Backing up a bit, on Saturday, 28 April 2007, Janice and I took a United Air Lines flight from Boston's Logan Airport south to Dulles Airport, where we rented a car. We stayed at a Courtyard by Marriott hotel near my brother's place in Springfield, Virginia.
After four months, I finally met my newest niece, Lili, as well as Peter, his wife Kelly, and their older daughter Ava. The children were adorable as always, even if they took a little time to warm up to us relative strangers. In the process of running errands, we managed to grab lunch at Qdoba, one of our favorite burrito chains.
Janice and I walked from Peter's to chez Rothandler, where we met Steve M.R. & Aleece Z.R. and their toddler Connor R., plus Corbin A.Y. & Andria K.Y. Unfortunately, because it was a brief visit on relatively short notice, we were unable to get together with other friends. We had a pleasant dinner at Olympians, a Greek/Italian restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia. Peter, Corbin, and Steve's households were all in the process of looking for homes with more space, probably in the outer suburbs.
Corbin pointed out that there was a game shop in the same shopping strip, so we made a detour to check it out. We were pleasantly surprised: Eagle & Empire Game & Hobby Shop (www.eagleandempire.com) had some role-playing games, comic books, and models, and seemed family-friendly to boot! Later that night, Peter and I rewatched seminal fantasy films "Conan: the Barbarian" and "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring."
On Sunday, my parents and Kelly's mother Maureen joined us for a cookout at Peter & Kelly's to celebrate Ava's second birthday. We returned to New England on that Monday. The past weeks have continued to be busy with work, various games, and trying to keep up with genre television and comic books. More about those will have to wait for now, however…
Gene's Worlds 