Charlene and I have had an absolutely wonderful vacation. We flew to Norfolk (correctly pronounced "GNAW-fuk") to my parents house, then left to take Blair to college in Lynchburg, VA. He settled in very quickly, and after an appropriately brief (tearful) farewell, we left for our vacation. I knew the best way to turn off Charlene's tears was to put her behind the wheel of the car and head directly for the mountains. We spent the next four days doing the kind of agressive, strenuous mountain hiking that would make John Steer proud. I'm so thankful to have completed chemo three weeks ago, and yet have the strength to get out and really enjoy the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
We spent four days on "the Parkway," from mountain summits to deep gorge waterfalls. The last point was Mt. Mitchell, the highest point east of the Mississippi. Week 2 of this vacation (why in the world did I wait so long to take two-week vacation???) is visiting Char's family in SC, visiting some friends in NC, spending a day at Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, going to Va Beach for a day and visiting my family before heading home. This "empty nest" thing is going to be really tough!!! :) Here's a few pics to enjoy; click to enlarge and I'll post more later.
