Back from VA

Hello all. Just letting you know that we made it back safe and sound. We really had a nice trip. The highlight for me (Justin) was being able to see Jake, Dawn and the kids. What a surprise to see Julia and Amy also !!! We stayed at Jake and Dawn's for most of the day and just talked and ate. Great food!! It was so nice to spend time with you Jake!! I really wish we lived closer. I think we would do a lot of things together, if we did. The kids really had a lot of fun playing together. Thanks for being so hospitable to us !! We stopped by the old homestead on Dove Hill on the way to Jake and Dawns and just took a peak at that also. They are not taking care of it at all like Mom and Pop used to. Pop used to keep the front (and the back) so neatly trimmed and kept up (even all the way to the road). It looks like a jungle in the front yard right now. Mom's old flower beds are just waste-high weeds. Sort of depressing, but I'm glad that you guys have a new place now and I am sure that it looks as good or better than the Dove Hill place used to. One thing that I forgot to check that I had wanted to was to see if the old birdhouse was still in the backyard. Was it still there when you guys left? Did birds ever move in? Jake and Dawn showed us the house that they will be moving into. Very nice!! We stopped by the house in Brightwood also. I wish that I could have seen it when you guys were living there. Also, I wanted to get my old Trek 720 bicycle, if it was still around. It was!! I carried it back to Leesburg on the roof and Jen's dad hauled it back to WI in his truck. I will be working the next few weeks restoring it the best that I can. Except for some rust(none on the frame), it is not in too bad of shape. Thanks for taking good care of it. I bought two new tires and two new tubes as the others were all dry-rotted. I think the rest is ok, but just needs a good cleaning/oiling. Luke, your old mountain bike was still there (the 850). I guess you probably knew that. Jake took it and was going to try to clean it up. It was missing one of the pedal arms, though. Any idea where that might be? Pop's bike is still there in Brightwood. I wished that I had room for it also so that it doesn't get thrown away, but I just didn't. That was a great old bike. Those bikes hold a lot of sentimental value to me as I remember riding with Pop, Luke, and Jake to go camping at White Oak Canyon trail. That is something that I will never forget. Seems like Pop had the most weight on his bicycle. Remember Bill Curd, who tried to get into a fight with Pop when we were almost to Graves Mill. I think he must have been drunk. He stopped his truck, got out, and started yelling profanities at Pop. I just remember that I was ahead of Pop at that point and was looking back at the whole thing. Pop just held his bicycle up between Bill and himself and the guy left pretty quickly. I remember that Pop stopped at the Graves Mill post office to inquire about who it was after we saw his truck in a yard later along our route. So much for privacy laws back then, huh? I don't remember what summer it was that we made that trip, but I think it must have been only a year or two before I left for college. Maybe '92 or '93 ? I had that bicycle at college for my first year also. It was my only transportation as I did not have a car there that first year. I also remember riding it into town quite a few times down route 15. I don't know why, but I can only ever remember doing this with Jake. Did you ride this with me some also, Luke? I remember riding it to Arby's a few times also, when I was working there. Sorry if this is all very boring...I guess I am just typing thoughts as they come to me. Jenni is excited because she has had a bike for a couple years now, but doesn't want to ride alone. Now we will be able to ride together if we get someone to watch the girls.
Wish we could have seen the rest of you. Pray hard that it will work out soon to do so.
We love and miss everyone. Justin, Jenni, Claire and Madeline.