Allen collected me from D.C. & we drove down to Charlottesville. We chatted about the holiday for most of the journey.
This was the first time I had been to the Henche's home in Charlottesville. The house itself is large & on many levels. People can certainly get there own space. We grabbed some lunch before heading to the train station to book my onward journey. Allen drove round the university pointing out the sights.
The temperature today was extremely high. I could only manage five minute spells in the garden.
Allen had an operatic event to attend in the evening, & I used the time to relax watching some television. The program kept being interrupted by thunderstorm warnings which I found quite ominous.
When Allen returned we heading to the main street known as the downtown mall. Just as we sat down at one of the tables outside all the lights went out in the street & the wind picked up. We moved inside to eat with the lights occasionally going out during the light meal.
On the drive home we had to swerve to avoid fallen debris. Traffic signals were off or malfunctioning. As we approached the Henche's home a couple of trees had fallen & were blocking the road. We doubled back & took another route & made it home to discover we were without power. We lit candles & checked the batteries in the torches, whilst the wind howled outside.
Allen has an opera singer staying with him at this time as well. When she tried to return the way we had travelled, that was now blocked by another fallen tree.
It seems that Geordies all over the world are being affected by swift acts of nature. We were not in the cafe for more than 20mins. The damage the wind alone had done it that time was quite impressive.
Before calling it a night we did grab some ice cream before it melted away in the Virginia heat.