Charlottesville: TJ, Canoeing, and Sketch

About a year ago I got it in my head that I HAD to see the Schills.  If you read my last post, you know that I met the Schill family 15 years ago when I was a missionary in Seattle, Washington.  They invited me into their home and their family, and I fell in love.  I got to see them several times after my mission, but then they moved to Virginia and I was in Texas having kids, and suddenly it had been 8 years since we had been together.  Their oldest daughter, Annilyn, returned home from her mission in Siberia (seriously, Siberia--and she TOTALLY wanted to got there) in December, and daughter #2, Erin, would be leaving on her mission over the summer, so I decided that Summer 2012 would be one last chance to see most, if not all, of the family together.  It turned out that Lynnie stayed in Utah for the summer, so I didn't get to see her, but everyone else was home.  And we had SO MUCH FUN!

The day before we were to drive from Knoxville to Crozet, VA (where the Schills live in an honest-to-goodness holler) I got a phone call from Mary Ann saying that due to a huge storm, they had no power and were not likely to get power for several days.  Well, too bad, we were coming anyway.  I did NOT drive all that way to NOT see the Schills--they were the whole reason for the trip!  Luckily they were completely fine having guests in a no-power situation as long as were okay with it, and we were.  It was hot for a few days, but Texas is worse.  We had hats and deodorant--we were good.

Mike Schill is a professor at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, so our first stop was The Lawn.  We were told that Thomas Jefferson (aka TJ) is alive and well in Charlottesville--he is referred to in present tense, and his wishes are consulted in all city and university planning.  He did found, plan, and build the university, after all.  Here we are standing in front of TJ's Rotunda: Erin, Emily, Mary Ann, Stuart, Mike, Katie, Greg, Ella, Aimee, and Natalie down front.

After a tour of the campus (we saw the room Edgar Allen Poe lived in, and also Katie Couric's room) and a yummy lunch at Bodo's Bagels we returned to the holler.  (I kid not--they live on Sugar Hollow Road.)  We were not a little hot and grimy, so we drove up the holler to the swimming hole.  As we drove, Erin, Stuart, Emily, and Aimee tutored us on what, exactly, defines "sketch".  It was something they talked about a lot, and we were intrigued.  The word itself paints a pretty good picture, and it is applied to all things pertaining to redneck mountain culture--drinking, swearing, guns, you get the picture.  Stuart said you have to be careful with the swimming holes closest to the road because, and I quote, "Sketch doesn't hike."  When we reached the swimming hole the kids surveyed the area and declared it safe--there was only one car, and it appeared to be a family-type vehicle.  We walked down to the water and Erin turned to me in half horror and half hilarity--there was a gun sitting on a rock right by the water.  We cracked up and discussed, in hushed tones, what its purpose might be--to shoot fish, perhaps?  Shooting fish is definitely sketch.  We had a fine time at the hole, though, and nobody even got shot, though we were at one point visited by a sketchy old mountain man, wearing only swimming trunks and nursing a beer.  Here are Ella, Natalie, and Aimee, searching for tadpoles:

One day we went for pulled pork sandwiches at Blue Ridge Pig, right at the top of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We're making piggy faces, see?

We picked peaches at an orchard near the Schills' house and they were soooo delicious:

That night for dessert we had fresh peach ice cream:

We spent a whole day canoeing/kayaking down the James River, which was AMAZING.  The water was warm and so clear that you could see the fish swimming by (I saw a gar) and the beer cans on the bottom (sketch).  The Schills' boats are named Perrier, Frommage, and Baguette--Mike and Mary Ann both served French-speaking missions.  We paddled upstream for a bit until we reached a nice rapid, which we went down a couple times in our life vests before taking the boats down.  ON the first run, Ella somehow ended up being the first one through, and it was a wild ride.  I came through to see her fighting tears, it was so scary for her.  Then Natalie came down with Greg and immediately said, "I want to do that again!"  So we did it one more time--even Ella!  She was really brave.  Then we paddled downriver to a big rock, perfect for jumping.  It was a really, really great day.

We were all so sad to leave the Schills--we had SO much fun!  I got to catch up with my dear friends, Greg got to really understand why I love them so much, and my daughters made some new heroes.  (The Schill girls played ENDLESS games of  "The Little Mermaid" with Natalie.  Heaven!)  It was well worth the drive.  In fact, I am already planning another one in a couple years.  Greg makes fun of me mercilessly, saying that this time we'll go by way of Seattle and return by way of the Florida keys.  Very funny.  Although, some of the country's best wooden roller coasters are ONLY in Indiana, which is basically on the way to Virginia...

We love you, Schills!  Thank you SO MUCH for everything!