Back to beginnings

My wife Tara and I could have left for New Zealand five days ago, but with a 35th college reunion this weekend, I wanted a chance to renew the aquaintance of many of the people who shared that important time in my life.  This whole week has been filled with last minute tasks and good-byes.

Tara and I worked our last days (for a while) in the U.S.A. on October 10, 2011.  On the 12th, Tara sold her car.  This was fortunate as otherwise we would have had to drive two cars to my 35th reunion at Randolph-Macon College and then to our parents homes in coastal North Carolina.  Tara had swapped trailers with a friend so we could transport her candy-apple red Honda Shadow 750 behind us.

We got out of our home in Hendersonville,North Carolina just after 11:30 a.m. on the 13th.  One more trip to the storage units and a brief stop for brunch with two daughters, a fiancee,  and the youngest grandson, Liam- only six weeks old.  We had fifteen minutes according to Google Maps if we were to get to the college in time for the first event that evening. 

Tara drove and I navigated which is basically how most of our road trips go.  A campus police officer, she works nights.  Between her topsy-turvey sleep schedule and the excitement of the last day, she got almost no sleep on our makeshift air mattress.  Despite this she drove the approximately seven hour trip with almost no break and we made it to Randolph-Macon College in time to hear an excellent presentation by Charles Krauthammer about healthcare in the United States.  One of my hopes working in a hospital in New Zealand for a year is to see how they deliver quality healthcare for significantly less cost than we do.

Friday the 14th, two of our friends, Brenda and Darrel came up from their home in Virginia to see us.  We met them along with a couple from Georgia, Tiffany and Ron, on a land-cruise trip to Alaska in 2008.   Since then Tara and I have travelled with one or both couples several times.  It was great to see Brenda and Darrel.  They like historic sites and we went to Hanover Tavern which dates back to 1733.  In the 1950s,
one of my former professors, the late David S. "Pete" Kilgore, his wife Nancy, and three others established Barksdale Theatre, the nation's first dinner theatre at that site.

Last night and today, Tara and I participated in Homecoming activities.  It was great to see so many people again.   Some e-mails were exchanged and I hope to keep in touch.  It was also moving to note the traditions of the school go on.  There is another generation benefitting from a liberal arts education and, as in my case, the opportunity to prepare for subsequent medical training.  Greek life and athletics are also alive and well at R-MC.  Tara observed that all of the students she spoke to were pleasant and polite.

Now we are at Tara's parents' home.  In less than forty hours we head for the airport and start the first leg of our trip to Invercargill, New Zealand, culminating a year of preparations.  I hope to share some of our motives, experiences and photographs for family, friends and others with interests in travel, healthcare, and our personal journey.