Home Again...

Back home, safe and sound. What a nice place to be! As I write this, it's 7:30 pm on a Saturday evening and I'm comfortably lounging in my own bed, in my pj's, and with my laptop at hand. Relaxing after a long day of driving (well, ok, a long day of riding; Dear Husband did the driving).

We came home a different route and it was such a treat! We took 81 through the Shenandoah area of Virginia and it was incredible! Gently rolling hills, reds and golds painted along the roadway and a peaceful facade. Made it difficult to believe it was so close (yet so far) from DC. Autumn lived up to its golden reputation today! The weather even cooperated on that leg of our journey but quickly turned dismal once we got to the Carolinas (i.e. Home). That's ok - dismal weather or not - the Carolinas are always beautiful to behold.

True to recent form, however, I did sleep a good bit today. I was just awake enough to catch part of a stand-up's routine on satellite radio talking about his wife sleeping while he's driving long distances. Kenneth and I both got a chuckle from that!

Tomorrow will be a combination of church, returning our rental car, unpacking, settling in, enjoying the extra hour from the time change, and preparing for the week ahead. We got a call while we were away that the part for our dryer came in. They're supposed to be here Monday afternoon to fix it (this will be the 3rd appt. - we 1st called for service 9/22). Odd as it sounds, I'm really looking forward to doing laundry!!!

Monday morning will have us back in our classroom and hitting the books. Away time is great, but most of our 'at home' time is pretty great, too.

Yes, it's good to be back home!

I Rose to the Occasion...

Well, that time has come again...time to start packing up to head home. While this trip hasn't been all that I had hoped, it's still been a trip to DC and a break from the daily routine. I hate to see this week end because there was so much more to do and see, but there's always a special excitement and anticipation in returning home. Before we actually hit the road, though, I want to tell you about one of my 'adventures.'

Let me tell you about the escalators in the Washington DC Metro system...

I was oblivious on our first visit. We picked up the train in Maryland at a station that was above-ground. I didn't even realize there was an actual 'subway' system. Well, that changed pretty quickly. All in one trip I found out the train mostly travels underground and above-ground is the exception. I also found out that some of the stations are pretty deep underground. To get from train-level to street-level requires the use of escalators...many...long...escalators. This was when I unexpectedly came across the escalator at the Woodley Park-Zoo station. This particular escalator is the 3rd longest in the Metro system at 456' (Bethesda is 2nd at 475'). As someone with a fear of heights I spent an agonizing nearly 3-minute ascent holding on to the handrail with a death grip and praying the Lord's Prayer over and over and over. Did I mention the trembling and sweating???

I have been fascinated by the Metro system's escalators ever since.

Fast-forward to this trip. To my family's surprise, I suggested we get on the Metro and head to the Wheaton station. It has the longest single span uninterrupted escalator in the western hemisphere at 508' (the Washington Monument is 555'). I wanted to see - and hopefully travel - this behemoth. If that went well I planned on a quick stop at the next station, Forest Glen, which is the deepest of the Metro stations and bypasses escalators altogether, using only high-speed elevators to transport passengers.

I am proud and happy to report that I tackled the Wheaton escalator with only a moment's hesitation. In all honesty, I did hold on to my husband's pant leg with one hand while glancing nervously both ahead and behind - Yes! I looked Down! The trip down the escalator was no problem at all. There was a large, flat section prior to the descent and you couldn't even see the angle or length of the escalator at first. (I skipped the elevator ride to the top of the Washington Monument at the last minute because of my fear...I was afraid of being afraid!)

VICTORY! Yes! I even have it on video from my digital camera.

After Wheaton, Forest Glen was a letdown. The experience was that of an average elevator. Yes, it was pretty fast, and yes, I knew the station was very deep - it just didn't seem like a big deal at all. So, for something different, we did make our way to the first (last?) car behind the driver/operator for the ride back to our station. Again, nothing special, but it made for an extra sentence or two here in the blog!

Morning will be here quickly so I better get some sleep. We have a long drive home tomorrow.

Hmmm...Not What I Had Planned

So, let's see...

Safe travel to DC - check
Nice accomodations - check
Good eats - check
Everyone healthy? - uh, no

Huh? - No

Dehydration - check
Body aches - check
Fatigue - check

Oh man...this is Not What I Had Planned!

We made our way downstairs for a fresh, hot, cooked-to-order breakfast (very nice!) and discussed plans for the early part of the day before Ken was off on conference business. Before we made it back to our room upstairs I started feeling pretty rotten. Since I have already visited the Air & Space Museum I opted to stay behind and rest up - hoping to shake whatever was making me feel so bad. The family enjoyed the museum, eating lunch on the mall from street vendors, touching the Washington Monument, traveling on the Metro (packed like sardines after a local marathon ended but more comfortable on the return trip) and marveling at the seemingly endless escalators that get you to/from the trains. A little research showed many of them to be among the longest in the world.

The family brought me a sandwich from the unique deli we had dinner at the previous evening. Lots of water and some Gatorade to help with dehydration but still not much in the way of improvement. I did go out with the family for a quiet dinner nearby at Chadwick's (think Cheers-type atmosphere with a full food menu) and build-your-own frozen yogurt desserts across the street. Really fun concept and can even border on healthy if you're careful. The kids (and, truth be told, me too) enjoyed the white butcher paper and crayons on our dinner table. We were free to decorate while waiting for our food to arrive. I snapped a few pictures of our masterpieces before we left.

Back to our room and ready to call it a night. Ken leaves early for his conference and we have school work to do following breakfast. At this point I just hope to be feeling better (and that the rest of the family stays healthy) so we can enjoy the rest of the week.

Wishing everyone an awesome autumn week!

Don't Need No Fromer's Guides...We Know What We Like!

In the beginning...
We did make it safely to Washington, DC yesterday. A fun, blessedly uneventful trip weaving a tastebud-pleasing path from the upstate of SC to the Friendship Heights section of the District. I should note, however, that this is the first road trip our family has taken WITHOUT a big bag of snacks to accompany us. We enjoyed...

...a stop in 'Duke' country for a substantial breakfast at Cracker Barrel (my most favorite breakfast stop while traveling).

...tasty peanuts from the Virginia Welcome Center.

...a surprise treat of a couple of shared Cinnabon rolls mid-morning - oh yeah!

I wouldn't have thought so, but even our Burger King lunch was memorable. Thank goodness for digital cameras and cell phones - otherwise Christopher would have broken the bank in photo developing costs from the snaps he took at lunch alone! No run-of-the-mill BK for us, no sir...this was a 3-story presentation with movie/entertainment memorabilia all over the place. Seating in a Batmobile booth, creatures, heroes, and even ET! Take that with your burger and fries; we did. Actually our seats were top-level overlooking the bustling traffic outside, which, for our rural-family was very entertaining. Not quite as entertaining as parking, but hey - this *is* a Burger King lunch we're talking about.

Dinner? Did someone say 'Dinner?' Not so fast... our hotel offers a hospitality area each evening for snacks and beverages. It was an interesting combination of fresh fruit, red-white-blue corn chips with salsa, goldfish snack crackers and a snack-mix of some kind. We spent about an hour there unwinding from our day and sharing comfortable conversation with the kids. I was able to awe them with my incredible knowledge of salsa - 'if you don't like it hot, avoid the little white seeds.' I love having kids this age!

Walking around the nearby area we checked out an Italian restaurant a few doors down. It looked nice but the wait was 90+ minutes - too long for us - we had been up since 3:00 a.m. So, across the streets we ventured to a bright and upbeat looking deli, 'Booeymongers.' Our sandwiches were good and we liked the casual atmosphere. The fresh flowers on each table were a nice and unexpected touch. The background sound system was playing many of our oldest son's favorite songs - impressed that I recognized some of them, I texted him the titles and artists as they played. He already knows I'm random - now he knows I was thinking of him (and missing him) too.

We wrapped up the evening with a family viewing of 'Transformers' in our suite before calling it a night and sleeping comfortably until... BREAKFAST!

Just Livin' This Life...

Lest anyone think I'm casting my concerns on others, this is only a reflection of where my heart is at the moment.

Yes, just living this life...Sometimes reactively, sometimes proactively, sometimes with wisdom, but oftentimes not. Just living each day.

We have to be careful we don't let our schedules get away from us. I truly believe our busy lifestyles are a modern-day curse for families. We need to focus on doing less for our children and more with them. More dinners together at home, time for board games and hot cocoa. Time to discuss school and not always doing school. That's a tough one for a homeschooling family, believe me.

A family in our local homeschool group lost their husband/father yesterday. No warning. No goodbyes. Wife and young children suddenly alone. This touched and frightened me tremendously. I ache for this family. In all honesty, I also give a prayer of thanks that it wasn't my husband, my life, my children suddenly without their father. I want to hold them all a little closer today. Keep a keener eye on, well, everything.

The urge to hold everyone smotheringly close is real but has to be resisted. I know we can't live this way. It wouldn't matter even if we did. Hold sand in a tight-fisted grip and see how much seeps out anyway. Hold it open-palmed, gently, and it stays put.

Tonight I'll see my grandson for the first time in months. He's 4-years old. I hate how much of his life we're missing, but know there's nothing I can do about it. Texas is a long way away. You know I'll hold him extra-close tonight - if only for a moment or two. Four-year olds are really squirmy - the tighter you hold them the more they squirm.

Oops...time to go get Christopher from his youth-group meeting. I'm anxious to hear all about his evening. Can't ever be too busy for that.

G'night.