Virginia unemployment has not required the ordinary job search during Covid. However, with numbers dropping, they reinstated the requirement, effective June 1. We knew we needed to make the trip to Colorado to pick up our festival gear before September. We didn’t know how long it would take us to find jobs or if we would be able to get the extra time off to make the trip once we did, so we decided to go before the requirement went into effect.

Planning a Reunion

Our youngest, Kevin, asked if we would be interested in getting together over Memorial Day weekend. Of course, I was excited at the opportunity to see the boys after eight long months apart. His first suggestion was to meet up in Charleston, South Carolina. It was a pretty good location about halfway between Virginia and Florida. However, when he researched lodging, it turned out to be more expensive than any of us wanted because of the holiday weekend.

Instead, we decided to meet up at his girlfriend, Theresa’s, in Asheville, North Carolina. She was there working as a traveling nurse. It was the perfect solution. We could pitch the tent in her yard, and it would be a weekend getaway for all of us.

Road Trip

We decided to coordinate our trip to Colorado with the visit to Asheville. We left early on Saturday morning, anticipating that we would make it to Colorado in three days. We would have time to load up and spend a day in Colorado before heading east to arrive in Asheville on Friday. We were excited to be back on the road again. As much as we enjoyed spending time with Chris’s great aunt Pru, it was a treat to be back to just the two of us.

The long trip was an excellent opportunity to explore the festival playlist as well as listen to audiobooks. While the trip was uneventful for the most part, we did have a significant scare just north of Atlanta.

A Scary Moment

After making our way through the slow-moving traffic through the city, we were finally back up to speed. Suddenly, a large object shot out around the car just ahead of us in the next lane. It looked to be part of a truck bed liner, as far as we could tell. As it bounced around the car and into us, there was no getting out of the way. It crashed into the front corner of our truck and then bounced off the passenger side mirror. Luckily, the mirror deflected it, and it did not come in through the open window, which could easily have led to a tragic conclusion.

One of my favorite parts of a road trip is seeing the sights. There are so many curious and novel things to see along the way. I spotted a giant mouse with a hunk of cheese along exit 345 on Interstate 75 in Georgia on this trip.

As we drove into Tennessee, we passed Rock City, a place on our list of places to explore. Alas, we did not have time to stop on this trip, but it will be part of our itinerary the next time we are up that way.

A Nice Surprise

Unlike most of our adventures, where we only drive so far before exploring, this was a trip with a purpose. We went as far as we could, stopping when we got tired. We found a Walmart that allows overnight parking. Generally, when we take advantage of their generosity in allowing a free stay, we do a little shopping as well. We picked up a few supplies and then headed for the White Castle we discovered next door. We were excited to have the tiny cheeseburgers for dinner. While not gourmet food by any means, it is fantastic to find one with the scarcity of stores. The burgers from the store are so much better than the frozen ones we typically have access to.

Foreboding Skies

After a peaceful night of rest, we were up early and ready to continue our trip. Unfortunately, the blue skies turned grey as we made our way through Kansas, and the wind blew with ferocity. There is nothing to break up the wind as it blows across the highway with the wide-open spaces. It was a struggle to keep the truck on the road. With the eeriness of the sky, I found myself constantly scanning the horizon for tornadoes. Luckily, we did not encounter any.

A Change In Plans

As we traveled, I was in touch with the kids to finalize our plans. As it turns out, they would all be working on Friday and would not get to Asheville until later in the evening. I did a little checking and realized that if we stopped in West Virginia to see our friends Joe and Jenny, it would only add three hours to our total trip. When I mentioned it to Chris, he thought it was a great idea. We called them to confirm they would be home and up for a visit.

As much as we wanted to make it to Colorado Springs that night, we didn’t have it in us to drive another three hours, so we stopped for the night. It worked out for the best as a nasty thunderstorm rolled through. I was happy we didn’t have to be on the road for that.  In the morning, we drove the last leg of our journey. The cloud formations were interesting as we watched the fronts move around us.

Arrival in Colorado

Eventually, the dark foreboding clouds turned into beautiful blue skies. We went straight to the storage unit to organize what we needed to bring back to Florida with us, which was stressful after the long trip. The highlight of the morning was the gorgeous view of the snow-capped Pike’s Peak from our storage unit.

For the rest of the day, we visited with our friends DJ and Erin. We spent the night in their driveway before returning to the storage to pack the truck in the morning. We were so happy we had taken the time to sort everything out the day before. But, even with that, it took longer than we expected to load everything and get on the road.

As we drove back through Kansas, we spotted a crop duster at work next to the highway. As this is not something we see every day, watching him flying low over the fields back and forth was fun. We made good time on the trip to West Virginia, stopping for the night in Missouri.

Another Bad Hotel Experience

Unfortunately, the hotel we picked was not a good experience. When we got to the room, there was trash in the cans, and the sink was full of hair. When we alerted management, they quickly moved us to another room. It was not stellar, but at least it was cleaner than the first.

For most of the trip, we did quick stops for fast food. We decided that a real breakfast would be nice, so we stopped at Black Bear Diner for a takeout breakfast. It was a much-needed change of pace.

A Great Visit With Good Friends

After breakfast, we continued, hoping to be in West Virginia by early evening. Other than some nasty rain, the trip wasn’t bad. We were happy to get to Joe and Jenny’s house and looked forward to a couple of days to relax with them.

The first night there, Joe asked if we played darts. Chris went to the truck to retrieve our darts, and the tournament was on. We had a blast playing late into the night. We headed to Wonderland Disc Golf Course for a round in the morning, followed by lunch at Lost Paddle Bar & Grill.

We were only about four hours from Asheville, so we played a round of disc golf at Fayette County Park on Friday morning. I discovered a gravestone from 1889 on the sixth hole I had not noticed the last time we played there.

Chris threw an errant shot that went much further left than what he intended. However, it ended up being an incredible shot, as when he went to retrieve his disc, he discovered a fawn curled up in the grass right in front of his disc.

On to Asheville

After a great game and some lunch, we said goodbye to our dear friends and drove through the mountains to Asheville. Unfortunately, it rained most of the way. The rain made for spectacular views of the Tennessee mountains created by the low-hanging clouds hovering just above the ground.

We arrived at Theresa’s place just before Kevin. Nick and Jordan came shortly after. We decided to crash on the living room floor instead of putting up the tent between the rain and Theresa’s story of a bear frequenting her trash cans. It was like a big slumber party.

More Disc Golf

We enjoyed a leisurely morning before having brunch at Tupelo Honey and a round of disc golf at Richmond Hill Disc Golf Course. It was a challenging course, and I was proud of how the ladies tackled the new game.

We planned to have breakfast at Biscuit Head Sunday morning, which our oldest, Joe, discovered on a previous trip to the area. He originally planned to get to Asheville in the morning, but we decided to wait until the next day for Biscuit Head when he was running behind schedule. So instead, we grabbed some Jimmy Johns on our way to Sand Hill Nature Trail Disc Golf Course. Chris and I were delighted that everyone enjoyed the game enough to want to play again.

Joe was at the house by the time we finished our game. We walked to Hana Japanese Hibachi and Sushi Bar for dinner. It was a pleasure to have all our boys with us again, even if only for a day.

In the morning, we had breakfast at Biscuit Head, which turned out to be as good as Joe told us it was. We ordered our food to go and picnicked on the floor at the house before saying our goodbyes and heading home.

Our Return Home

The drive back to Florida was an easy one. As usual, we mapped out our gas stops. We stopped at Sam’s Club for gas. We noticed an open pump that we could get to if we turned around and backed in. We were in no hurry, so we decided to wait our turn at the pump where we were. Unfortunately, as we waited for our turn, the station closed without warning, and we could not get gas. We had no idea they were closing early on Memorial Day.

As we drove west across Florida, we had a beautiful view of a fantastic sunset. It was a whirlwind of a road trip. While we enjoyed traveling again and seeing our family and friends, returning home to our happy place was lovely.