Kicking around Richmond with the Nordwalls

Days 10 & 11 - No driving

I've been enjoying hanging out with my friends Mat and Kelly, and their two kids. "Big Tom," their (very funny) neighbor from across the road pops his head in every day or two. Tom always has a few good jokes and stories, and the kids have great fun with him. He's one of those fellows you always loved as a kid.

I am very grateful to Mat and Kelly for putting me up. This is not the greatest of time for them, as they are finishing a MAJOR remodel on their house, as well as getting ready for permanent departure to California. Everything is in "ordered disarray," and my being around the place can't be the most welcome addition. I've been able to make myself useful though - Kelly's hard drive on her computer physically crashed. Fortunately, Kelly is very computer savvy, and has all her stuff backed up. I have my re-imaging stuff with me (in case my own laptop were to die on the road - talk about being prepared!), so I was able to hook Kelly up with a "like new' computer. Her laptop is fairly new, so all we needed to do was hit Best Buy and get a new internal drive. $59 is a lot more palatable than $599. I'm glad I could do this, as I feel like I have sort of paid my "room and board," although I'm sure they wouldn't hear of such silliness. It's nice to be able to help out though.

I'm going to take a few quick pictures today along Monument Avenue in Richmond, before I head off for New York. This is where all the Confederate folks have their statues. Apparently, according to Mat, Kelly's dad refers to it as the Avenue of Second Place Trophies. Incongruously, there is also a statue of Arthur Ashe amongst these "winners."

The weather looks to be fairly dreadful in the forecast. Super-hot and muggy with the heat index up over 100 tomorrow, and close to that today. I'm going to head up to New York this afternoon. I'll just have to tough it out. Hoping to get up into Canada by the weekend.

Onwards!