Ron & Nikki Go To Washington - Part Deux

Well Ron and I are finally home after a long day in Washington D.C. Winded, weary and slightly smelly but alive and thoroughly exhausted. We began the day after breakfast (by the way, craaaapppy breakfast at this hotel, continental deluxe my butt) by heading over to the Vienna metro station to buy our tickets for both today's activities and for the Big Day.

We got there around 10:30 and were shocked to see HUGE lines already just to purchase the tickets. (**side note, the camera was left at our hotel room today...I know....sigh...I know...we did make up for it by buying a disposable to capture all the happenings of this afternoon but still, ugh!) Anyway after about a 30 minute wait we got our tickets and boarded the metro train headed towards New Carollton (sp?) and amazingly we actually got a seat.
(One day if you get a chance please do ask me for a diatribe on the cleanliness and efficiency of the Washington D.C Metro System, I have many complimentary things to say...) After a pretty uneventful ride we popped out in the middle of the mall into a crowd of Obama supporters. I can only describe the atmosphere as incredibly festive, hopeful and truly joyful. People are excited, both to be in D.C for the inauguration but just to be with people who, at least for these few days, are of a like mind.

Ron made the comment this afternoon that the 'republicans are hiding' and frankly it seems to be true because its so hard to find anyone without an Obama pin, button, hat, bag, scarf etc. People are asking each other where they're from (our polling shows mostly Atlanta for some reason, although we met people from Alabama, Tennesee too), some folks are recording short interviews of other attendees (Ron and myself were interviewed) to show who those couldn't make it what it was like.
The other thing I love is that there are SOOOO many children here! Everywhere you look are these kids who will be watching what happens tomorrow with wide, learning eyes. It will forever change the way they view the world and I'm so happy their parents brought them!

And then... we went to the museum of American history. Which is a big ol new museum, however the crowds sort of put a damper on the trip. Ah well...I don't really feel like talking about it. Here... you can go to the website if you want more info: americanhistory.si.edu.

Celebrity Count - 3
So there are mountains of news and press people here, while we haven't yet seen the elusive Silver Fox (Anderson Cooper) we did spot Soledad O'Brian of CNN, Chris Mathews and Pat Buchanan from MSNBC. Tomorrow we will continue our Fox hunt and hopefully we will have a Cooper spotting to report.

So inconclusion, things are great here, people are happy and relaxed and just filled with hope and (dare I say it..) patriotism. That's all from the front...update on the BIG DAY tomorrow!

Update Part One (point) Five

Here is an update on our vacation. We decided to cut our trip a little bit. Please see the little map above.

We are now going to

Mystic, CT

Cape Cod, MA

Concord and Lexington, MA

Salem, MA

Bennington and Rutland, VT

Fort Ticonderoga, NY

Saratoga, NY

We cut out Maine even though we have never been there and would be really excited to see what the Northern State has to offer we decided it would jsut put too much stress in our relaxation vacation!

We also are staying in a cabin in Vermont, nice and remote and pretty!

Memorial Day Weekend 2007

Here are some pictures from the beach house.

Sweet Wesley!

Wesley again!

Island Beach State Park for some surf fishing!
Here is spunky Devin the Dude, he has so much energy that he is very hard to capture on film! But its well worth it when you do .

Here is Ron preping his pole for some surf fishing, he caught an amazing zero fish but his face shows you the effort he put into the endevour.
And finally...



This is what happens when I get bored on a long car ride to the beach in some traffic...

First lets see what it would look like if there was someone looking at me who was about 1 foot taller than me.



Then.... lets pretend its a grand day at the races.
There are very many more but I will spare the blog.

Road Trip Update

Well summer is right around the corner, and we've been planning a road trip/ camping vacation. We've entitled it "Our New England Historical Road Trip" and we have come up with the itinerary for it.

Here it is....

Day 1 - Home >>> Mystic Seaport, CT >>> Boston, MA
Day 2 - Boston, MA >>> Boston, MA
Day 3 - Boston, MA >>> Minute Man Nat'l Park, MA >>> Portland, ME
Day 4 - Portland, ME >>> Someplace on the Eastern Border of VT
Day 5 - VT >>> Ticonderoga, NY
Day 6 - Ticonderoga, NY >>> Ticonderoga, NY
Day 7 - NY >>> Home

It should be a lot of driving and a chance for us to see the sights and sounds of New England, since we've never been to Maine or Boston before nor have we ever gone camping. We're looking forward to it big time!