Summer NOVA Run

A two-hour road trip turned into over three hours thanks to I-95 traffic. There's a reason I normally avoid I-95 despite Google Maps swearing "it will be a minute or two faster this time."

It was hot. We weren't moving, so the AC cut out. Shane and I ended up driving shirtless and stopping at a Panera Bread for a bathroom break and re-hydrate. Thankfully, we had a new Hank the Cowdog from the New Kent Library to help pass the time.

We would have left earlier in the day, but no kids were around. Megan's family was in Richmond to visit Erika and let Big B bike in a race. Matt was in Fredericksburg officiating for a wedding. Travis's family was celebrating his parent's 50th wedding anniversary. Bill, Jill, and Ben were in town, but I didn't hear back from Bill until later on.

Shane and I arrived on the scene a few minutes before Ben woke up from his afternoon nap. Ben chose Bill over Diane, but when Jill came around the corner Ben only had eyes for her! Even after Bill gave him his hat! We didn't have long to catch up, because the everyone was going out to dinner at Dogfish Head (I texted Dan in NE to let him know. Dogfish is his favorite!).

Shane and I hadn't seen everyone since Christmas. I felt out of touch, so it was good to catch up some. Bill was walking rough from a surgery he had, Ben has grown....stuff happens. It's hard to keep up when everyone's distant.

Shane played outside while we waited for John. He was off work and en route while Shane tried to throw Oreo's leash like a grappling hook into the tree. It was all fun so long as it didn't get stuck or hit a window (Shane was aware and that 'danger' surely made it more fun!).

We went to CFA for dinner, because kids. Shane's phenomenal about making acquaintance level friends. The next trick will be helping him make lifelong friends like John.

I sent this status update to Carrie. "Shane just tried to eat a flower at chic fil a to see if it was real after making friends with someone named Calvin while he was singing in the bathroom"

"So he's enjoying NOVA"

True story.

Calvin even turned out to be from Charlottesville. He recognized Shane's SOCA shirt. I doubled over laughing. CFA plays instrumentals of Christian contemporary songs that Shane knows from the radio. That's where the singing came in.

John and I parked and talked for a couple of hours while Shane climbed, yelled, and played his heart out.

Shane had predicted a storm when he saw some dark clouds near Richmond, so he was thrilled when it did rain. In the car, I had said, "Clouds here don't mean a storm up north where we're going!"

Which is true, but they also didn't mean there couldn't be a storm in NOVA. Shane was happy to be right and happy that I was wrong, I bet!

We went to DQ for dessert afterward. There was a dojang from the same franchise as Shane's next door (happy coincidence).

It was freezing inside and hot outside. John wanted to stand outside, but Boss baby was on the TV inside.

There was no sound, but Shane was mesmerized. We made faces at him through the window and everything. No reaction!

Shane and I had to say goodbye after ice cream around 8:30 PM. Carrie wouldn't sleep with us on the road and I didn't want her up too late. It took us two hours to get back this time! Shane saw one firework light off and called out. We scanned the skies the rest of the way home, but unfortunately didn't find any more.

This should be the NOVA trip for the summer. I wanted to see Matt G, Gen, Chris, Jama, etc, but there's a lot going on. I'm glad we got a chance to see who we did at least!