Catching Up

It's funny how just a couple of days off can make you feel like you are so far behind. I'm not talking about my real job either, I'm talking about HIVE. After a whirlwind trip down to Virginia to visit our niece, I spent the majority of the afternoon on Sunday trying to catch up with all the stuff that I missed on HIVE. I failed miserably I am afraid.

We spent a night in Ohio on our way down to Virginia. It's just about halfway and since we have family in the area it just made sense. On Thursday morning we took our great niece on a walk around town before we got in the car and headed down south. I had @mrsbozz take the photo above because I thought it was pretty cool even though the mood was kind of blah. This is actually one of those that would probably do well with a grayscale treatment:

There you go!

We also got this photo looking the other way down the Sicoto River. It was a nice walk and it ended up being a bit longer than I had expected. Something like 1.5 miles I think. I was pushing a stroller, so I didn't really keep track the way I probably should have.

As we were heading back across the river on the pedestrian bridge, I noticed this old building sitting on the banks of the river. I asked @mrsbozz to take a photo of that too, she probably thought I was crazy, but I just felt like it had a story to tell. For one, the building (at least part of it) looks quite old, I wonder what it as back in the day. A stable maybe when horse and buggies were the main form of transportation?

Right now, this area is going through a massive rebirth. They are trying to maintain the historical feel, but there are restaurants, condos, and high end stores going in on pretty much every block. It probably drives them crazy that places like this are still hanging on. It makes you wonder who might own them and how much money they are holding out for before they sell.

Because I guarantee they have gotten offers. Even the little yellow house in the background. I bet the developers would love to flatten that whole block and put up a big "something" overlooking the river. If you saw some of the houses in this area, you would probably agree at how big of an eyesore this small area is, but respect to the owners for holding out as long as they can. It's really just a matter of time.

This was our chariot for our ride down to Virginia. It's funny, because it really isn't any bigger than our car, but we don't like putting all the miles on our personal vehicle, so we typically try to rent a car for trips like this. @mrsbozz referred to it as the "clown car" during our trip. I felt it was quite capable and it got us there and back no problem.

Plus, it was kind of fun being "that jerk from Jersey" flying through the mountain roads and passing traffic probably much faster than I should have been. When I rent cars I usually have the mentality that I am going to drive it like I stole it. I still have to pay a ticket if I get one, but I don't have to worry about the wear and tear on my own vehicle.

We purposely picked a vehicle that had either AWD or 4WD because we didn't know what kind of weather we were going to run into down in western Virginia. Thankfully, it was beautiful, so I was able to keep the car in 2WD the whole time. A good thing given the price of gas right now and how AWD kills your gas mileage.

It was a beautiful trip, and we had an amazing time visiting our niece and spending time with the rest our family. It's hard when they live that far away because the time with them is always too short. Now I sit at my desk on a Monday morning getting ready to tackle everything the week has in store for me and do what I can to catch up on HIVE.

Wish me luck! Those first few days after a vacation are always the hardest!