A Celebratory Road Trip – June, 2025

We hit the road the day after I turned seventy-one, headed north, Bob behind the wheel of his Tesla, Stella Blue. The next four nights we would stay with friends or at BnBs.

First stop: Steve’s place to see Steph and spend the night.

The four of us went to dinner at Taqueria Guadalajara.

After we returned from the Taqueria, Steph surprised me with the birthday song and a lit candle on a ramekin of homemade chocolate mousse. Our birthdays are four days apart, mine June 4th and hers June 8th, so I sang in her name and we both made wishes.

There’s nothing better than a friend who sees you for who you are and still wants to hang out.

The next day we stopped at John and Darla’s for lunch. More family photos at Bob and Deb’s Anniversary Party.

Then we went to see Matt and Jenn out at the farm. Here’s that story: Getting Rural with Matt and Jenn.

After breakfast with Matt and Jenn, we drove south to Lancaster for Bob and Deb’s Anniversary party. Many more photos of that delightful gathering here.

Later, we checked into a sweet BnB surrounded by greenery at the top of a steep hill in Litiz, Pennsylvania. No need for dinner after the big spread at Bob and Deb’s, so I went for a walk. Lucky for me, I soon discovered a lush walking trail that looped around the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

We slept well with open windows bathing us in a wonderful night breeze and woke early, so I hit the trail again.

This time I noticed a metal building with a sign on it saying, Horse Shelter, which at first struck me as whimsical. A moment later it dawned on my that the building was actually designed for horses.

Well, of course. We were in Amish country, and they need parking, too. So in addition to acres of asphalt car parking, there was this very nice shelter. I lingered, willing a buggy to appear. But we had other fish to fry, so I walked returned to our room and prepared for Day Three of our little road trip.

Because one birthday isn’t enough, we returned to Winchester to celebrate Steph’s actual birthday on June 8th. This time we chose Asian.

Steve had baked a cake, so we had that for dessert with ice cream. Steph wore a blouse we had made for her in Ghana in 2013.

Later that afternoon, we had the best time hanging out with our hosts, Jimmie and Jacki, at Deo Volente Farm, watching their horses graze, and telling tall tales.

I got in a nice walk the next morning, down Lonesome Road to the river and back.

Bob had already loaded the car and was relaxing with the animals when I made my way back up the long driveway. The smile he is giving me in this picture is the same warm smile he always has for me. He makes me feel seen and loved.

It wasn’t far to Richmond, where we had been invited to lunch at Jacob and Lyssa’s place.  Bob and Jacob are former workmates. They were delightful company, had made tea and salad, baked bread and quiche, and cut up fresh fruit.

I was pleasantly surprised to have as much social energy for our last stop as I had going into our four-day trip. It hasn’t always been this way. I’m an introvert and usually burn out the first day.

Not this time. I have found a simple formula that works:

• Get plenty of sleep
• Walk around outside, ideally morning and evening
• Eat right
• Leave the laptop at home

And then Bob drove us back to Moncure to resume our happy retirement lives back home, flush with good memories from our little road trip.