Charlotte-Virginia Trip - Day Six

Here I am with Katie Shannon

I drove from Charlotte to Centreville VA.  It was cold but warmed up to 50 degrees by the time I got there.  When I arrived, I found Katie waiting for me with her Dad.  She is my about to be 17 year old niece.  It was great to see her and to spend the afternoon visiting with.

I got to watch a video she is creating to celebrate her brother Bill's 18 birthday which is later this month.  It had many pictures of both of them as children both in Russia and here in the U.S.  She had carefully selected some tune for the soundtrack.

After I got cleaned up we drove over to Sarah's house where we were having dinner.  Well, actually Katie drove us over in my car.  She has her learner's permit but need 80 hours of supervised practice driving before she can take the driving test.  She presses every opportunity to get behind the wheel.  She did great although she pulled up to Sarah's house a little hot and almost snagged the mailbox.  However, no harm, no foul as they say.  I told her if she were a NASCAR driver she would been flagged for exceeding the speed limit on pit row.

Sarah and Tom

Tom and Sarah made dinner for us and it was, of course, delicious.  What was even more delicious was seeing what a nice and warm couple they are as they went about getting things ready.  They have an easy and comfortable way with each other which is so pleasing for me to see.

We were joined by Sarah's daughter Larissa who is just two days away from a school trip to France.  There was a lot of goodhearted teasing about the fact that she hadn't started packing yet and something about needing to take 15 pairs of shoes.  Surely I misheard that.  Didn't I?

Tom grilled chicken and Sarah prepared some smashed potatoes that were different and delicious.  For dessert she had made some gingerbread which she served with ice cream and warmed caramel sauce.  Fortunately she served it in reasonable portions.  Let to my own devices I would have eaten at least three times the amount I did.  It was soooooooooooooo good, as the kids say.

(r-l) Tom, Sarah, Larissa, and Katie

When we got home, Tom showed me some nice tricks with my iPad and we talked about our trip the next day to the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.  You can look forward to a special album of photos from that trip.

For now, visit the updated trip album.

Finally I can't resist showing this little bit of video of Katie trying to teach her Dad how to participate in a secret handshake she and I friend have developed.  Being his father's son, he is pretending not to get it...at least I think he is pretending.