Friday October 2, 2009 Richmond, VA

Day 35 of 36

Fredericksburg and Richmond, VA

I woke up at 2 am (8 am in Paris) and went back to sleep. The awake at 3 am (9 am in Paris) and back to sleep. I finally woke up at 6:30 but stayed in bed until 7. Showered, dressed, and packed to head out to Richmond for the day. Chris was up about 7:30 and left for work a little after 8. I headed out a little before 9 and stopped at Starbucks for my coffee and something to eat. Gee - I haven't had a Starbucks in over a month!

And it was so good. Savored my first cup of Starbucks in a long time. Headed down I-95 to Richmond. First went to Jane Wright's house next to where I grew up. Jane's husband Lew died last December and I didn't know. So I visited with her for a while and we reminisced for a while sitting in her den. She was headed to the river house to get it ready to sell.

Then went to the bank to see if I could close Mom and Dad's safety deposit box. Sun Trust is less than helpful. Long story, short: Pam has to do it with yet another copy of the power of attorney and be there in person with her id. Then to the hotel to see if they had Pam's glasses that she left there in July - No. Couldn't find them.

Then to Our Lady of Hope to see Mom and Dad. I fed Mom her lunch and encouraged Dad to wake up and eat his. He ate most of his and she ate only about half. We then called people so Mom could hear their voice - that cheered her up. Mid afternoon they had an Octoberfest party in the activities room so I took Mom - she really enjoyed the accordian music and singing of old favorites. We called Russell and Joyce when we got back to the room. Mom "talked" to me for over an hour. Then I took her to dinner and said my farewells for yet another visit. I headed up I-95 to Fredericksburg to have dinner with Chris.

Traffic out of Richmond was heavy but once I got up to Kings Dominion the traffic thinned out and we moved along. I got to Fredericksburg in a little less than an hour and even beat Chris home. We drove in his car to Outback for dinner and caught up on conversation. After dinner, he took me home and I headed up I-95 north to Washington, DC. I'm glad that I decided to come up tonight since they were planning to work on the roads on Saturday morning. I checked into the Marriott Courtyard Crystal City, caught up on email, repacked for tomorrow, watched TV, and went to bed to rest.

A good visit with family and friends in Virginia.