The day after my last post, Justin and I headed to DC to pick up my sister and nephew, who flew in from Seattle. Ronel was visiting us for a couple of weeks, and Kate escorted him. She only spent a night in DC, but we made the most of her time, going shopping in Georgetown and Pentagon City, and hanging outside the White House by night with a very small smattering of protesters (I think the others were in Crawford with the Prez).
After she left, we headed back to Charlottesville for a couple of days, and then drove down to Chapel Hill. Now, you remember Justin's dad's acoustic neuroma? He got a slot in surgery for the following week. This was also when we were all supposed to be at th lake house. So we spent an abbreviated time there, just for the weekend, but that was enough for Ronel to waterski, innertube, dive off a cliff, and play with his "uncles" and a couple of Justin's cousins.
The surgery, by the way, went as well as we hoped. No side effects, and partial or entire loss of hearing was not unlikely. His dad went back into the hospital a few days ago with spinal fluid draining from his nostrils and ears, which sounds gross and bad but apparently won't have any long-term effects.
Back in Charlottesville, Ronel and I went hiking a couple of times in the south end of Shenandoah National Park. Once we saw a rattlesnake, and since it had already rattled and I didn't want to annoy it any further, we turned back. But we did make it to the top of a mountain, smallish by northwestern standards, of course, but taller than everything else around it nonetheless.
Then Ronel and I flew back to Seattle, where I spent time with my family and visited several friends. The weather was generally mild and beautiful, as Seattle summers are.
I took a redeye back and slept for 16 of the next 24 hours.
Now I'm supposed to be doing something, I think. But I'll add pictures as I get around to it. There are always more at my SmugMug site.
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