Wide Open Taylorsville, NC

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Goodmorning! I'm writing today from Taylorsville (which is near Hickory), where my friend Denise Woodfin lives. On Tuesday, the 22nd, I left Norfolk, making the ~6 hour drive to Taylorsville. My longest driving day so far. I got here just after Denise left for work, so I just relaxed and went early to bed after Denise and I caught up a bit over dinner. Denise was the Supply Officer on my ship during our 2nd (and for us) last deployment. I have great memories of us trekking all over Barcelona, Nice and a large portion of Slovenia. I mostly don't miss the Navy, but I do miss some of the good moments.

Yesterday was a great day. First it's so easy to visit Denise, because she, like me, is single living with two dogs. So it's easy for me to understand the rhythm of her day and vice versa. She has a huge fenced in yard, which the dogs love. And when it's time to go for a walk, there's so much open country out here, where she lives, we don't have to take the dogs on a leash. And ... the dogs LOVE it :) So yesterday started with a leisurely dog walk, followed by a large country breakfast at the Triple Play diner for only $3! There's alot to be said for living outside of the city :)

Yesterday evening, I head into Charlotte to visit with Melinda Bihn and her family. It was great to catch up and I'll head down there for dinner again tonight. I hadn't seen Melinda since we both left teaching at the Key school in the summer of 2006. She and her family seem extremely happy to be living in Charlotte.

More soon.

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