Country roads take me home . . .

When I opened the car door at 11:54 p.m. after driving 3 1/2 hours from Louisville, KY to West Virginia, preceded by a flight from Houston, a train shuttle from Terminal B to C, a flight from Seattle, WA, and a shuttle bus from a hotel at 5:45 a.m. . . . I was welcomed by the crisp, cool smell of maple leaves, the twinkling of an undisturbed sky, the choruses of frogs and crickets, and the goal of our travels so far - my parent's home.

We hadn't been back east to visit family in WV and KY during the fall since we first married 11 years ago. The idea of autumn "back home" has turned into this fuzzily nostalgic memory of colorful trees and bluegrass music for me these past 9 years of living in Washington state. Well, the real thing is far more enjoyable than even my imagination.

Evie loved it. She became so comfortable with it all that she'd suddenly disappear, only to be found walking up to the barn to visit Pop pop. Or when raking leaves, she'd take off her shirt and hide in the pile of leaves, disregarding rules of both etiquette and thermodynamics.


In classic Bradbury tradition, my dad and I fashioned a swing for Evie from the branch of an oak tree (only 17 ft high, not 75 like the one I grew up with.)


Somedays it seemed like we were in a nature preserve as we saw white tail deer, a buck, a coyote, oppossum, ten wild turkeys, and a host of birds, squirrels, and fun insects for Evie to play with. And Evie got to play with things that were a little more tame like her cousins Alex and Sawyer, Aunt Monica (aka "Aunt M"), Uncle Paul, Pop pop and almost all of the time, Meemee. Here she's giving Meemee a leg workout with the "uptide-down bouncing" maneuver.


One of the main reasons we scheduled the trip was so that Jen could give an author presentation for her first book at the WV Book Fair (2 days) and a reading at her Alma Mater, Western Kentucky University. She ended up speaking to 1/2 of our niece Alex's freshman class one day (about 300) and visiting two high schools in Bowling Green, KY for more author talks (another 300!) You can read more about it on her author blog. Her visit at WKU was triply blessed by being able to see Jenny, Jodi, and Amanda - her best friends from college - there at her reading (see slideshow.)

With an abundance of babysitters, I took Jen on a date up to the New River Gorge for a day of hiking and traveling over the stomping grounds from my days at WV Tech. I don't think Evie would have liked the cliffs, though trying to throw rocks in the river some 900 feet below may have interested her.

After a great visit in West Virginia, we headed west to Owensboro, KY to visit Evie's Nana (Jen's mom), Aunt Katy, Uncle Jeremy, Cousin Logan and Baby Langston. It was the first time we all got to see Langston, so there was much oooing, ahhhing, and general baby talk going on.

Evie was sweet with him but preferred playing "tains and diasaurs" with Logan (3 1/2) all day long. Logan also got to share his love of the Crocodile Hunter with Evie so much that for a week after we got back, her little hand was a "CHOMP"ing crocodile with everything she picked up. She was super happy to get to play with her good friends Isabelle and Carpenter Ekbundit and then surprised by a visit from Uncle Derry, Aunt Jana, and cousins Harrison and Hayden.

Her play times with cousins, getting friendly with Bailey the dog, happily napping in her Thomas the Train sleeping bag/mattress, eating at the tiny table, and having the freedom to act like a goof, Evie lived it up in Kentucky with our family. At most every bedtime when we talked about what all she'd done that day, Evie would reflectively sigh, "Hooooo. . . biiig daaay."

Here's a slideshow of pictures from our "biiiig triiiip." Hope you enjoy.

Jimmy