for a game. It was like old times. There's a lot I don't miss about Northern Virginia, but I do miss the people.

Also - the HVAC was installed by 1 PM. I planned the trip north, because I thought it would take a lot longer for some reason. Oops. It was a good impetus to do something out of the usual.