11/10-11/12 The Limeys Invade Virginia; Well, Maybe It Was More Of A Recon Mission

[crossfamily]

I do believe there was more to this trip RER why are ya slacking. You should get it over with and put it to rest before the year ends!! Right sunshine?

 

[TOT_Princess_412]

Tanksss Ah, we all would have been there to flick it off your plate. Then you coulda resumed eating.

OO thanks... I still wouldnt have ate it anyway...lol

 

[rer1972]

Okay, it’s been so long since the last edition of this TR that I’m gonna have to do a bit of a recap. Ready? (Wayne's World tuttle-la-tu tuttle-la-tu tuttle-la-tu here

) The Limey’s (Kathy, Kelly, Teresa, M {a/k/a Godzilla, Mini-T, or Greenie Locks}, Virginia, and Me) just finished up a nice meal at Milepost 5, we’ve already filled up the mini-fridge from the hotel with a variety of adult beverages, and we are headed back there for some drinking and chatting (and as we shall see a bit of a surprise).

So, we all get back to the 2K’s and Teresa’s room. Everyone kinda settles in and starts talking about the boards, how things went the day before, and other chit chat. Then we get down to the nitty gritty; the reason we were all there-the Disboards . We got out the laptops again, and chatted online, pulled out some drinks (a bottle in the case of Virginia ), and chatted away online and offline.
I think she needed a little help from Teresa to open that thing up...

It was really a lot of fun, and a great way to get to know some of the folks I chat with on the Dis all the time

. I guess the five of us kind of have our own little “club” with our own stories and inside jokes (GRAPE, SEVEN, METAL PLATES, SHINY PENNIES, AND HOUCH FROM THE TRAILER PARK :WINK: :WINK: (I ran out of the number of images I could use)). I think it was a bit before we really got going that Kelly started to get sleepy (ya know those work hours; here she is getting sleepy...),

and decided to go sleep in my room. I’m sure the ghost of Jefferson Davis walking around the place didn’t bother her as much as it did me .

Now on to that surprise. Let me go back, waaaaaaaay back. A meteor came through the atmosphere and crashed to the earth where it killed many dinosaurs…uh, not that far. Several months before the trip when Teresa was arranging everything we had many other Limey Peeps who were going to be at the meet. For different reasons (many out of their own control) many of the Limey Peeps couldn’t make it. Before this happened Stinkerbelle’smom (Mary) and I thought it would be a nice idea to get the organizer of the meet (Teresa), and the hostess with the mostest (Virginia) a little something. Mary thought this would make a great gift…

…and I agreed (in a manly way of course. huh tinkerbell dressed bears). So, I ordered the bears online and got donations from many of our friendly Limey Peeps (ya know who you are). A few weeks later I received them in a huge box. Um, how was I going to get these to Richmond ?

Side Note: I must digress again. There seemed to be a running joke about the size of my luggage for this meet on the thread. Well, if it wasn’t for the size of my luggage those fuzzy tinkerbell dressed bears would never have made it to Richmond in one piece. So there!

Back to the story. So, I bought this monster rolling suitcase for two purposes (I like multi-taskers; that’s for you Alton Brown fans out there ).
First, the thing was gonna get the tinkerbell bears to Richmond. Second, I was planning to go camping at Ft. Wilderness

, and since I have to (well I don’t have to, but it’s the best way to get there) fly the muddaland I needed a bag big enough to hold all my camping stuff. Before the trip to Richmond I neatly place the bears and their houses/boxes in the luggage, and then threw my two sets of clothing, a pair of shoes, a jacket, and some health supplies into the bag. I’m really a light packer. Honest.

Getting to the surprise again. As everyone was chatting I snuck down to the rental car, grabbed the tinkerbell bears, and came back up to the room. Well, I must say that both Teresa and Virginia were very surprised and happy. Here are the pics…
Here's Virginia opening her box...

Here's Teresa opening her box...

Here's the two of them posing with their bears...

I do have to say that the bears were pretty cute...I mean neat.

Side Note: Since we are talking surprises I do have to mention that I did bring extra surprises for everyone else. I had made some Secret Green Club Member Cards (laminated them even), and I brought those to the meet as well. I handed those out, and gave Teresa the one for Danielle. I have also mailed them out to all the other Limey Peeps out there who requested them or were willing to give me their addresses. I didn’t leave anyone out I still have several of your cards. If you want them just pm me, or wait till we meet.

Well, after the surprise everyone went on chatting some more (did I mention that Virginia finished that bottle? ), and we didn’t get finished up until really late (if you ignore the glare off the top of my head you can actually see that the bears where actually dising with Da'Bear herself...

I actually think Kelly woke up and came back to the room (that’s how late it was!!). So, we all made plans to meet up the next morning to figure out what we would be doing, said our goodnights, and see ya tomorrows, and headed for our beds.

Okay, I finally got this part out. I’m going to get the final edition out before my next trip for sure.

So, join me for the Grand Finally Part 9 Huh, there’s a Haunted Mansion in Richmond too or I don’t care if you’re Owen Wilson’s long lost brother I need to get on that plane!!!!

 

[bigsis1970]

Awesome Rer!!! And CUTE Bears !!!! You a good guy!! Hum maybe I will get one of the Secret Green Club Member Cards in a few weeks??

 

[crossfamily]

I just sent Danielle's out since I couldn't make the meet with her.. So Danielle it is in the mail.. The membership cards rock... Now we need membership cards to the fmc club....
President: Michelle
vp: tbd
secretary: danielle
treasurer: RER

Ronnie you can work on this between now and August for out big meet then.. good job. Not much to add.. Just wanted to Thank everyone again for the Bear. It is so sweet... You guys are the best. Can't wait till August!!

 

[Va-bear]

Grrrreat job Rer!!!!! What a fun time we had - wish we could do it more often! Hey...August isnt THAT far away! (And for those wondering I did not finish that bottle alone ...KAt helped me some!! I might still be working on it if she hadnt helped.....I am tea tottler, really....... )

My Tinker Bear was so sweet too- I will alwys and her!

 

[dwheatl]

A card for me? I can hardly wait!

 

[bigsis1970]

Hum Geez the Prez thread is following me over here.. Hey this is supposed to all about RER , the 2 K's, T and V isn't it...

 

[anut4disney]

As someone who was born and raised in Richmond this TR has been so fun to read. I lived in Richmond until I was 26 and married and moved to the then sticks of Mechanicsville, VA where I lived until it became a bustling little area and moved out even further to the sticks of King William County (just got a grocery store about 5 years ago, yes it is the sticks). Even though I haven't lived in Richmond for 28 years I think I could still walk anywhere in the city and not get lost, put me in a car though and I would get lost (yes I walked or rode the bus everywhere). With all the one way streets and cars you did a great job if you weren't still looking for your hotel 2 days later.

What hotel did you stay at and what was the name of the restaraunt?

Side: Turns out Ukrops is owned by a super-conservative family (let me know if I’m wrong). So, they have a no-alcohol policy. Go figure

I forget that Ukrops doesn't have alcohol, don't drink, but they have the best meat department and produce around and they still bag and take your bags to your car, also only store I know that has more then 2 cashiers open. I guess they do that so you forget they don't have the alcohol.

Thanks for the TR and bringing back some memories.

 

[blue_river]

A spider in her wrap???? That's NASTY

Just found this trippie and I'm subscribing

 

[rer1972]

Awesome Rer!!! And CUTE Bears !!!! You a good guy!! Hum maybe I will get one of the Secret Green Club Member Cards in a few weeks??

Thank you. You will get yours very soon. (that didn't sound right)

I just sent Danielle's out since I couldn't make the meet with her.. So Danielle it is in the mail.. The membership cards rock... Now we need membership cards to the fmc club....
President: Michelle
vp: tbd
secretary: danielle
treasurer: RER

Ronnie you can work on this between now and August for out big meet then.. good job. Not much to add.. Just wanted to Thank everyone again for the Bear. It is so sweet... You guys are the best. Can't wait till August!!

Great! I'll work on FMC cards if the Prez says so. Oh, just blurt it out we know Mary should be VP. Oh, and you're welcome.

Grrrreat job Rer!!!!! What a fun time we had - wish we could do it more often! Hey...August isnt THAT far away! (And for those wondering I did not finish that bottle alone ...KAt helped me some!! I might still be working on it if she hadnt helped.....I am tea tottler, really....... )

My Tinker Bear was so sweet too- I will alwys and her!

It was lots of fun thanks to you guys, and the other disers too. Suuuure, I think you need to be on the FMC board more than me (how did I get put into that position;oh yeah)

A card for me? I can hardly wait!

I think you got it already (took me a while to write this).

Hum Geez the Prez thread is following me over here.. Hey this is supposed to all about RER , the 2 K's, T and V isn't it...

You have to accept the good and the bad that comes with the office ya know.

As someone who was born and raised in Richmond this TR has been so fun to read. I lived in Richmond until I was 26 and married and moved to the then sticks of Mechanicsville, VA where I lived until it became a bustling little area and moved out even further to the sticks of King William County (just got a grocery store about 5 years ago, yes it is the sticks). Even though I haven't lived in Richmond for 28 years I think I could still walk anywhere in the city and not get lost, put me in a car though and I would get lost (yes I walked or rode the bus everywhere). With all the one way streets and cars you did a great job if you weren't still looking for your hotel 2 days later.

What hotel did you stay at and what was the name of the restaraunt?



I forget that Ukrops doesn't have alcohol, don't drink, but they have the best meat department and produce around and they still bag and take your bags to your car, also only store I know that has more then 2 cashiers open. I guess they do that so you forget they don't have the alcohol.

Thanks for the TR and bringing back some memories.

Okay, I can't remember the name of the hotel, but I'm sure it had to be 100 years old so it was there when you were (26 years not 100; i'm not trying to insinuate anything). Glad you like it. Hopefully if we do it again you can visit as well.

A spider in her wrap???? That's NASTY

Just found this trippie and I'm subscribing

The spider was kinda bad, small, but bad. I've been told they taste like chicken...or was that turkey. No, maybe hard boiled eggs...with the shells still on.

 

[rer1972]

Side Note: This part of the TR is gonna need a bit of audience participation. Seeing as I wasn’t around for whatever it was that Teresa, M, Kathy, and Virgina (I almost typed Hugh) were doing while I was exploring Richmond. So, I am expecting some input from my fellow meeters. Now to the TR.

I have to say that I’m a big History buff (watch too much Discovery and History channel), and I was looking forward to coming to Richmond so I could visit some of the historical sites. My time was really short (had to catch a plane later that afternoon or get stuck in Richmond one more day) so I had to choose carefully. So, what did I pick? The Edgar Allen Poe Museum, and the Hollywood Cemetary (can you believe they both have their own Wikipedia page?). I know you’re thinking “A Cemetary!!! What a nutso!!!”. Well, maybe I am nutso, but this was no ordinary cemetery as you will soon find out. The other part of choosing both places was that I knew exactly how to get to them and not get lost.

So, that morning I get up (without anyone's prompting I should add )for my complimentry coffee and bagel with cream cheese on one side and peanut butter on the other. Luckily, Kathy came down as well. We chatted about what my plans were and what their plans were. We decided we could all meet up for lunch together before we all leave (Couldn’t have planned it better). I finished up breakfast, said catch ya later to Kathy and headed off down the road. Here is a nice view of the road…

First stop, the Hollywood Cemetary. The neat thing about the day was it was really dreary and cool. Perfect cemetery weather. I pulled up next to what coulda been a great Haunted Mansion…

I also checked out the marble/granite map (pretty neat) to what section to drive through…

This was honestly one of the nicest cemeteries I have ever been too. Lot’s of beautiful scenery, rolling hills, and a view of the James River…

...if this spot couldn't enduce a scary story or movie what else could.

Here are some pictures of the burial sites of two U.S. Presidents, and the only President of the Confederacy.

5th President of the United States James Monroe (his wives and daughers are next to him)

10th President of the United States John Tyler (also with family nearby)
President of the Confederate States of America Jefferson Davis(one of the figures near him is where his wife is buried; his little boy Joe Davis was buried there as well-he fell from the Confederate White House balcony)

Side Note: The cemetery has nothing to do with Hollywood, CA. It is named for the Holly trees all around it.

I pretty much stayed in the car through most of the cemetery since it was raining kinda hard and windy. If a good spot would come up I would get out and look around to take pictures. I really do recommend making a visit to the Hollywood Cemetary. In fact Virginia told me that it’s a good place for a picnic (without the rain and wind I’m sure). Just beware of the black clad teenagers that roam the place with their “I’m a Vampire” shirts (so I’m told). Here are a few more interesting pictures…

Here is the story of the iron dog in this picture. "The cast-iron dog at the grave of Florence Rees is a favorite with visitors, who leave tokens -- a dandelion, a few coins, a ball, a ribbon fashioned into a collar. The story goes that the dog once stood outside an area business and caught the eye of Florence's brother. Their father bought the dog and later moved it to the cemetery when the war broke out to save it from being melted down and made into bullets."-Susan Harb, Washington Post.

This is a Civil War Memorial...

Well, after I got rained on enough I decided it was time to head to the Edgar Allen Poe Museum.


Next stop, the Edgar Allen Poe Museum.

So, I get to the museum and park. Now don’t think this is some museum like The Louvre, The Guggenheim, or the Smithsonian. Nope it was an old little stone hose attached to some other stone buildings. I walk in from the rain, and there’s an old guy and a little girl behind the counter. I smile at them hoping for a hello or good morning, but I get…nothing. Um, maybe they are part of the exhibits? The little girl finally blinks so I decide to speak up, “So, what’s the price for the museum?”. The girl tells me it’s six dollars (ah, I’m already here so I’ll pay it), and I pay the little girl (she must have been around 11 and she could really work that register). Apparently, the two have done this so many times that their parts are perfectly choreographed (or they’re really good animatronics), because as soon as the little girl gave me my change back the guy started up. He explained that a tour group had just started and I could join them. He did that walk this way towards one of the doors, and I entered. I joined a small group with one little chubby lady doing all the talking (I guessed she was the tour guide). She showed us a bunch of Poe’s furniture, told us this wasn’t his house (wha….? ), that the house belonged to a friend of his and he stayed here often. We moved on to a room with a large diorama of Richmond. The guide explained the history of Richmond and what part Poe had in it. Then we moved on to another building. This one was the best part of the tour. It had binders with his writing in them. I have to say he had some tiny handwriting. It was really pretty neat, and the guide told us about the problems he had with women and writing. It was about this time my phone rang (um yeah, I probably shoulda put it on vibrate being I was going into a museum and all), and I got the funny looks from everyone else. I just smiled back at them and stepped out into the rain. The reception was really bad, but I did understand that it was Teresa and that they wanted to make plans for lunch. I tried my best to explain that I couldn’t hear too well, but that I can get back around where they were in about 30 minutes. I couldn’t hear much else so I hung up (sorry Teresa if I hung up on you, but I didn’t know what you were saying at that point), and just figured I’d head off and call back as soon as I could. So, I out of there and headed of for lunch with the limeys. (Continued on Page 2)

 

[bigsis1970]

Yay ... The cemetery looks really NEAT.....

 

[rer1972]

e flight!!!

Side Note: I need to mention at this point that Kelly has already left. She needed to get up early (I think when we were going to sleep) so she could drive home for work that night. So, that would explain her being absent from this days events.

I am now headed back to where the hotel was, and decided to call back Teresa. I think she was on the phone so I left a message, and called Kathy. Kathy said we were going to meet for lunch and Arby’s. Great!!!

Side Note: I know whatever restaurant I put up here someone will say they don’t like it, but I am going to talk about Arby’s anyways. Every Arby’s in my location closed down just over a year ago, and I have to say that I do enjoy a good roast beef sandwich (they are not burgers!) every so often. So, getting a chance to eat a good Arby’s roast beef sandwich was a great way to end the meet.

I drive over to the Deluxe 5 Star Arby’s (it looked like a Applebees or Chilis from the outside), hand my keys to the valet (I keed), and step inside. Very nice. I see everyone seated in the V.I.P. section and ask if I’m allowed in. (I keed again). So, I place my order, and the girl hands me one of those light up buzzing things that tells you when your food is ready. Hmmmmm, high class for sure.

I head back to the V.I.P. area to await the light show and buzzing. I tell everyone about my visit to Poe’s friend’s place, and the Cemetery. They tell me about their adventures in shopping, and how the Ski Shop place sucked cause they ignored Teresa (boy did they miss out on a good customer ). At that point my personal light show and buzzer goes off . I pick up my sandwich and eat and continue to talk about upcoming trips (like tomorrow for me ), maybe everyone meeting up in August, and free dining (pleazzzzzzzzzzzze I hope they have free dining in August). At this point I think M had finished up her food, and decided to start trying out for the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Squad down the stairs (those classes are paying off Teresa ). Very soon we are all finished up, and it’s time to break up this party. We all give out hugs and best wishes

to each traveler, and I head off again to my aviation adventures.

Side Note: I am going to skip the driving to the airport part, and the turning the rental car in part of this trip as it really doesn’t add much to this TR. That and it was pretty dull

.

Side Note: Please remember that I am flying standby all the way home as you read this next section. It will help you understand my grief more.

So, I finally get to the airport terminal with my hugea$$ bag. I have about 45 minutes before the flight I need to take starts boarding. That’s pretty good, and gives me plenty of time to check-in and all. So, I go up to the self check-in kiosk and scan my license. Um, it says I have no ticket. That is not good . At first I figure maybe I’m doing something wrong. So, I go to the counter and ask if they could check my flight. Just so everyone knows who I’m talking about here is a picture of Owen Wilson…

Now just imagine him with a buzz cut. Same crooked nose, same color hair, and the same freak’in slow interrupted talking!!! He explains that I’m flying standby (really?????), and that I am going to need to rebook the flight. This all took him 10 minutes to tell me. WTH? It only took him about a minute to look up that I wasn’t on any flights. Now I’m starting to sweat cause I’ve got 35 minutes to board. So I call my cousin (works for the airline and I fly free thanks to him) to see why. 15 minutes later he has my ticket setup on the system again. Cool, I’ve got my ticket and now I have to check my bag. I get back into line to get it checked, and guess who is taking his sweet time explaining weather and flight patterns to the guy in line ahead me? Yup, Slo-poke Wilson himself !!!!

Side Note: Flying standby required lots and lots of patience and tact. I can’t just blow up at the folks at the counter or the stewardess. They are the ones I am relying on to get me on the flights. So, I got to be super extra with whipped cream and cherries sweet with these folks, and I am.

It’s 10 minutes later and Slo is still talking. A skycap comes walking up, and I graciously ask him if there is anyway he could check my bag. I have my ticket, and all I need is to get my bag tagged and on the treadmill. He smiles, grabs the bag, tags it (the tag was printed and sitting there the whole 10 minutes ), and throws it on the treadmill. I thank him a million times

, and run to security. Seeing as I don’t have anything else with me I make it through pretty quick.

Now comes the next hurdle. The gate. I get there, and they are already boarding. I ask the girl if there are any empty seats, and she says no. Okay, maybe someone won’t show up? So I sit and wait. Everyone boards and I’m just looking at the gate attendant as sad as I can. She says there are two passengers who have not shown up yet. She calls them over the intercom

. 5 minutes later she calls again. 5 minutes after that she looks at me and says this is it buddy. If they don’t show up on this one you’re in luck. Well, nobody showed up, and I made the flight .

I knocked out

as soon as the stewardess started talking, and woke up about 30 minutes before landing in Houston. Here we go again. This time wasn’t so crazy. I did get the last seat, but there weren’t any other passengers coming to worry about. I finally made it back to my house at around 11 at night.

I will now take this time to thank all of my limey peeps who were on this trip, and those who couldn’t make it. One day we’re going to have to have a Limey Convention. I do hope I get to see everyone again, and hope to meet you other Limeys out there.

 

[bigsis1970]

Great ending (well the writing part not the airport part) to what sounds like was A WONDERFUL TRIP.. Thanks so much for sharing .. Make sure to take good notes on your next trip so you can write one just as entertaining!

 

[crossfamily]

Well as everyone knows I was there with my dd2 Emily and we call her "M". Well she fell asleep at dinner last night and didn't wake up till early this morning... Ok so we were up early. Well since Kathy and I were sharing a room she doesn't get to sleep in much so "M" and I head down for breakfast. Ok well since there are 2 buildings in the hotel we were in the opposite building than the food... Well it was cold, rainy, and very windy... We run across to the other building and then catch the elevator up to the main floor or maybe it was down I can't remember. Its been way too long..
We eat breakfast and head back to wake up Kathy. Kathy gets ready and heads over to grab a quick bite to eat and I pack up.. I call Virginia and we set up a time to meet at the mall. I would have loved to have gone to the cemetery with RER but if you can all remember my little doesn't like to drive in So what else does a gal do when its cold and rainy out we shop!!!

Kathy and I pack up and head out to the mall. I call VA (Thats what I call Virginia) and tell her to meet me at Old Navy... Oh how do I that store.. I end up getting some great deals on some stuff and as I am shopping I see VA... Yeah she made it!!!! VA shops and then we head out and check out the mall. Well my little has no patience so I walk around and try and find her something to do. Va and Kat (Kathy) check out a few stores and then we find a coffee shop and I get a real cup of coffee.. We then find a play area for "M" to run off some energy.. Va said she wishes she would have brought her ds3 (at the time) with her so he could have played with "M".. Oh well for sure next time. Ok now I am getting hungry and so are the rest of the clan. I try calling RER and you know how that went and we head off to Arbys.

But first I want to stop by a ski shop I see the night before to get my ds9 a snowboarding outfit (yes the whole package) and my dh some ski stuff. I walk in and no one greets me... I walk around and walk around and walk around. Ok now I know I look young but come on give me a break.... Well when people walk in after me and get helped right away I get and walk out. Man did they miss out on a sale... Their loss..

Ok I head to Arbys.. Like RER said it was very fancy. I think to myself oh man my dd is gonna up some trouble in here. Man I hope we don't get kicked out... Note to self: Just pass her off on RER!! OK we will be fine.. We order and get out little coaster light up buzzy thing and wait. Well since my dd is potty trained she has to use every bathroom we come across... We get in the bathroom and of course our buzzer goes off. We finish up and get our food and get a table with everyone else... RER finally shows up just as we sit down.. I go and get our Arby sauce.. Side note:The Arby sauce in Michigan is hot and spicy well the Arby sauce in Virginia is sweet. YUCK!!! It ruined my sandwich... Oh well ate it anyways... As RER said my daughter broke in for the Olympics ( I was so glad the place was practically empty) and after while we all say our good byes and head out.

Well since I followed Kathy home from the airport I was so lost. I made Kat stay with me till I had to leave for the airport. Well we had some time to kill. Where else is a person to go when killing time???? WALMART.... Plus it was a super walmart. We don't have a super walmart anywhere near us so this gets me ... I wanted to get M a pair of jammies so she could sleep on the plane home... We find some warm Strawberry Shortcake Jammies and shop around with Kat... Ok its time to head to the airport. Kat and I say our good byes and I follow her till my airport exit... I wave good bye and get off on my exit and head to the gas station.... We get gas and head to the airport.

Well if you have ever flown into Richmond you know how small the airport is.. The only bad part you have to go to a different building and drop off your car. Well I pull up and have an awsome attendant help me out.. M had fallen asleep and I still had to get all our stuff together. The attendant told me to take my time so I did and got all our stuff together and as my arms are very loaded I get a sleeping M up in my arms and try to juggle a duffle bag; a suit case; a carry on and a car seat and head off to the long walk to the baggage check in.... Ok I did not fly Continental but I swear I must of had the same guy at the counter that RER had... I stood there and stood there. Well since I didn't fly first class I had to wait in the regular line.... After a half hour I finally get some help... Now mind you the line wasn't long at all but I have that luck to go into anyplace and get that person in front of me. There was one person working the regular line (yep I swear the same guy as RER) and 2 people working first class. Ok since there was no one in line at first class you would think they would help out a regular person but NO I had to wait. No keep in mind M was still asleep and I had all my luggage that I was trying to keep track of... Well finally it was my turn. I try to push up my stuff and juggle everything and you would thing all the people standing behind me someone would have helped me..... Well a guy at the end of the line pushes forward and says out loud (and I mean pretty loud) here let me help you maam I can see you are struggling... I was so grateful... I could not thank him enough.. I check in and head to security.. Well they would not let me carry M through she had to walk.... OK I wake her up (Thank You Mr. Security Dude) and she walks through and get really powered up!!! we get our carry on and head to get something to snack on.... We get to our gate and find out most of the flights are already canceled due to high winds.... UGH Please not ours PLEASE!!!
After an hour delay we board and head home from our weekend away..

I want to say I was so glad I got to go and meet some of my really good Limey friends.. I had met Kat at DW this past August so it was so good to see her again... You chat with someone online and you have a picture in your head of what they look like and its so funny to see how off you are when you finally do get to meet them in person... I am so grateful to have met all my new friends... I will never forget this trip and I so hope we can all get together again this upcoming August...

Thanks guys for a unforgettable weekend...

 

[Va-bear]

.....you know I've been sitting back enjoying Rers trip report SO MUCH that never felt I should add anything...it's so good w/out my big mouth....but, since he asked I can add a few words. Lets see, first I think I should say how exciting this was for me!! I never expected, in a million years, to meet my friends from the DIS!!! When I mentioned Richmond as a great meet spot, I meant it, but figured everyone would think their hometown would be a great spot!! And, always the sceptic, I thought if people were interested that it never REALLY would work out....but it did!!

Meeting Kathy, Teresa, Kelly, and Ronnie was definately the bright spot in a pretty ho-hum fall. THough, they managed to pick about the yuckiest weekend we've had all summer/fall/winter! I had researched dinner places some - both on the internet and asking around. I trusted some of my best bear advisors who said 'Milepost 5' was the place to take these humans... good advice . As you can see from the pics the food was BEE-utiful and yummy..ofcourse, bears dont mind a few small spiders mixed up in their food - poor human Kelly.... (I was a few minutes late to dinner - it was my Uncle BARRINGTON's 75th birthday!!!!!)

As Teresa said, it was funny to finally see faces to go with the screen names....so THAT'S what a KAW looks like in person !! I think I was speechless for one whole minute, while I took in the new people. (I had met Kelly and Kathy for a short while the night before... ever run out of your house to meet total strangers in a dark parking lot at 10pm before?? Fortunately, DH is used to my odd sense of what to do in this weird world...)
Soo, we were all chatting like we do on the boards...making our inside jokes and learning that we are pretty much the same in person as we are on the boards... My story merges w/ Ronnies here. We ate, went back to the rooms, got our sweet sweet bears (THANK YOU!!!), and chatted online w/ our eager DIS friends who were waiting up on a Sat night to hear from us. We even chatted more after I went back to the den.

Sunday was shopping fun and lunch at the "Fancy Arby's" (as all the bears I know call it...when we go to a regular Arby's it's the "Normal Arby's." Just like Teresa when I dashed in the bathroom my fancy "your foods ready" thingie went off - SOOO....for your future reference, if you've waited a long time for your food at a Fancy Arby's try a quick trip to the restroom!

Hugging all my human friends goodbye was sad - I just hugged and ran. Man, right when you feel like you're getting to feel comfortable w/people they have to leave! I wish everyone could have stayed for a week!! (And brought along everyone else from the green thread!! Heck, everyone from the DIS boards!!) I had a blast and cant wait to see you all again - and hopefully, meet a lot more of my human friends!!! Beehave and have fun!

 

[rer1972]

I loved all of your additions!!! You had me Like I said I really do hope to see you all again sometime soon.

Now if we can just get the rest of the limeys to go.

 

[Va-bear]

I loved all of your additions!!! You had me Like I said I really do hope to see you all again sometime soon.

Now if we can just get the rest of the limeys to go.

(you had me too!!)

 

[kaw1218]

Let me first say....Ronnie, you are a great story teller! It was fun reading about our time in Richmond! Hopefully we can do it again!
(like NYC?????? )

Teresa and VA,
I love your additions!!! It was a good time, I was so glad I was able to arrange my weekend so I could surprise ya'll!!!

e flight!!!

Side Note: I need to mention at this point that Kelly has already left. She needed to get up early (I think when we were going to sleep) so she could drive home for work that night. So, that would explain her being absent from this days events.

.

I had to leave by 1am so I could drive the 4 hours home(which turned into 5 and a half, I sat on 95 for an extra hour because of an accident ) to be there for my DD's 8th birthday party(on 2 hours sleep ).

Let me take a moment to say thank you to my cousin April who helped me with 8 screaming, hyper girls