Day 4: Directionless Day

Today can best be described as pockmarked without directions. We came close to having a SSS - Super Sister Smackdown! To make a long story short, Jennifer and I have wildly different driving styles. Having been broadsided in my MINI within the last year, I nearly went over the edge when she came to a full stop in the right lane of a 4 lane road (speed limit reduced because of a school). That was preceded by a 35 minute driving tour of the broken back roads of Leesburg! You see, we were going to my aunt's house for lunch... Jennifer says her house is minutes from the hotel and that she has "navigation." Alright, no problem...

I should have known that the address wasn't registering with GPS when we sat in the hotel parking lot for 10 minutes before taking off. Once we got going, I followed her car as it jumped from lane to lane (sometimes across two lanes to make a last minute turn) while Jennifer was on the phone the whole time trying to get the directions to work. After stopping in the middle of the road, I finally had enough and headed back to the hotel. We were, after all, on every road but the right one within MINUTES OF THE HOTEL! Arg!! I snatched easy directions off of Google Maps and we were at the house in no time at all. All I can say is that's family for ya! No one was in a car accident and the Smackdown passed within 6 hours.

Later, we went to the Leesburg outlet shops to get a gift for Ricky's upcoming birthday. The above picture was taken by my mobile at the shops. We were really late getting to dinner, but eventually found ourselves at Blue Ridge Grill for a wonderful dinner and excellent service. After false starts at TWO other restaurants, Mama at Blue Ridge Grill took great care of us... I can't remember when I've had such excellent service at a restaurant. We finally got to have a great family conversation in a comfortable location. Maybe it was just me and the stress was finally exiting my consciousness, but it was more relaxing than any other places we've eaten to date.

To underscore the 'directionlessness' of the day, even Donna commented that she heard, "Follow me, I know the way there" too many times today! Ha! It's all good 'cause... I have navigation! :)

Peace,
Jaime