The official fall equinox occurs this Friday (Sept 23) but for us “Albergers” fall’s already started. A sure sign of fall is the annual association “southern” rendezvous that Tom & Kay Assenmacher hold before heading south for the winter. This past weekend Cindy and I made the trek to the Northern Neck of Virginia for the chance to reunite with old friends and to meet some new ones.

So on Thursday afternoon we jumped in the camper and headed east along Interstates 81 and 83 through the picturesque mountains of New York and Pennsylvania. We took our time and enjoyed a great drive through the area whose hills are beginning to show signs of the approaching fall colours. We planned to arrive at Tom & Kay’s in Kinsale, Virginia on Friday evening but the busy weekend traffic through Baltimore and Washington had us pulling off the highway with still an hour and a half to go on Saturday morning. But we enjoyed our overnight stay at Camp Walmart and arrived in time for most of the rendezvous activities.

Saturday saw us quickly fall into the warm, friendly camaraderie that has been the hallmark of the Alberg association since we joined about 15 years ago. We talked (mostly about boats, of course), laughed, ate (boy, did we eat) and generally had a lot of fun together. We managed to significantly deplete the crab population of Virginia (see lead picture) and prove that good weather was not a necessary ingredient for a fun rendezvous.

Sunday morning came too quickly and after much coffee and a hearty breakfast it came time for some to start making their way home. After saying our goodbyes to the others, we hit the road in the early afternoon heading home on a different route up through Lewisburg and Buffalo so we could see a different view of the country on the way home. What a lovely drive it proved to be with sweeping vistas of shallow mountains around just about every corner. All too soon we were at the border and near home once again.

Everyone is always happy to reach home safely and I’m no different. But, for me, it’s always tinged with a shallow sadness that the adventure is over and a longing for the next one.

But, wow, I just realized that it’s only about 3 weeks before I head south the get the boat in the water for our winter adventures. On the road again……..