A Visit With Chelsea! 600+ miles down, about 1500 to go.

Pop with three fourths of his girls : )

 1. We found her in the parking lot at Food Lion downing a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips. It was an overwhelmingly joyful greeting, especially for her dad and sisters who haven't seen her in over a year. My instinct was to critically look her over from head to toe to make sure she was well. She looked really fit!

 2. We had fun at the laundromat, keeping her company while she performed a mundane chore. There's not too many ways to wash your only clothing if your wearing it. She uses the "rain poncho technique".

3. I can't begin to describe what a perfect afternoon we shared. The weather was glorious, the mountain views were beautiful, so many trees were in bloom, the hostel had a nice porch where we spent our time, and we packed plenty of food along.

Things I thought about after the day was done:

-In the parking lot at Food Lion, I had tunnel vision. I was so focused on Chelsea that, for a minute or two, I had no idea what was going on around us. A moment later, I realized people were staring and cars were driving past as though everything in life was perfectly normal...and of course, it was.
- I couldn't help myself from assessing her condition. I had to be sure that every little thing on her was OK, from her ears to her toes.
- The overwhelming joy and love we felt was impossible to contain. Tears of joy...
- Her sisters gave her one or two hugs and a moment later had to give another. We felt compelled to keep touching her when we first saw her.
- The girls are all great storytellers. Catching up on each others news was done in stories.
- It was very hard to leave her at the end of the day. Very hard. But we'll meet and part and meet and part many times over in our lifetime. The parting will never get any easier.