The gory details....

STATS: The first road trip in the Vette was awesome and uneventful. I drove 555 miles on ONE tank of gas and pulled into Gennie’s driveway after traveling for 6 hours and 50 minutes. My average speed was 85 MPH and I averaged 30 miles to the gallon.

OBSERVATIONS; Folks in West Virginia need to work on their driving etiquette. When you see a fast blue object approaching from behind move to the right. I’m just sayin’.

Drivers in Virginia have to learn how to use the HOV lane. Especially mothers in mini-vans with a bunch of kids. I used the HOV lane accidentally since I always drive in the far left lane.

Those of you from North Carolina should realize I-77 is NOT Charlotte Motor Speedway. I don’t mind traveling 15 miles above the speed limit with “ya’ll”, but I draw the line at passing on the right, changing 3 lanes at one time and using the shoulder to go around cars already traveling 95mph.

South Carolina drivers are much more relaxed with West Virginia manners.

As is customary when Gennie and I get together, sleep was virtually nonexistent. Gennie, Megan and I caught up until Eric came home from work and we had dinner. Later that evening Gennie’s girlfriend called to see if "the best friend from Ohio” had arrived and came over to meet me. Brenda and I were born on the same day (January 8th) and could have been separated at birth. We hit it off right away and I can see why Gennie and Brenda are such great friends.

Once Eric and Megan went to bed the 3 of us chatted until 2am. After Brenda left Gennie and I changed clothes and went to relax in the hot tub. We didn’t get to bed until 5:30 Wednesday morning just in time to get Megan up for school. We didn’t nap very long; I got up at 8:30 and Gennie at 9.

Wednesday afternoon we met Eric for lunch and then we were off to do some shopping. Later that evening we met Brenda and her husband Aaron for drinks and I was introduced to a few acquaintances who all claimed were so happy to finally meet me after hearing so much about me. I am humbled by (and undeserving of) the high regard in which I’m held by my friend. It was an early night and we retired around 3am.

Thursday was Gennie’s actual birthday and a group of us girls went to dinner. (Brenda is sitting to my right and Gennie is across from me)

The birthday card I gave her that night said something to the effect of "I wanted male strippers not nail clippers for my birthday", with a group of elderly women clipping their nails.

The gift bag contained a dozen nail clippers for Gennie to pass out to us girls, to which I applied a sticker saying “Gennie Turns the BIG 4-OH” with the date. Everyone thought it was a great party favor idea. After dinner we dropped Megan off at home and met up with the girls at a local watering hole to continue the party. Nick, Eric and Aaron arrived later. This would be another late, hot tub night for Gennie and me. We went to bed around 5am.

On Friday evening the 6 of us (Aaron and Brenda, Eric and Gennie, me and Nick) went out to dinner. Eric made reservations at the Mill Pond Steakhouse complete with limo service.

We were picked up at 7:15 and 40 minutes later we pulled up to what looked like a rundown shack. Looks were definitely deceiving. The Boykin Mill Pond was built sometime before 1820 and has a rich history.

Truly a fine dinning experience.

Being silly after dinner. I don't think I did this on prom night.

One picture just isn't enough......

A semi-early evening, we only stayed up until 3am.

Saturday was the birthday open house and we were expecting 40-50 people throughout the afternoon and evening. Since I don’t really drink and planned to remain sober Saturday, I was assigned several responsibilities designed to keep order and defuse drama. My beloved Corvette, Nick’s Z28, Gennie’s STS and Eric’s Tahoe were parked in the community pool parking lot a few miles from the house, one of the responsibilities entailed driving them safely back to the house once the party ended.

Gennie’s eldest son, Anthony, flew in from Texas to help celebrate.

My longtime friend (Gennie's ex-husband) Lee was taking Megan for the evening.

Nick and I enjoyed catching up with him and snapping a few pictures.

Here I am with Lee and their son Christopher.

Nick and the birthday girl!

Here’s Gennie thanking everyone for helping her celebrate her 40th…..

and making a jello-shot toast.

Taking a break from all the attention...

Letting Gennie know that " Drama is unfolding in The Lounge”, aka the billiards and game room.

This would be another late night. Once the cars were back in the driveway, Gennie and I stayed up until 4:30am catching up and relaxing in the hot tub.

Nick left to go home Sunday morning while I went boating. Gennie, her two sons,

Eric and his sister Monica joined Aaron and Brenda for a few hours on the lake. Monica

and I boarded Aaron’s boat since we weren’t interested in water skiing.

Here's Captain Brenda, and I'm not being funny. Aaron just retired from the army after 20 years of service as a field medic, and Brenda served for 13 years.

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Monday morning came way too soon. Again, we didn’t go to bed until 4:30 and I was leaving at 10am. Our departures are sad and tearful so I try to leave before she awakes. When I went out to put my bags in the car I realized she parked behind me on purpose and hide her key-fob. We held our tears and I didn't start to cry until I drove around the corner and could no longer see her standing on her front porch.

It was a great week that seemed to end too quickly. Even though we talk every week, it’ll be another 6 months to a year before we see each other. I’m sure if we didn’t wait so long between visits we may get more sleep, but it wouldn’t be as exciting.