Day 47
Again, everyone slept in but Don. He says he can’t help it, he has to get up early, a hangover from his days in the Maritime Academy. That was more than 350 years ago. He was shaving when I got up, so I had to wait for him to finish before I could do the phony paper routine and get my breakfast. He took me for a very nice walk up to the dog run, which was unlike any dog run I had ever seen. It was huge! There was grass, there was sand, gravel, trees, squirrels, and they were building a swimming pool in it! It was really nice, and I spent some time exploring it. We walked through an empty tent area, which was nice and grassy, but Don told me not to roll, because it had just rained and he didn’t want me to mess up my nice clean coat. Naturally, I obeyed his wishes. Around nine, the first Hornets from Oceana took off, and they were roaring overhead off and on the rest of the morning. They don’t bother me, I know that they are training to defend our country, and I’m glad they’re there.
Just before lunchtime, Don’s old buddy Bill arrived, and they had a very nice reunion. We all sat out on our patio, as it was very sunny and warm. Don cooked some bratwursts and beans for lunch, which didn’t provide any input for me. Bill was very friendly to me, and gave me a lot of attention, which indicates that he is a fine person. Don says I’m right about this. He’s a retired Navy Master Chief Petty Officer, and served on one of the missile submarines that Don helped to build. Bill left after lunch, and Geri, Don and I got in the truck to do some touring. We drove through the beach area of Virginia Beach, and noticed that there weren’t a lot of people there. Geri says that on the East Coast, nothing happens until after Memorial Day, then everyone wants to go the beach. We drove up to an Army post called Fort Story, and had to through a very thorough security examination of the truck before we could go in. Once we got on the post, we went to see the two Cape Henry lighthouses, the oldest of which was constructed in 1792! It was made of stone, and was really tall. Then we went to see the place where Englishmen first landed on the shore of this continent to settle a colony. But they decided not to settle on Cape Henry, and went up the river to found Jamestown in 1607. I don’t even want to think about how long ago that was in dog years.
We went over to Bill’s house then, and Bill and his wife Judy invited us in. The first thing I saw when I walked into the living room was a cat! A large, very pretty cat named Sandy, who lives there. She hissed at me. I wagged my tail at her. She hissed at me again. I think we’ll get along fine. We all went out on their patio, which had a gate that opened onto a strip of land that had some really nice grass. They let me out to explore the area, and I did a little rolling, since the grass was dry. Judy was also very nice to me, lots of petting and talking to me; she has a very nice voice, and I enjoyed listening to her. Sandy came out, hissed at me, and went back into the house.
After a while, Geri took me out and put me in the truck, while they got in Judy’s car and went out to have dinner. Geri had already given me my dinner in the truck, so I wasn’t complaining, and I needed a nap anyway. They weren’t gone too long, and then we left for home. Don had a couple of little fights with Garmie on the way back, but we made it back to the coach pretty well. Don and I worked on the blog, and I went to bed; long day! See you tomorrow!