I’m back! I told you I needed a vacation. On very short notice (but in the works for the past ten years), I finally got to visit my brother in Virginia. It was WONDERFUL!!! Oh, it is so good to be back home again (especially after a 10 hour drive, ugh), but we were so comfortable and happy staying with my bro that we already miss him and his place.
We got to visit Patrick Henry’s home, Red Hill! We got to see the MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk. And we got to see the Atlantic Ocean at Virginia Beach.
Oh my word, that was gorgeous. Walking along the beach, squishing my toes into the wet sand as the ocean waters washed over my feet was WONDERFUL. It was my favorite part of the visit.
We also drove through Roanoke and feasted on views of the glorious Appalachian Mountain Range.
And during one particularly stormy drive, we spotted a really freaky side-spinning funnel cloud in the sky. What do you think of this?
It’s a little blurry- taken on the road with my iPhone. But it was definitely some kind of twisting cloud, formed during a thunderstorm outside of Richmond, Virginia.
So we’re pooped. It’ll take me all week to get back to the normal humdrum of life and hectic pace at work… but I’m so glad I went. We are already hoping to go again soon!
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May 16, 2011 at 11:09 pm
Awesome!! Sounds like FUN!!!!!!! 🙂 Glad you got to take some time off 🙂 You make me want to go on vacation! LOL
May 16, 2011 at 11:15 pm
Welcome HOME…We missed you all!! Glad you had FUN and enjoyed your family. My son informed me that Virginia is not that far from here LOL…maps can be so deceptive. Ahh the beach…it has been a long time since I walked along the crashing waves…the ocean air is so sweet:)
May 16, 2011 at 11:16 pm
How fabulous!! Happy to hear you had such a wonderful vacation - you deserve it! 😀 The pictures are really cool - love the one of the beach and the one with the side funnel cloud thing - weird!
May 16, 2011 at 11:43 pm
So glad you guys had fun in VA and that you got some much needed time off!!! And yeah, that does look pretty ominous… wow!
May 16, 2011 at 11:55 pm
Ooooo! 10 HOUR DRIVE?! I can hardly make a 3 hour drive! But that looks awesome! So happy you enjoyed yourselves!
May 17, 2011 at 8:38 am
I cannot believe you came down here and we didn’t meet up! ARG! I am 45 minutes from Roanoke and was born one city over from Norfolk. I would have told you to go to the Jewish Mother in Va Beach for the best deli around.
Dang.
May 17, 2011 at 8:43 am
Lisa: 🙁 I did think of you when we were going through Roanoke on the way south, but my daughter was sick the entire ride there. We spent the first few vacation days nursing her, and then the final few days were a whirlwind of activity traveling the eastern end of the state. Blacksburg (west of Roanoke?) was too far for us to travel.
But I’ll have you know that we’ll be going down that way again, hopefully this year. We have wild intentions of seeing much more of Virginia every year. I’ll definitely let you know. 😀
May 17, 2011 at 4:08 pm
Looks like you had a great time! 10 hour drives are tough… the longest I’ve traveled is 6 hours (to PA and back) and that was quite a long ride! That cloud does look like some kind of funnel cloud… just glad you guys didn’t hit any tornadoes! So glad you guys were able to take a vacation… BUT, we missed you! 🙂
May 18, 2011 at 7:00 am
That’s nice you got to visit your brother but that 10-hour drive does not sound like fun. No wonder you’re pooped out. I don’t like the feel of sand between my toes so usually keep my shoes on, even at a beach! I think I even kept them on when I played in a sand volleyball league.
May 18, 2011 at 8:06 am
Glad you got to visit with your brother. How did he end up there? Beautiful pics, except the funnel cloud. Yikes!
May 18, 2011 at 9:04 am
Karen, all my relatives but one have moved out of New York State, down south or out west. NYS has this way of driving people out…
May 18, 2011 at 9:17 am
Yay, am so glad that you had a wonderful vacation, you all sure deserved it!!!!
That is one good thing about having relatives in other states, you have a tour guide all set!
We loved NC and wish we can go visit again very soon, but waiting for gas prices to go down.
Have a great week!! God bless
May 18, 2011 at 11:11 pm
Oh, I’m so glad that you got away for a few days and relaxed!! How nice!