Ohio

A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature. ~~Quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson

It's been a few years since I have traveled to Dayton. Business trips to Dayton are enjoyable for me because I get to visit with friends who live there. Mike and Rachel lived across the street from us when we lived on base at Robins. At that time, Mike and I were both young officers in the Air Force. And, neither of us had children yet. We had a great time and have the fondest memories of those years because of the friends we made during that time period in our lives. Mike and Rachel left Warner Robins and moved to Dayton and they have lived there ever since. Unfortunately, Dayton is a long way for a short weekend visit so it's been a few years since we've seen one another.

Mike and Rachel have three children: Sidney, Emma, and Nathan. And, their pets are Sarah (a Saint Benard stray that adopted them) and Pumpkin (the cat). They recently moved to Cedarville and have been working hard on an addition to the new house that they purchased. Cedarville is a quaint small town (which I've always enjoyed small towns so I loved it). I spent Wednesday and Thursday evening with Mike and his family. We had dinner at their home on Wednesday evening. The children participated in AWANA that evening and Mike, Rachel and I visited a coffee shop, Beans & Cream, in Cedarville.

On Thursday night, we ate at Colonial Pizza; another restaurant in Cedarville. And, a visit to the Dayton area would not be complete without going to Young's Dairy. So, we stopped there for some ice cream. Young's was already decked out for the fall complete with pumpkins and a corn field maze. After loading up on ice cream, we returned to their home and enjoyed a fire in their back yard fire pit and Mike shot some fireworks for the children.

Mike and his family have planned a trip to Orlando the second week of October so they plan to stop by and stay the night with us on their way traveling south. We are looking forward to their visit. It's been a few years since Jeff has seen them so we are happy they are able to stop, even if only briefly, on their way to Orlando.

It was a good business trip and a great visit with old friends. I wish they lived closer! We've promised to try and plan a trip annually half way between where they live and where we live. That seems to be the most realistic for us all due to the distance we live apart. Gatlinburg might be a good spot.