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.