Two of my beautiful nieces (twins)-- daughters of one of Mr. Mo's sisters graduated from college, and we celebrated at their mom's house after the ceremony. We missed the ceremony itself, considering they were gathering a group at  P.'s house around 8:30 a.m., and we were just getting on the road around 9:30.
Hey, they're in Roanoke! It's a good 3.5 - 4 hour drive, so it was completely understandable.  They knew to expect us in the early afternoon for the BBQ.  I brought a cold ham and pasta salad that I haven't made in years. Used some of the Paula Deen Smithfield ham that I'd been keeping frozen from Easter. Good stuff! 

I didn't get any pics of family (probably should have, and asked their permish to post here, of course), but Mr. Mo's other sister was there and she got plenty for the family.  Her hubby (Jimmy the Greek ;-)  whom I've referenced in the past, and Mr. Mo's brother were there, too. It was a rare family reunion, and especially nice because it was on a happy occasion, not a funeral!

I did get pics of our drive through the Shenandoah Valley. What a lovely state Virginia is. We will miss it very much when the time comes to pull up stakes and head out west. The time for that is still unknown. We're not in a tremendous hurry, but feel the "call" regularly.





Apples painted on the water tower. Cool.



So much we want to see before we leave, though.  Mr. Mo has never been to Luray Caverns. I was there as a child, and remember it vividly.  We passed all kinds of wineries, signs for caverns and various museums on our way there and back.






Looked like smoke coming out of the hills.




The skies were cloudy all day and we did encounter some rain on the way there, but it held off for the grad. ceremony and the cookout. You never know, in mountainous areas.
We stayed overnight at a nearby  Days Inn, and while it wasn't the Bates Motel, it was still a motel. And since when do motels not have vents in the bathrooms?
We were on the lower (non-smoking) level, and the people with kids above us let them run through the balconies until at least 11:00 that night.   *sigh*

Fortunately, the Richmond Sprint Cup race is always on a Saturday night, which helped drown them out.  But I swear... next time we're staying at a nearby Marriott, or a hotel.  Couple that with the fact that when Mr. Mo went to get ice he saw a guest talking to police officers in the lobby, reporting a break-in of his room. Lovely.

Sunday morning greeted us with lots of rain. We decided to forego rt. 81 on our return trip and avoid all the trucks. We went 581, rts. 29 and 15, to rt. 66.  A longer but even prettier drive, in spite of the rain that followed us all the way home.

Oh, and a stop for lunch at the Cracker Barrel soon after we got onto rt. 29.  I had one of their new fireside country skillets-- the veggie one, with scrambled Egg Beaters and toast instead of biscuit. 
OMG... yum!

Almost forgot...   when we were at the motel, we went to nearby Gander Mountain, our first time to any of those stores.  Now I know what all the buzz is about! 
Got me a pepper/mace spray in a cute pink camo for when I'm walking, and also some Uncle Bud's Garlic Deep Fried Peanuts "....so good, you can eat 'em Shell-n-All"

Good lawd! They are awesome. I'd make a point of going to Gander Mtn. for those alone.  Fortunately, I can order 'em online.  Well, actually, you can download an order form and mail in your order.
Which I did :-)