So Amanda’s old boss has a lake house about an hour north of us at Lake Gaston near the North Carolina / Virginia border, which he graciously allowed us to utilize this past weekend. After work Friday night, we took Bongo, our friend Bret and his two dogs (Peanut and Shelby) North to the Virginia border. We arrived after night had fallen and the house is a bit off the road, though still within a few miles of an I-85 exit. The two-story house sits on a corner of a near 90-degree turn on a mostly gravel laden road.

We rolled on up and unpacked the 4Runner, which was packed with enough crap for a week’s stay there – food and drink galore! We checked out the place, and settled in with the dogs, basically unpacking and soon after Amanda retired to bed. Bret and I hung out for awhile playing cards, mainly War, which I had never played. I know. I had a sheltered childhood… not a lot of cards. Mainly I played Skip-Bo and Uno growing up.

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