Saturday, June 2, 2018: My post from yesterday didn’t seem to publish properly so if you didn’t see one check the blog for it. I hope I have it fixed now.

After my arrival night I didn’t get up until 10:00 AM. There is a coffee maker in the room but I like milk in mine so went to lobby to get some coffee to bring back to room. I was quite surprised that they didn’t have free coffee 24/7. They have a little Starbucks so I had to buy my coffee. I don’t know that I have stayed in a hotel in the past 30 years that didn’t have hot coffee available in the lobby for free!

I showered and got ready for the day and texted brother Bill to let him know about when I would be leaving. He said he had a dental appointment so I decided to kill a little time so I would not arrive before him.

Several weeks ago I had been looking at some special thimbles and saw there was a quilt store not far from here that carried the ones I wanted. I looked on Google maps and thought it looked like it was kind of on the way to Bill’s in Frederick, MD. So I took off to Falls Church, VA. It was a nice drive through lots of green tree country. It was a sunny and hot day but not as humid as I had expected.

I got my thimble and then went to a Subway for something to eat since it had been a long time since that sandwich on the plane. I hadn’t been to a Subway for years and got a nice turkey wrap.

It turns out I had to back track to go to Bill’s along a lot of busy streets with lights every half mile or so, even though it was a ‘highway.’ Kind of like driving 30 miles on Pacific Highway in Seattle area.

I got to Bill’s house around 3:00 and met his wife, Helen. We sat around and chatted for a while then Bill had to leave to go to the rehearsal. Helen and I got along well and spent an hour or so talking before I left to pick up Christine and go to the rehearsal dinner. I liked Helen and it was easy talking with her.

(A little background on my family ‘affairs’: Brother Bill was married to Patti and had two children, Christine and Michael. They divorced about 10 years ago and Bill married Helen a few months ago. I had not seen Patti or Michael since Darrel and I visited back in 2002. Christine and Bill came out for my mom’s 80th birthday in 2012, then Christine came with us to Mexico in 2013 and also visited in Seattle last year. I went to Philadelphia to visit her in January. So, it had been 16 years since I had seen Michael and Patti.)

As I was waiting for Christine to come out from her hotel, Patti arrived from the rehearsal. She looked the same and we hugged and she said the rehearsal had been VERY hot (it was around 89 yesterday) so she wanted to go cool off and get some ice water.

Christine and I headed to the restaurant for a drink and to catch up before everyone arrived for dinner. After a bit, Michael came down. He looked very handsome and, obviously, more grown up than 16 years ago!

We went up to the private room and I met his fiancé, Alli. She seems very sweet and is very cute. Her family are all very good looking, friendly people. Bill, Christine, Patti, and I sat with the best man and his girlfriend for dinner. Patti and I talked quilting and other things. Turns out there is a quilt show just a few miles from my hotel and a Fiber Fest in Frederick this weekend. I had planned on the quilt show and she on the Fiber Fest so we can compare notes later.

Dinner was very nice and Alli’s sister, Leslie, made a nice speech about the bride and groom. Very pleasant evening, but it was after 9:00 and I had a long drive back to my hotel so I took off.

I didn’t take many pictures because I forgot and it wasn’t the best lighting.

Brother Bill on Left, bride’s father,

Scott, drinking beer, Leslie standing, Alli to her right, Michael with back to camera.

Oh, joy, it was lightening and thundering in the distance as I left. Of course, it was in the direction I had to go and within minutes I was in such a downpour that I almost pulled over. I have night vision issues anyway and it is worse in the rain. This was not rain like we usually see in Seattle, it was buckets and buckets dumping down. I kept going for I had no idea how long it would last. It quit the dumping but rained hard off and on all the way back to the hotel.

This morning after, hopefully, fixing my posting problem on the blog, I am heading to the quilt show for a bit and then will come back, clean up and go to the wedding which starts at 5:00.