In case you didn’t notice it, there was no blog post last night. It was a crazy but fun day, but at the end both Dee and I were wiped out.
I got up yesterday and got on over to Roanoke College to make sure my programming team was ready to compete and to answer any questions they might have. Once I’d done what I could there, I went back to the hotel, picked up Dee, and checked out. We then headed for the yarn store near the airport that Linda Davis (the Roanoke CS department secretary, a FABULOUS and woefully underpaid person) had highly recommended. We shopped a bit and then went back to the college to hang out, schmooze, have lunch, and wait for the contest to end.
As for the contest outcome, this wasn’t one of GPC’s more stellar performances…in fact it was a bit abysmal in that they tied for last place. The guys appeared to have a good time, though, and they certainly made an, ah, impression on the other teams and coaches ::wince::.
Once the prizes & such were awarded, we got on the road. Our initial plan had been to head for the Blue Ridge Parkway and take that over to I-77, but when Dee found that I had never been to Floyd, VA, she stated that we MUST go there on the way, as Floyd is apparently the Artsy Hippie Center of Virginia. We did get our bucolic country backroads drive, just on U.S. 220 instead.
Floyd is a lovely little one-stoplight town, worthy of a full day of exploring instead of the hour and a half we spent. Dee introduced me to the WinterSun outlet, where I bought two batik tops, and we visited the Floyd Country Store and the local natural foods store.
Once they started rolling up the sidewalks at 5 p.m., we got back on U.S. 220 headed for Hillsville and I-77. Driving two-lane country highways after dark is not my favorite thing to do, but I definitely see better in the dark than Dee so I was the D.D. Heading south on I-77 down that lovely steep eight-mile grade into North Carolina and on towards Charlotte, past the bazillion billboards advertising JR Discount Whatever, it grew darker and darker.
Around Mooresville we finally decided that, it being 8 p.m., enough was enough, and found a Sleep Inn next door to a Carrabba’s. It was a good thing we walked to the Carrabba’s, because a single glass of Italian Sangria with our tasty (albeit delayed due to a wait) dinner was enough to put us both out like lightbulbs when we got back up to our room. Even if I had remembered about blogging in my fuzzy brain, my eyes weren’t focusing and my eyelids felt like forty pound weights.
So that’s my story, and I AM sticking to it!