Day 3: Travel to London

Today I was on a plane.  Then I was on a plane some more.

Okay, yes, that's over simplified.  Aunt Jean was very gracious and got up pre-dawn to take me to the airport.  My stay with her and the girls was very nice, I'm so fortunate to have had the chance to connect with them!

Things went smoothly at the airport, and waiting on the London side was my travel buddy Bryan.  He's got a blog too, that I will figure out how to plug, probably on my next post.

We made our way to one of the Astor hostels, got checked in and sacked out!

Thus concludeth the third day.

Day 2: Hanging Out At The Mall

The only Mall worth capitalizing.

*Allowing time for the pun to sink in*

The day started with a wonderful breakfast with my extended Ulmer family. I got to see where the girls attend school and then Aunt Jean dropped me off at the Smithsonian castle!
I got a sneak preview of promotions for the Ben Stiller movie 'Night at the Museum'. I intended to discover what the 'Contributing Membership Reception Center' consisted of and the extent of any other benefits as such.
In the tulip building, I was told, three levels down you'll find it. and did I. Splenderous photos of this elusive place are currently on my Facebook page.

I was also excited to discover that a new Smithsonian was open, devoted to the Native Americans! I had a quirky encounter with a visitor from Israel with whom I shared lunch in the food court of said museum. That is the extent of what I saw of it as it was time for my afternoon to draw to a close. We did manage to get a picture in front of the Capitol before parting ways.

I packed so much into today, but tomorrow fast approaches and as it is an International leg, I'd best get some shut-eye.

Thanks for following along with me!

Day 1: Mad Dash to the Capitol!

After the early morning arrival to the airport, and a delay, I RAN to make my connecting flight.
Apparently, my luggage wasn't up to the task and decided to take the scenic route.
I am an hour ahead and it is eight hours late. No worries though, I am in good hands here with my 'new' Aunt Jean! Since my luggage is having its own vacation, I figured I might as well not waste any time either. When Aunt Jean suggested spending some time at Mount Vernon this afternoon I jumped at the chance.
She dropped me off just before 3 at the gate with ticket money (after treating me to lunch!) and I the afternoon lay before me. What a great way to start out!

Following her recommendation I made a bee-line for the main house. I did get slightly side-tracked by some sheep and some flowers, but have you ever actually watched bees? They are known to amble and zig-zag from time-to-time too!
The timing was perfect, the weather was great, waiting in line outside I caught a scent of the sea off the Potomac, and it was so fun to visit Washington's house!

After a lovely afternoon, Jean swung by having picked the girls up from school. We all went out to dinner in the old part of Alexandria at a place called The Fish Market. Alex kept us all entertained with her lively chatter and it was a wonderful meal. After dinner we wound our way back to the car, allowing ourselves the distraction of sight-seeing through the neighborhood. It turns out that Maria and I both have a fondness for photography and we found many photo ops along the way. I was also intrigued as my 'fire department lens' kicked in and I was seeing in person many of the historical elements of history in the old town. I found myself sharing tidbits about the fire insurance placards, 'stars and bars' on the buildings, and even noting a door to a building that in all likelihood once housed a fire company, now made over into a town home.

Returning to their house and settling in, I still await the delivery of my bag. Latest update on it is that it is expected to arrive by midnight. In the meantime, I'm going to see about continuing the trend of adjusting my sleep schedule for European time and getting to bed on time!

Packed, moved, clean, done? No, it has only just begun.

It was all-hands-on-deck at the Lily Pad and now the whirl-wind weekend of 'the move' is done. Reinforced by friends, and even my brothers up from Texas, I got through it. The prologue has ended, to be extended... at a later time.

In the next little while I will be seen off by a representation of my family of Kansas friends and into the care of the extension of my East coast family that awaits!