July 31st – August 6th - Back home and off again!

On Thursday morning David had to leave for the office and he was expecting Indigo’s baby sitter to turn up to look after her, but she didn’t show. It was fortunate that we were able to substitute, otherwise it would have been very difficult for David. We had a nice day with Indigo, taking her for walks and to the “beach” around the lake and had dinner prepared for when David returned from the office.
On Friday morning we were up early and left Falls Church as David left for work (the baby sitter arrived on time!) and started the 430 mile journey back to Myrtle Beach. However, we were not returning to an empty home. By previous arrangement, our old next door neighbors from Rihn Strasse in Pittsburgh, Ed & Sandy Bayer with daughter Lauren (and her friend Kirsten) were taking a weeks vacation in our home while we were away, knowing that we would be joining them on Friday evening for their last couple of days stay. Of course we had a lot of unpacking to do as it was over six weeks since we had left the house on June 17th and many of our clothes were in plastic bags in the car! Fortunately, Ed & Sandy took us to dinner at “Broadway at the Beach”, so we didn’t have to do any cooking.
Saturday morning, Ed & I had an early golf date and we were playing our own course. Consequently, when we were on the par 5 eighth hole, I called Alison and ordered a couple of beers to be at the 150 yard mark (our house). Note the photographic evidence that this request was successfully performed. On Saturday evening we had a braai, a word that Ed & Sandy are quite familiar with, having attended many “braais” at our home in Rihn Strasse over the 12 years that we lived there. Sunday morning, Ed, Sandy, Lauren and Kirsten made an early start on their drive back to Pittsburgh (although Lauren and Kirsten were to be dropped off at a rendezvous with Kirsten’s parents, beginning their vacation at the North Carolina coast). We would be seeing Ed & Sandy again very shortly, as we had been invited to stay with them and use their home as a base when we went to Pittsburgh for the Courtney Umble wedding the following week.
Sunday and Monday were “recovery days” washing and sorting out all the clothes we would need for the wedding and subsequent travels. Fortunately, we were once again travelling by car, so we knew we could throw anything we thought we might need into extra suitcases and load up the trunk and the back seat if necessary (not forgetting Bob’s golf clubs).
On Tuesday, we packed up the car again and after lunch we left to start on our journey to Pittsburgh and the wedding. However, as previously planned, we were staying over in Greensboro (200 miles from MB) at the home of our great friends, Amy & Jerry Shumate. Amy & Jerry used to work at PPG and lived in Pittsburgh. Bob met Amy in 1989 at a PPG management course and we introduced each other to our respective “other halves” and have been friends ever since. They were present at many of our Rihn Strasse parties and it was a sad day for us when Amy found greater opportunities with a PPG competitor and they left Pittsburgh for greener pastures in Greensboro. We were privileged that they were able to attend our 40th wedding anniversary celebration here in Myrtle Beach (they were also at our 30th in Pittsburgh and hopefully will be at our 50th!). We went out to dinner at a favorite restaurant, “Southern Lights” and the food was excellent. We had a wonderful evening and had to make the most of our all too brief visit. It was great to see them again. We stayed up far too late!
Despite being up late, we were all up early the next morning (Wednesday, 8/6) and by 6:45 Jerry had coffee made and Amy had already returned from a stint at her local gym! We sat around the breakfast counter and chatted until after 9:30 when Amy needed to get to the office and we needed to continue our journey to Pittsburgh, still over 400 miles away. As always, we alternated the driving every couple of hours and the time and miles flew by. Of course we knew when we had crossed the state line into Pennsylvania as they were still repairing Interstate 79, just like they were when we left in 2001! We arrived at the Bayers' home early evening, just as they were arriving home from the office – good timing. We had a quiet evening at home and Sandy cooked a lovely dinner. We relaxed and prepared ourselves for the Courtney Umble wedding event over the next four days.