Yes, my sister’s home this weekend. And she brought Chris, her boyfriend, with her. And she and Chris are going to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg tomorrow for Howl-O-Scream, which is some event over there.
Me, I have no interest in theme parks. I get the same feeling of excitement railfanning the Green Line in Washington. So I have no need for rollercoasters. And I also have no need for the crowds of people and roadshow prices.
But anyway, Sis is back for the weekend. Fun. Though our paths have probably crossed for the only time this weekend. She and Chris are going to be in Williamsburg on Saturday, and I will be in Washington on Sunday. As such, when they leave for and come home from Busch Gardens, I will be sound asleep in my bed. While they’re at Busch Gardens, I’ll be at home. Then while I’m getting ready for Washington, they’ll be sound asleep. And then while I’m in Washington, the two of them will be going back to Blacksburg.
And I kind of don’t blame Sis and Chris for not staying around Stuarts Draft. When I was at JMU and would come home, it would be like, “Hi, Mom, hi, Dad, hi, Sis, let’s unblock my car, because I’m going out!” In fact, it would often be the case that I was staying overnight at the house, leaving early, stopping back at Potomac to grab my camera and accessories (and confuse the heck out of my residents who thought I was gone), and then off to Washington! Then stop back at Potomac on the way home from DC, drop off camera and such, set the Mavica to recharge, and then go home. An alternative scenario was to go home, say hello, grab the car, return to Potomac, spend Friday night my usual way, then on Saturday morning, leave Potomac at the crack of dawn (or even better, before dawn), and head to DC. Then return to Potomac from DC, sleep, and then return the car on Sunday afternoon. My parents can tell you that for those Sunday drop-the-car visits, I usually looked like hell. Sweatpants, old shirt, unshaven, hair kind of whatever. But I had plenty of Washington DC to show them afterwards, usually through the Web site, and had stories to tell.
By the way, let me remind you that Harrisonburg and Stuarts Draft are only about 30-40 minutes apart, so it’s not like it’s a long drive or anything. And it’s not like the parents didn’t visit me since it was so close. So everything was cool.
Otherwise, it’s a bit cold out this evening! According to Weatherbug, it’s 45 outside. Actually, it’s 45 at Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport (SHD) in Weyers Cave. Close enough. It sure felt cold, and since it was windy, even colder.
Note to self: Bring jacket to work.
And one more thing… Sheetz has come to Fishersville! Right off I-64, at Exit 91, Sheetz has arrived. It opened Thursday night, and so I visited it in its second day. It’s only five miles away from the existing Sheetz in Staunton, but this one is worlds different. It’s a lot bigger, for one, as the consensus is that Staunton was built too small. It has MTO items that Staunton wasn’t fitted for like Fryz (Sheetz’s spelling of “fries”), since Sheetz didn’t offer french fries when the Staunton Sheetz was built. It also has “Sheetz Bros. Coffee”, which is basically MTO for coffee. Kind of like gourmet coffee, plus smoothies and such. I had a peach smoothie, and I think I just found a new beverage to swear by. It’s good. Trust me. This Sheetz also has a full-fledged dining area, which I thought was going away after Sheetz, in remodeling its locations in Harrisonburg (Main Street) and Haymarket, removed the original dining areas, and replaced them with bar-style seating along a new beer cave and a couple of tables, in what seemed like an afterthought. This is the real deal now. Handy! And they also have it where you can order MTO food and Sheetz Bros. Coffee at the pumps, with a touch-screen interface. All I have to say is wow…