Remember that feeling when you were in School and had that nice Summer Vacation? Well, that feeling has returned to me this year, except I am old enough to really enjoy it without taking it for granted. I did some job searches before July, but not as much as one should as I knew we had plans to travel a little while Jennifer was off. Result…. Wonderful summer vacation!

We started out the first week of July with our Grandson Alex and his mother Lori staying with us for a week. Of course that meant Isabella and Raymond came over a few times as well. It was a nice week and we closed that week out with a family picnic at our house. Bobby came up as well as several of Jennifer’s family came from Lancaster. I put up one of those screened tents for dining in the backyard, however nobody seemed to want to use it for dining. But once Isabella went out to play, she claimed ownership of it and declared it was a “girls only” tent and I nor her dad were allowed in. She pranced around and even gave us a fashion show…as long as we watched from the outside. Alex didn’t mind not being invited into the tent as he was too busy playing star wars with his dad. I think he conquered the Universe, or at least most of it with his light saber. Jennifer and I took Alex to see the fireworks at Dorney Park, but all the other adults were too tired to join us.

After spending a few days around the house, we headed to my Mom’s house in Jacksonville, NC. I have been looking forward to this trip for sometime. I wanted to see my sister as I haven’t seen her since she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. It is amazing how up beat and positive she is. I can’t imagine being as strong as she is about her ordeal. We stayed at my Mom’s house for a week and one day, giving us the opportunity to visit Topsail Island a couple days. We really enjoy the beaches at Topsail, however Jennifer did get some sun burn. We also visited Emerald Island and the shops in Historic Swansboro. We would love to someday live in Swansboro and enjoy it year round!! One of the days, Jennifer went with my mother, niece and my sister to Durham so my sister could get a treatment at Duke. While they were gone, I went with my Brother and one of his friends fishing in the Inter-Coastal waterway. I didn’t catch anything, but just being on the water was enough to satisfy me! On the weekend, my brother took my niece, my sister and me out on the water to go tubing. I have never been tubing before and found it to be exciting. However my first attempt to get onto the tube landed me in the water! His ladder was broken, so I had a tough time getting back on the boat to try again, but finally managed. Second attempt…. I was tubing!! Wow, what fun. However it took me forever to get back into the boat! Guess I need to start using my gym membership to actually work out?? We ended the day with a seafood fest at my brother house. Man is it good to have fresh seafood, and I mean fresh (as in caught within 24 hours of us eating it, and the vegetables picked with in a day or so.)

After that week on the coast of NC, we headed west to Knoxville, TN to visit my Aunt. She has cancer in her jaw, so I felt it was important that we visit her while we had the time. It was a nice visit as we went through some family pictures and picked out a few to have replicated at Walgreens for my future scrapbook (yes, if becomes a scrapbook….it will be Jennifer’s doings ) We also drove by the “old homestead” where my grandparents used to live. It looked really nice, but made me miss going to the pond to fish. We also visited the cemetery where my grandparents, great grandparents and great-great grandparents are buried. I took some pictures, with the oldest one being my great-great grandmother Willoughby who died in 1892. It was a nice visit and I glad we went there.

Then it was off to Boone, NC to visit Frankie and his wife Toni. Frankie and I go back to when we were at Coastal Carolina community College in the early 80′s. The GPS decided to take us on a scenic route around the mountain. You would think the Blue Ridge Parkway would have been scenic enough (yes that is what we should have taken) but instead we were on a winding, twisting tiny road. We stayed there a couple nights and went to Grandfather Mountain. They have a beautiful house with some nice views. To give you and idea, once you get off the Blue ridge Parkway toward their house, you only have about a two or three minute commute! Frankie also helped me polish my Truck. Wow, that Black really does shine! It was a really enjoyable visit.

Next we left Frankie’s house and went to Ashville, NC to see the Biltmore house. Jennifer has been asking to go there for about 10 years! We finally made it there. It was really a neat place to visit. I had been there before as a kid, but seeing it as an adult made me really appreciate it more. We took the behind the scenes tour and I am amazed at the technology they had in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Some of it rivals today’s technology. Things like telephones, electricity, elevators, etc. We visited the gardens and then went to the winery on the Estate. Wow, how fast can a day go by!!

Next stop…Stafford, VA where we met up with Michael and Bobbie Hoover to help with preparations for their Images of the King contest in Memphis. We spent three days there and had a good time visiting. While there, I was also able to meet up with an old friend from High School, Laura W. T. I have not seen her in 20 something years and found via Facebook that she lived in Stafford. What a small world. It was really good to see her and her kids and spend a few hours with them.

Well, after two and half weeks, we had to return home…but only for a few days! We cleared our bedroom out and had the floors stripped and re-polyurethaned. Since we had to keep furniture off of the floors for at least three days…Seemed like a good time to fly away to Las Vegas, right? Actually it was planned that way. Jennifer had won tickets to see Barry Manilow and two free nights at the Las Vegas Hilton. I was able to add a couple more nights for $40 a night and I used frequent flyer miles to purchase airline tickets. Neither of us had ever been that far west before, and I was amazed looking out the window of the plane as everything turned from the green I am accustomed to seeing out the window to plain and brown! We enjoyed the week, but it was HOT. Every day we were there, them temps ranged from 109 to 113 in the afternoons. We played a few tricks to save money, such as instead of eating three meals, we only had two. One around 11 am at a buffet and then in the evening at another buffet! We also let one of those time share places consume three hours of our time in exchange for free tickets to see Toni and Tina’s wedding (dinner theater) as well as buy one get one free buffet. While there we also saw some other shows besides Barry Manilow. We went to see “Sin City bad girls” at the Hilton (got one free ticket from the Hilton since we were staying there). That turned out to be a really good show. We also went to the American Legends show and saw an Elvis, a Michael Jackson, a Tim McGraw, a Britney Spears, and a Carrie Underwood. That was an enjoyable show.

Now we are back home to reality. So you see what I mean about being like schools out summer vacation but being old enough to really enjoy it! If I wrote all the fun details, then it would be like a book, so I will stop. Now it is time to start planning what I am going to do when I grow up. I am started to put resumes out, but I am also contemplating starting a business unrelated to computers. I won’t mention what that is right now, as I am still researching the idea. The hard part of starting a business would be getting capital for the start up, but God has provided before when I couldn’t figure things out, so I am sure he will provide again if that is what I should be doing. In the mean time, I will continue to look for careers in IT.