We Could See The World tonight

So much has happened in the last 34 hours!! I am going to try and condense it as much as possible...here goes...


After leaving Philly we b-lined it for DC. We got there just before 4 which was the perfect amount of time to walk from Art Garden to the Monument then say hi to Abe and back before dark. Vicky paid for parking at what she thought was a spot free after 4..more on this later. As the rays were the brightest we took in some great people watching at the monument, got emotional at the wall and read some truly inspirational words that surround Lincoln. After about 100 pictures we started the gorgeous walk back.

It was a really odd vibe while we walked around the city. The three of us were happy but almost totally quiet until something caught our attention enough to share with the others. I feel like touring DC is a pretty emotional experience when you think about the history of why all the monuments and walls and photos and museums....are there. Whether its art in the form of a sculpture or famous last words, architecture, science expirements or social expirements these things that people from around the world travel to see are here because that person had it in their heart to want to make change. The few moments between when the sun sets and the darkness takes over is my favorite time of day. We got to experience the city during this time and when its characters were out in full effect, and I loved every minute of it. I also love the fact that although the secret service think are very discreet at times-I still know that the dude by the pole with the black north face jacket is one of them...there was a couple-obviously of some importance-being followed through the new WWII memorial by 7 secret service. They then had 3 more scattered around wearing different styles of jackets trying to blend in or whatever. We all laughed at that. On the walk back we also saw some little band that was on tour riding around on scooters-kick push style. They were pretty hilarious to listen to while they walked right behind us.

Back to the parking-you probably all know by now that I was towed not once, not twice but three times in LA! Yes hold your comments because I have already heard them all. Well heres a fun fact you may enjoy...Washington DC does not impound cars that get towed, they simply move them to a legal parking spot within a 2 block radius of the parking violation! How do I know this you may be asking, because this just so happened yesterday! Vicky thought the sign meant it was free to park after 4 and did not realize it actually meant that in no way are you supposed to park there after 4pm! So after talking to a cop, splitting up and walking to the White House we found the car and directions to our next destination. Now you may think this was an awful experience but in fact it was amazing! I love the city at night, any city, and so watching the final colors fade and the lights come on was wonderful! Its always incredible to me just how much things change when the lights go down.

Short drive through a bit of traffic and some back country roads and we were at Jared-bubs cousin's house. We had picked up some dinner beforehand and cooked it up on arrival. Had a hilarious night with some true country boys. woke up and Jared took us up on the Skyline Drive to see the views of the Shenandoah Valley which were just absolutely gorgeous. Stayed until 1:30 then hit the road for Williamsburg. On the way my camera-which I bought 2 days before leaving home-decided it would stop working and accepting all memory cards...and if you know me you realize that this is just plain unacceptable...its like cutting off a limb or something. So multiple stops later and yours truly is pretty pissy but the new owner of a Nikon...that she had to pay for! Why, because I did not bring the receipt with me so they refused to swap out my camera. I bought the cheapest one I could-which is actually the camera I used last year and I enjoy a lot. I will use this until I get home and then return my other.

All right so its not even 10 but the past few days of staying up til 3 and getting up at 8 are catching up with all of us so Im gonna log off this William and Mary Law School computer that Allie so graciously let me use and head home to hopefully get some sleep and gear up for the 14 hour drive to Huntsville, AL tomorrow! I am excited to see Miss Tasha Rathbone-the newly Officer Rathbone if you please.

Until next time please dont forget to smile