It's good to be back home again

I'm back in the Valley after spending the past week with my folks in Richmond ... hot, humid days in the flat lands ... days that saw 100, 101, even 105 degrees as they broke a record for the most 100-degree days in a year. It was great to be with everyone ... my sister and I spent a lot of time together ... we drove to pick up SWAC Niece from camp in NC last weekend and then spent time with her.

But today, on an overcast rainy day, I pointed my vehicle west ... my destination was the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah Valley.

After leaving my parents' home, I made a quick stop at Martin's/Ukrop's to get the "Ukrop's Fix" for my family including paninis and chicken salad, and once again put in a plea asking that they stock favored items in Valley Martin's stores, and then hit the road where I ran through rain just west of Richmond and then out of it by Charlottesville.

I was accompanied on the drive back by Rush Limbaugh on the radio ... I-64 had light traffic which made for easy driving. As I approached Afton, the rain began again, first as mist and then heavier, and the fog lights were on.

Sure enough, as my vehicle climbed the mountain, the fog got thicker and thicker until it completely shrouded me in white as I passed under the Skyline Drive at the top. On the western slope, dropping down into the Valley, the fog finally began to lift and my cell phone rang. As John Denver once said, "Hey, it's good to be back home again...."

Hello, Shenandoah Valley!