Beautiful Bristol

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There are uncertainties in any big trip. For me, one of the biggest concerned our time in Bristol with my great-great-uncle Jerry and his wife Thelma.

Jerry is the younger brother of my great-grandma Becker. I first connected with him almost exactly 2 years ago as a result of my family tree research. I had found a lot of documents relating to his parents and their immigrations to America.

We have been in touch semi-regularly by phone and online since then. The idea for our trip to Washington had its roots in a conversation I had with Jerry about how beautiful the leaves and trees were in Virginia in the fall, and what a scenic drive it would be.

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Purple mountain majesty

We traveled across 3 states yesterday (Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee) and stopped just inside the border of Virginia to stay with my uncle Jerry and aunt Thelma. We had a great time last night eating spaghetti and telling family stories.

The trees have been very lovely everywhere (except Illinois, which was somewhat drab), and now that we are in mountainous country, everything is so scenic.

This morning uncle Jerry took us to a lovely park in Bristol and later we took a walk through a wetland, which the girls really enjoyed.

We are all in one piece, and the girls did amazingly well yesterday. The hardest part of the journey is over. Today we continue on to Harrisonburg!