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Yesterday Brian and I started our road trip across the country. We left home at 12:30 pm and started the first leg of the journey to Charlottesville, VA, where I would be meeting his Pop, Aunt Geri, and Uncle Bruce for the first time. Instead of taking the straight shot, police littered HWY 29 all the way into town; we decided to follow Skyline Drive through the Shenandoah National Park. As we entered the park we were pleased to find out the park ranger, Ched, could sell us the National Park Pass we were hoping to acquire early on in the trip…however, we weren’t pleased to find out that the pass had jumped $30 in price since last year, making it $80 per pass. Fortuitously, two names are permitted on each pass, so we were only required to buy one. Anyway, the weather was beautiful and driving through the mountains was gorgeous and relaxing. The two hours we spent stopping at the visitor’s center and various overlooks passed extremely quickly, and after 60 miles of the drive we decided to switch over to the main highway to Charlottesville in order to pick up Brian’s Pop and head to his Aunt’s
house in time for dinner.
Brian’s Pop is his mom’s dad and he’s one of the cutest men I’ve ever met. He got so excited seeing Brian and meeting me. We visited in his apartment for a few minutes, looking at the hundreds of pictures he has displayed all over the apartment. We then made the short drive to Brian’s Aunt’s house. Along the way Brian explained that his Aunt would probably want to give me a tour of her house because it was just built not too long ago and she had it built and designed exactly as she wanted it. Basically, it’s her dream house. After an extremely difficult drive (for the Ford Focus anyway) up the Blue Ridge Mountains, we arrived to Aunt Geri and Uncle Bruce’s house. It’s hands down the most gorgeous house I’ve ever been in. The rooms are decorated down to the smallest detail, the theme throughout the house is very old fashioned French, and the furniture is comprised mostly of antiques, gorgeous chandeliers and lavabos, etc… Brian’s favorite aspect (that he wasn’t even aware of until we got the grand tour) was the fact that the master bathroom constantly has heated
tile flooring so that your feet are never cold!
After the tour, we sat around the family room and talked about a lot of random things, and when Brian’s uncle (described by all as a super surgeon) made it home around 6, Aunt Geri began cooking the delicious dinner we'd be enjoying later on that night. Both Brian’s Aunt and Uncle (and of course his Pop too) are extremely nice and easy to get along with. Just like his dad’s side of the family, they welcomed me with hugs and made me feel comfortable right from the beginning. We had a wonderful dinner out on the back porch overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains and enjoying the warm June breeze.
The night ended with more conversation, indulging in some ice cream with fresh berries, and snapping a few photos of the house and family. Coming to Charlottesville by way of Skyline Drive and then visiting family was the perfect was to start our trip.
Today we’re planning to visit Monticello in Charlottesville before heading to Charlotte, NC later this afternoon. I'll keep you all posted wherever internet access is available and I'll post pictures soon!
XOXO, Allison
& Brian
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Benjamin Sanger
non-member comment
Hey
YOU ARE A HUGE NERD