Remember the song "It's good to see the green, green grass of home?" Well, the grass was indeed green, and tall, and thick.... Jim mowed today.
We drove over 1,800 miles in one week, in our new Honda Accord. We had fun using the built-in navigation system. You just put in your beginning address and your destination, plus stops along the way, and you get very good instructions. I loved it when she would say "You are entering unverified territory" if we got off the main road and turned into a shopping center, store, etc. Once back on the main road, she would say, continue on your highlighted route.
Our first stop was in Charlotte, NC where we visited my sister Alice and her husband Jerry Thrasher. They live near South Park Mall in SW Charlotte, not too far from downtown. They're the only people I've ever known of that bought an exact replica of their old house in another part of the state. Their furniture was easy to place back where it originally was. Weird!! They have one addition; a nice sunporch on the back and lots of big shade trees for the back yard. They love living in the big city and taking advantage of many programs for seniors. Their favorite is "ushering" for big events including concerts, plays, etc. They are ushers for opening night of the broadway play, "Mama Mia" on July 28th.
Day 1 was Jim's and our son Bill's birthday (July 15) and we celebrated it with a picnic luncheon in Charlotte, NC at my sister Alice's home.
It was well attended and the big lunch spread was held in the back yard under a big oak tree.
Our son turned 51 and came from Florence, SC with his 3 daughters. Jim turned 75 and had fun opening his presents from the granddaughters. They always know just what to buy him. Bill gave him a new telephone with lots of new tech stuff I don't understand!
Day 2 - Jim's 57th high school class reunion in nearby Harrisburg, NC. He made a DVD for each member present with background music from the early 50s and lots of photos thru the years.
The man in the dark shirt was voted the person who had changed the "least". Everybody went home happy from the restaurant (which is in a shopping mall on the land where the old school was located). Jim presented the owner
of the restaurant with a big poster size aerial view of the old Harrisburg School and he said he would hang it in the restaurant for everybody to see. Day 3 - we left Charlotte around 9 a.m. on Friday, July 17, and drove to Olive Hill, KY to attend the Logan family reunion on Sat. night and Sunday at noon. It was a beautiful drive through NC, VA, WVA, and KY - traveling through the mountains most of the day.
We stayed in Grayson, KY (closest motel to the reunion). Jim's brother Larry and his wife Suzi drove from Virginia Beach, VA and we had fun visiting with them.
About 60 people gathered at the youngest Logan sibling's (Geraldine) house on Sat . night for the cousin's get-together. The crowd has increased over the years with grandchildren, great grandchildren, in-laws, etc. We didn't have as much fun as in previous years at this gathering when it was smaller and we got Geraldine wound up telling "tales" about growing up on "Head of Grassy" and the youngest of 8 children and born when her mother was 46. She had a niece older than she was. Geraldine is a great story teller~ 
The reunion took place on Sunday at noon at the senior center in Vanceburg, on the side of the Ohio River that separates KY and OH. Of the 8 Logan children, only 3 attended the reunion. Pictured here are Geraldine, Paul and Noah. One other sister also is still living (Gyneth, called Jean) was in attendance on Sat. night but unable to come to the reunion on Sunday. We spent the day visiting around and having left-overs at Geraldine's house on Sun. night.
Day 6 - Monday, July 20th we headed home via Black Mountain, NC to visit my sister Carolyn and her husband Dave. We got to spend the night in their B&B as they had a vacancy. It was very cool in the mountains.
Driving through Virginia, near the NC border, we stopped at Natural Tunnel, a VA State Park. There's a tunnel running thru a tall mountain, with a stream running thru it and a railroad track. It was a most interesting stop along the way. You could ride a chair lift down to the bottom of the gorge to check out the tunnel. We checked it out at the scenic overlook instead and took this photo.
We checked out this home in Montreat that was one of the original homes built in 1918 on the side of the mountain. It belongs to a family in Montgomery, AL and he told me he rents it. I haven't decided if we want to stay there next May or not when we go there for a wedding. First of all, there are no parking places on the one way, narrow road on the side of the mountain. Billy Graham originally lived on this street before moving farther up the mountain to avoid people looking at his house. After a stop-over in Black Mountain, we drove all the way back to Elba (9 hours) on Tuesday, getting home at 5 p.m. We had a great trip visiting with family and friends.
