6/8/09 PrWm Forest Park Travel Trailer Village, VA

6/8/09 PrWm Forest Park Travel Trailer Village, VA

What a day!!

We went to Val & Pat's for breakfast (very good eggs, bacon, bagels, and things, with excellent coffee) and wound up talking and showing each other pictures on Macbooks and talking about trips and discussing kids and so forth until they finally had to leave to go to Maggie and Brian's house for a grandson Jack's gymnastics event.

We all hugged and vowed we'd get back together as soon as possible. Wonderful visit.

Then we wandered back to the campground via the store for lettuce, and settled in for a bit. I realized I'd forgotten to get bottled water, and went back to get that. Then I got email from Val that we'd forgotten something there, and they'd left it in the front door inside the screen door.

A 5th wheel trailer & truck came in about this time and parked two spaces up from us. He (and she) resembled people we'd met before.

We met Bob and Judy in 2001 at St Ignace, MI while they were touring in the motorhome they owned then. It had an Oregon plate, so we inquired whether they knew people there that we knew. We talked and liked them a lot. It turned out that Bob had family history in Manassas, VA, where we lived then, and relatives still living there. So we, of course, invited them to call us whenever they could visit the area. They showed up in Manassas a year or two later, and we transported them around the county renewing their memories of what's where. We had a great time with them. He's a civil war history person, so we had some things to talk about. Then we went west in 2003 and met them in Delta, Colorado. We stayed there two or three days and they showed us around the area, especially up onto Grand Mesa. We moved away from Manassas in 2004. In 2005, we went west again and met them in Bend, Oregon, while we were visiting my cousin's husband there.

The people two spaces up didn't like the site and moved their rig around to our left and started to set up. I walked that way, found the truck had an Oregon front plate, and it hit me. I walked toward the guy and said, "You look just like Bob (x)." He looked up and said, "You look just like Owen (x)." We walked to each other and shook hands. He took me to the door of their rig and told Judy there was a salesman to see her - she came to the door and gasped, then yelled "Hi". I led them back to our trailer and Dolores gasped and ran out to hug them.

It actually IS them.... Bob & Judy!! the biggest coincidence I can imagine.... how could this happen? Incredible.

They'd come up from NC today to spend a few days here to see the elderly aunt and the cousin. Then they're going on to Maine and around back to Colorado and Arizona when it cools there.

I ran off to get the forgotten item and returned. We chatted like mad, then we merged assets and began making a combined dinner to eat outside at the picnic table between our rigs. Judy cooked the fish, D did the potatoes and her fish, Judy did salad & I set the table. We drank a little wine and ate our fishes, potatoes, salad and bread. Then we talked until darkness came, and talked some more until the bugs started buzzing around us. We did see a few fireflies coming out to do their dance.

It was an outstanding day - seeing old friends of two different communities.