Almost Heaven, West Virginia . . .

West Virginia and southwestern Virginia are beautiful places. But I am definitely a flatlander! My parents, Sara and I went on a long road trip from Thursday through Saturday to Princeton, West Virginia. We started in Richmond on Thursday where my mom had an appointment with the MCV doctors (a follow up liver transplant appointment). She weighed 133.5 pounds. After getting through the clinic in a record time of one hour, we met up with cousins Bev and Becky at the Cracker Barrel in Mechanicsville, VA for lunch.

We headed to Princeton and stayed at the Days Inn (our families always stay there whenever we come for a funeral~thankfully, no funeral this time). But we were so shocked to see how much the place had grown in less than a decade. My mom kept saying, "They changed the roads on me. I don't know where I am!".

On Friday, we left our base camp in Princeton, WV. From there we went to: Bluefield, VA; Bluefield, WV; Pocahontas, VA (where my dad is from and where the above picture was taken); Bossevain, VA; Bishop, VA (where my mom spent most of her younger years); Tazewell, VA (to visit 95 year old Aunt Osie White); and back to Bluefield, VA to pick up flowers for the gravesites of both sets of my grandparents in Bluefield, WV. It was really cool to see how God led us to all the places my mom wanted to visit~all without a map! But those mountain roads are not for me!!! And Sara marveled at how people could put a trampoline outside their house on the side of a mountain. On Friday night, we drove up to Beckley, WV, and met our cousins, Sam and Barb, and Barb's mom, Phyllis, for dinner at the Cracker Barrel (we're becoming regulars). On the way home, we saw the most beautiful full moon and Sara tried (hilariously) to get a photo of it. She succeeded and I've posted my pictures to my webshots account (http://community.webshots.com/user/anitamonroe).

On Saturday morning, we left for home and took I-77 north to I-64 east - soooo much easier than 64/81! I highly recommend this alternate route to avoid the trucks. There was almost no traffic and the scenery was great. Traffic remained good and we made excellent time - until Richmond, of course. Then it was stop and go until we hit the Monitor-Merrimac Tunnel and had coasted through all of the Hampton Roads cities (for those who don't know, the 7 cities are Newport News, Hampton, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Norfolk and Virginia Beach).

Unfortunately, my parents fell while going up the porch steps when they arrived home and both have bruises and scratches on them. Pray for quick healing. We made it through the entire trip without a hitch, and then we all fell apart when we got home.

My mom returns to EVMS tomorrow to hopefully have her bandage removed from her head. She is still barely eating and it's frustrating for her and us. Please pray for strength for her and my dad.

John & Sara are at a backpacking camp with the church youth group in the mountains of western North Carolina (Montreat College). For those of you who know John, you know my greatest concern is that he come back not wearing a cast! I'm not as worried about Sara. Pray for safety for their group and as they return on Saturday.

Thanks for the continued support.

Love, Anita