Day 4.0 - All Drive and No Play

We left D.C. late morning and immediately found our way through a see of bad drivers Virginia and then West Virginia. That meant treas. Also, more trees. As a state, WV is very scenic and Mike enjoyed the 70 mph speed limit. There just seemed to be little there except for possibly some good camp grounds. Of course, Kentucky was a little different. There were cows and trees. Mike did want to stop at the Wild Turkey distillery, but it was after 8pm and probably too late for a tour. Mike told me about a coworker of his who has a Wild Turkey bottle in the shape of a turkey. Wowsers. It’s too bad we weren’t able to go fill up on some of those.
Late in the day we started to see more deer on the read (dead) and beside the road (waiting to commit suicide). Based on our previous road trip experience from Cali to Mass we do know that deer tend to hurl themselves onto to the road in front of passing cars. Our discussion about this lead us to determine that if this were to happen to us this time around my car would probably be considered totaled and we’d have to buy a new one to get all of my stuff back. (Leaving my stuff behind is NOT an option.)
We spent the night in Louisville hoping to get an early start and make it to our Missouri destination by mid-afternoon.

Day 3.0 – Nerds In Space: Capitol Edition

Today was our designated tourism day in Washington, D.C., so we did it up right. We set out late morning and caught a City Sightseeing bus just a few blocks from our hotel. I’ve enjoyed using these buses when visiting other big cities on limited time and it’s usually a pretty good deal. We can hop on and off at any point at all the major tourist attractions and the tickets are valid for 24 to 48 hours. It’s a quick an easy way to see everything and if we’re staying additional days, we can pick and choose exactly what we’d like to spend more time visiting later.

Our first stop in D.C. was the National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.si.edu), but it was not open when we got there. So we killed some time at the Spy City Café where we got a quick bite. We got into the portrait gallery just as it opened and went directly to the courtyard (because I had to finish my cup of coffee) and then to the American Origins section of the gallery. We saw portraits of many key figures in American history including: Benjamin Franklin, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Ulysses S. Grant, Juliette Gordon Low, Elvis, LL Cool J and Tommy Lasorda.

Benjamin Franklin has always been one of my favorite historical figures. I admire Ben’s pragmatism and frankness. He has always been one of my favorite historical figures, so I had to pose for a photo.

Then there’s Tommy Lasorda. Growing up in L.A. in the 80’s there was no larger figure, so seeing him huge there on the wall in his awesomeness was perfect for another photo op.

Moving on…

We hopped back on the bus and rode around until we got to the National Archives to see the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. As you can imagine, it was amazing. And actually, you’ll have to just imagine it because no photography is allowed inside. (You can also look up the documents online.)




The next leg of the bus trip took us to past the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument, the WWII memorial and then to Arlington National Cemetery. Mike and I went for a walk into the cemetery to pay our respects to President Kennedy and Jackie O.




Our final sight-seeing stop was set to be the National Air and Space Museum, so we took a bus and walked a few blocks to the site of super geekdom. Unfortunately, we were only there for an hour and 20 minutes (Mike kept tabs), so we had to rush through an amazing collection of air and spacecraft. I really like the way the museum is organized. Some favorite shots of mine were of Mike next to the IBM-SAGE computer, and shot of the a real lunar module, the second one built for the Apollo program.






I really like how the museum is organized.

One area of note was the Beyond the Limits section which "examines how computers have transformed flight in all its aspects." We saw some of the very first GPS units issued for the military use. Coincidentally, my friend Lee Ann’s father had just been talking about working that project during his career.







Wrapping up the day, we took another trip around the city at twilight and experienced some of the same sights at night before a late night meal at Capital City Brewing.

We really enjoyed our time and D.C. and definitely want to be pack for a longer visit someday.

Day 2.1 - Dinner in D.C.

We moved onward through Delaware this morning, into Maryland and then our nation's capitol. Things we learned along the way today included: Delaware has very nice clean, smooth roads as well as nice looking rest stops; Washington D.C. is also very nice and clean in some areas, but that changes drastically every few blocks: Washington D.C. is also surprisingly not busy even at rush hour.

After a short nap in our hotel room, we headed out to dinner with my friend Nikki. We've been friends now over 16 years and it's always a treat to get to see here. She recently finished up her doctorate studies in Chicago and moved here to start a new position at a university nearby. I'm so proud of her :) Mike was hungry for some Italian food, so we called the concierge and he recommended Tuscana West nearby. Things we learned at dinner included: things in downtown D.C. start closing very early and it's near impossible to find late night coffee, Nikki is a bit of a hypochondriac, the acronym AMA sometimes stands for "advanced maternal age," Some Ho's get tattoos of their pimp's name and use Facebook for marketing purposes, and you should always order the most expensive drink on the menu if you get a complimentary beverage card for your hotel restaurant.

Tomorrow we plan a whirlwind of sight-seeing in an adventure I'm calling: Museum/Memorial Mania! I'm hoping to have energy enough to see the whole city, if only from atop a bus. For Mike it'll be a relief to not drive for a day.

Day 2.0 - Breakfast With A Friend

We stayed the night at by the airport in Philadelphia. Mike has an old friend who lives in the area and met him for breakfast at the Philly Diner. Mike and Matt have been friends for about 13 years and this was their first meeting IRL (in real life). Isn't the internet amazing? Matt is very cool and we chatted about travel, gaming and work. It did take some photos of him, but Mike had mentioned Matt being a private person. I'll respect that :) In this photo you can see a cool mural they have up in the diner. There is chrome all the diner, including outside.

Our plan today is to repack a few things that were thrown together in haste yesterday, drive for a few hours and make it to Washington, D.C. by the afternoon.

Day 1.0 - Escape from Greenfield, MA

On June 25th, I finished up my studies at the Hallmark Institute of Photography. My boyfriend Mike came to move me out and head back to California. Most people would never guess how outright impossible it can be to get out of Greenfield. Of course, this is taking account how much packing you've done before the mover(s) arrive (in my case that was one), the weather at the time (hot and super humid in Western Massachusetts), and how much time out you take to say goodbye to friend (several dinners and a two day tag sale).

It took about 2 1/2 days to get me out of that place. It was just one girl in an apartment. Who knew? Our adjusted departure time of Monday morning became 5pm and by then neither of us were sure if we'd ever get out. I was sure Mike would flee the scene any minute and every hour or two I fantasized about leaving all of my stuff there and letting my landlady keep my deposit. In the end we had to add time to ship boxes via U.S. mail and UPS, turn in my cable modem (I kept it until the very end) and do some laundry. Finally on the road, this is what I'll be seeming for the next several thousand miles.

Next stop: Philadelphia.