No sooner had we gotten home, were we getting packed up for our 25 day visit to VA with a sidetrip down into NC. Annee's main duties this trip were to attend the various graduation ceremonies for several grankids. two were graduating from high school and then two were graduating middle school to high school. During all this, it was my task to spend as much time with Young Dee and Robert as possible ,. along with seeing as many frens as I could.

Dale & Annee

Annee & Don

Tris

First off Lil Annee and I went down to the bay to visit the Mauney's. Dale was scheduled for a knee replacement and we wanted to be there with her to be sure all went well. She was a bit out of it after the operation, but once they got her meds adjusted, she perked up considerable and as of this writing has recuperated well.

Drinking the Good Stuff

Annee headed back to Richmond and I headed over to De Judge's house to visit up with his family. Tris, as a retired District judge, is doing more judging now as a fillin and seems to be working harder than he did before retirement. The first nite there we had a little party at the gazebo down by the creek, told lies, drank , and had lots of laughs with Joanna, Thomas, and Ellie.

Tris, Ellie, Joanna

Ellie

Next day I went into Tappahannock to meet ole frat brother Jerry Houchen's and his lovely Pat from Florida. Since Jerry hadnít seen some of our other classmates since 1962, we had put together a reunion party for him. In Lowery's restaurant in Tappahannock, he got to catch up with Will Lowery and ole Skipper Garrett.

Hooch, Skipper, Will & Me

That night Tommy Davidson and Steve Proctor met us all over at Hyde's place for a libation, then we all piled into Tris' old suburban and cut across country over to Bill and Candy Cardin's over on the Potomac at Sandy Point.

Candy & Bill

Bill, Tris, Tommy

None of the boys had seen Hooch since way back in 1962 so everybody had catchin up to do and many tall tales were told. Billy kept us involved with a lengthy discussion on the merits of viagra versus "the pump", but couldn't convince us one was better than the other.

Hooch & Steve

Candy & The Guys

After we all were primed we headed up to an old country restaurant up to Cole's Point, where Billy had planned to really put on the dog with a great seafood dinner. The ole boys continued with the tall tales and laughter all thru dinner til just about closing time. It had been a great reunion for us all. No telling when we would all have the opportunity to see Hooch again. Little did I know then that it wouldn't be too long on my part.

Dinner with the Ole Guys

End of a Great Evening!

Meanwhile, back in Richmond, Lil Annee was doing the Grandma thing, attending grandkid functions like concerts and graduations. Drewster's eldest, Taylor Ann had a concert Annee attended, then Del's daughter, Bailey, graduated from high school, as did Winston, the Dawg's son. Annee, of course, never missed a function.

Taylor

Bailey, Del, Annee

Winston & Annee

Finally back in Richmond, after several days down on The Neck, I played catch up with my boys, as well as one of my nephews, and even succeeded in getting my old brother-in-law, Ritch Perry out for a drink. Then one day ole buddy Billy Graham was buzzing thru town from Kentucky heading home to the Eastern Shore and we met him out by the Interstate.

With Young Dee

Robert, Ritchie, Dee, Winn, Dee3, Dawg

Young Dee & Wild Bill Graham

Next on tap was a trip over to the Eastern Shore with Mudtoad and a little salt water fishing along with visiting ole frens. We got the boat over and Mudtoad and I tried the fishing with no luck, then decided to just look around on Nandua and all our old duck hunting spots of bay tributaries. Finally we caught up with ole ET [Eddie Truitt] for dinner before sacking in at the Dawghouse for the night. Next AM we were off to catch up with Kathy Johnson and her new beloved, before heading back to the mainland and Richmond.

The Dawg House

Mudtoad & ET

Kathy & Her Beloved

The final part of our trip was a week long visit with Drewster and his whole clan down to their condo at North Topsail in North Carolina. We had heard about how beautiful it was right on the beach and finally got invited to take it all in. All the kids, Taylor, Peyton, Harper, and Aidan loved the surf, sun, and sand, so it looked to be a great time for Annee to be doing the grandkid thing in earnest.

Drewster, Peyton, Annee, Harper, & Aidan

Aidan, Sharon, Peyton, & Harper

Our days were spent enjoying the beach and the kids, and evenings provided opportunities to sample the local seafood. Not one to get too caught up in just lying around on the beach, I had to try my hand at fishing a bit, then , one day took a ride over to Elizabethtown in Bladen County where my mom grew up. Back when I was a kid, we would spend a month there in the summer , with much of that time spent at White Lake a scant 5 miles away. Old E-town hadn't changed much, but I couldn't believe all the new development right on the edge of town. I found many of the old landmarks I remembered, then took a tour around White Lake, before heading back to Topsail.

White Lake

Then, one afternoon I caught up with Mike Ward, one of young Dee's buddies, who lived at Wilmington. We took his new boat out for a 20 mile cruise off shore and caught some Spanish mackerel, then headed into Wrightsville for dinner before heading home. Sure was good to see Mike again and finally catch some fish.

Capn Mike & Buddy

Dinner @ Wrightsville

All too soon the week was over and we headed back to Richmond , sun burned and worn out. Before finally heading back to the high country of Colorado, Annee and I had lunch with my sister Mary Lou at her favorite lunch spot, Mayberry Pharmacy. Then we attended a high falooting "trailer trash" party for Vickie and Bob Argabright, who were leaving for the summer to tour eastern Canada. As it turned out, they didn't make it to Ashland before wrecking the trailer and the car. Luckily neither of them were hurt, but I suggested that Bob study for his CDL and get a truck to tow his trailer before setting out on another excursion.

Annee, Lou Lou, & Me

Trailer Trash Bob

Finally our 3 week visit came to an end, and we said our fare thees to one and all, and headed back to Montrose to recoup.