5/25/26
This will be a short post, mostly just photos.
Before heading back to Portland by train (pics of that journey coming next!) I spent about a week and a half at the house where I grew up in semi-rural northern Virginia. As you may recall, I had spent a similar time there this past November.
This time I was extra excited, because in addition to spending time with my parents, I had been looking forward all winter to a family reunion at the homestead this spring. Although my extended family is small, we had never had such a reunion… and this time, there was to be a new baby attending from New York! This is the first (and almost certainly will be the only) baby in this “next generation,” since my sister and I have never had kids. But our cousin recently did.
However, although we did have a very brief but enjoyable lunch get-together at the homestead one day, unfortunately the reunion plans fell victim to several illnesses.
First was my own: as I alluded in the last post, I seemed to have picked up a nasty 24-hour GI bug during my time in Richmond. It was quite unpleasant for me for that day and night, but thankfully it seemed to get out of my system quickly. However, within a few days it had made its way into my father’s system too, and took him out for several days. It appears he may have shared it with my visiting uncle, as well. (Word to the wise—GI bugs can remain contagious for up to three or four days once symptoms resolve; take all the precautions you can!)
Meanwhile, the new baby in New York had come down with a cold, and then spread it to both his parents… so that branch of the family didn’t make the trip, and none of us got to meet the baby! (Fortunately, my parents had already met him a few months ago, but I, my sister and her partner visiting from Seattle, and my aunt and uncle visiting from North Carolina will have to wait for a future opportunity.)
So, it was kind of a weird and not-entirely-pleasant time at the homestead.
The good news was that the weather was mostly lovely, and I spent a lot of time outside just resting—in the gazebo, by the pergola, and in the hammock—and that was very refreshing and rejuvenating. And since I grew up from a newborn in that house, I always enjoy “coming home” to it.
(And enjoying my mother’s home cooking! She always makes wonderful vegan meals when I visit.)
On our last day, an Uber driver came out “into the wilds” to pick up my sister and her partner and me, and drove us to the Ashburn transit center. Those two boarded a metro train for DC to continue their train travels to points north, while I bicycled along the W & OD bike trail to visit my friend Michelle in Reston.
It was good to have another chance to connect with her and her two adorable doggies for a night.
The next day, I biked to the DC Metro (it feels like a cool sci-fi cavern in there in the underground parts) to return to Amtrak’s grand Union Station.
There, I would board a train to Chicago (17-hour overnight ride) and then transfer the same day to a 48-hour train back to Portland.
Scenic pics to come!
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