Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Christmas Trip - Day 2

Woke up at 0615 in Carlisle (PA) and started teleworking immediately.  A bit later, I got quick breakfast in the hotel lobby (good) and then resumed teleworking.  I had lots of meetings early but was finished with my morning work session by 1015.  After checking out and packing up the car, I drove (via I-81) from Carlisle to Martinsburg, WV.  On the way, there was lots of traffic and road construction (annoying lane closure at one point).  Still, I made it to the local Chick-fil-A by 1145 and met my colleague, Mike G, who treated me to lunch.  We spent the next two hours in a working session (while eating).  Afterwards (1345), I thanked Mike and left Martinsburg and headed south on I-81 again.  Once again, the traffic was tough (trucks, ugh).  I tried to break up my rising frustration by stopping at a Welcome Center, just after entering Virginia.  When I asked the staff inside where there might be a good place to walk nearby, a nice lady at the desk directed me to the Third Winchester Battlefield Park, which was only one exit away.  This seemed like a good choice for some afternoon "outdoors time", so I drove there and spent some time (1430 to 1515) exploring the trails and learning about the history of the Shenandoah phase of the Civil War.  The weather was wonderful (temps in the 60s)!  As I walked through fields and past cannons perched on low hills above the Shenandoah Valley, I reflected on how this part of Virginia has always been one of my favorites, mostly because of its long views (mountains, farm fields, cows) and Civil War history.  The best reason, though, is because Brenna lives there!  Speaking of my daughter, I tried to text to find out when she might be home, but was unable to reach her.  Since I still had some time before I needed to be in Harrisonburg, I decided to try to check out the nearby Woodstock Brewing Company (one of my work colleagues was one of the founding partners!).  However, I hadn't yet reached that location before Brenna suddenly texted that she was home.  I immediately redirected my route towards Harrisonburg and drove all the way (via I-81) to US-33.  While exiting the highway, I had a speed camera scare (yikes) [fortunately, I never got a ticket from the City of Harrisonburg].  I arrived at Brenna's apartment at 1630 and we spent a short time visiting.  Later, I unloaded three boxes of nostalgia (games, books, magazines, etc.) and practical items (storage containers, kitchen utensils, spices, etc.) into her apartment.  Brenna was very happy to look through the items and took almost everything I'd set aside for her.  Surprisingly, though, she gave me back the Harney Tea I'd bought for her at Valentine's Day (she said it was too "tart") - I'll have to pick a different variety next time...  While Brenna had been going through the boxes, I did another 1.5 hours of teleworking.  At 1730, I made an online order for Panera (used the rest of my gift card) and then followed Brenna through her apartment as she pointed out some things that might need fixing.  One easy "repair" involved some light bulbs (burned out in the overhead fixtures).  So, after picking up the Panera order (1800) and eating in the restaurant, we drove across the parking lot to the Home Depot.  Together (and with help from the staff), we located the hard-to-find long fluorescent lightbulbs.  By 1900, we were back at her apartment and I helped her install the bulbs (she said they'd been out for "a little while").  Our next activity was for her to watch the rest of "Oppenheimer" (she told me she had been enjoying it).  During this time (and when she started doing chores), I did another 1.5 hours of teleworking.  With my work day finally complete (2030), I decided to watch some of the Hulu "Shogun" series - it was very good.  Just as I had decided it was time for bed, Brenna decided that we needed to have a conversation about some things that had been troubling her.  In the end, I think she was glad we'd talked.  After saying good night to her (2230), I did some reading until it was time for me to try to sleep - officially turned off the lights at 2300.  It's great to have "Bren time"!