Today is my friend Linda's first official day of retirement. We've known each other since 1966 when we met in Norfolk, VA. Our husbands were in the Navy, we both worked at Virginia National Bank, and lived in the same apartment complex. I'd see her get on the bus every day as we took the 40 minute ride downtown and home in the evenings. One day my husband picked me up from work and I saw her walking toward the bus stop. I rolled the window down and asked if she'd like a ride. That was the beginning of a friendship that has spanned several decades.
There have been years that we didn't have contact with each other. But in recent years the friendship has picked up again. We both went through a divorce. She remarried but I've remained single. That marriage too has had its ups and downs but she said she would not go through a second divorce. I think after all these years the marriage is now better. Both sons are now grown and on their own and perhaps that is why.
Anyway ... Linda and I are now both retired and planning a "retirement trip" to the Grand Canyon and places in between. I've been excited about the trip for some time (years even I think!). This morning we spoke and I think she is now getting that same excitement. She wants me to come up to Northern Virginia Easter weekend to look more seriously at trip plans AND to attend services at the National Cathedral. THAT would awesome. My one regret is I won't have my normal Easter meal with my family. We don't all get together that often anymore it seems.
Our plans are to leave Virginia on June 12, spend the night in Boone, NC and visit her elderly aunt. From there it's on to Nashville (Grand Ole Opry) and Memphis, TN (Graceland). We plan to spend a night in Mt. Pleasant, TX and have dinner with my friend Michael. From there to Dallas, TX where we'll spend the night with my second cousin Michael and his wife Tina and family. Then to Oklahoma City, OK for two nights and visit the Federal Building memorial as well as the Cowboy Museum. There will be stops from there until we reach the Grand Canyon but we plan to be at the Grand Canyon four nights, taking a smooth water river trip and enjoy beautiful sunrises and sunsets while there. On to Las Vegas from there (have tickets to see Donny and Marie) and visit the Hoover Dam.
That part of the trip is pretty set but the second leg isn't quite as set in stone. Most likely stops at Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park, perhaps Yellowstone, then on to Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Badlands, Chicago, Omaha NE, Cincinnati, OH and from there home.
I'm exhausted just thinking about it, yet excited and full of energy, ready to embark on our adventure.
National Cathedral in Washington, DC. A magnificent piece of architecture ... beautiful stained windows, high ceilings, etc. The choir's voice as they entered the cathedral sent chills up your spine, the voices echoing from the high ceilings, along with the magnificent sounds of the organ. The pageantry of the procession was beautiful. Although the Episcopal church has changed so much over the years the "pomp and circumstance" of the service was inspiring. 
