My Travels

I guess it's been almost a month since I last posted. Pretty bad huh? Lots of things have happened in these past few weeks. I'll just give you the highlights.

My Grandma Rowley fell in love and was planning her wedding. Rick was trying to figure out a way to get me down to Tennessee for it. We finally decided that I should fly to West Virginia and ride down with my parents. Then came all of the preparations for that trip.

Rick decided that I needed a break from the kids. I offered to take Chris with me, but he said no. He wanted to care for the kids for 4 days, while I went away. He said it was only fair, after he'd left us all behind several times, while he was in the military. I didn't know what to think about that. Four days with no kids?!? How would I stand that?

Finally, the day arrived. We loaded my things in the trunk of the car and drove about 30 minutes to the Norfolk International Airport. I felt reluctant to leave my kids, so we walked around for a little while, looking in shops. It felt so strange, saying goodbye to my family.

I love to fly, but I hadn't flown in years. I always get nervous. I"m just afraid that I'll get lost and miss my plane. I've never done that, but I'm always afraid I will someday. I flew from Norfolk to Detroit, MI. As you know, that airport is HUGE. So, when I landed, I read where I was supposed to go and trucked my way along on the walkways(I love those things!). I had to walk through a tunnel that was all lit up with flashing lights. They were in the walls and ceiling. It was so cool! Anyway, I got to my gate, and found that they had moved my departure gate. I finally got to the right place. Whew! What a relief! When I finally got to Charleston, my mother, sister and brother were waiting for me. Always nice to see familiar faces.

The next day, we all crawled into Dad's Caprice, and set off for Friendsville, Tennessee. When we got there, we went over to the rehearsal dinner. I saw lots of familiar faces from the past. Not only family, but also people from Pennsylvania, who I knew from Penn View.

The wedding was beautiful. Lavender, white, and purple. My mother and my Aunt Ruth were the bridesmaids. I took a few pictures. Dad's turned out better though. I'll be posting a few with this entry.

All of Mom's brothers and sisters made it for the wedding. All 10 of them in one place. It was one of those rare occasions. Uncle Terry traveled the farthest. California! Dan and Debbie NM, Dave and Anita OK, Nathan and Ruth Mississippi, Dad and Mom WV, Steve and Amy PA, Steve OH, Daniel and Rhonda, Chris and Kathy, and John and Sherri TN. It was great to see everyone again.

I finally got back home on Monday, April 21. I was glad to be home with my little family again. I missed them very much. Coming home is the best part of going away.