I haven't been to Washington DC since Hurricane Katrina, which happened during my stay. Not that there was any sign of it there but the owner of the B&B I was staying at kept us informed during breakfast. There were no TVs there, not that I had time to watch given that I was at a meeting (ostensibly) and running around seeing this and that and meeting up with various people. I dd buy a paper eventually, which I read while on the tarmac forever and among other things, learned the price of fuel had doubled suddenly due to various refineries being hit.
We had a chatty pilot. Due to the wind that day, we had to use the runway that faced the Washington Memorial. But the plane was too heavy to clear it on take off so thus we had to sit idly while they burned off the excess fuel (now as I was just reading, much scarcer). Apparently siphoning it out was not an option.This took much longer than the flight itself. I hate waste.
You wouldn't want me to hit the Memorial, ha,ha.
No I would not. But a little planning on the part of the airline would have been nice. It wasn't that the wind direction was a national secret and that maybe, they would not need to fill the plane to the top. And hopefully, the info that they plugged into some computer on how much the plane finally weighed and what the lift would be were correct so we didn't get to see that memorial close and personal. It was (sort of) like nagging a kid over and over to use the bathroom before a trip and then 15 minutes into the strip, a stop is demanded.
I hope my exit very early Sunday will go more smoothly as I need to be in Cumberland, MD some 120 miles away at 7 am. I will go by it on the way there even though it isn't what the Garmin recommends. Soulmate, who will host me, keeps sending me different routes I should take complete with which scenic stops I should pull out for. I am to avoid the turnpike at all costs as he is certain I will meet my death in one of those tunnels. He called yesterday to see exactly what route I had decided upon. Well I will be on the Turnpike for a little bit but I will get off before the dangerous part and make it to safety to WV and MD. I see Rte 68 is all speckled on the map meaning that it is Scenic. I had hoped to eat lunch in Morgantown. He gave me his recommendations. I didn't tell him that I was hoping to find that chain of biscuit joints that I used to take the kids to when we were en route to white water rafting on the New.
I had last stayed in a beautifully restored turn of the century B&B on Q Street near Logan Circle rather than the sterile Hyatts and Marriotts my co-workers were in. The last time I had stayed in a soulless chain hotel by myself in a big city, I had had a mini-meltdown overcome by loneliness and a disconnectedness. No more that. I would host my meeting friends in my residence for the duration and they were impressed. It had an outside veranda in a private garden and the B&B owner brought out homemade cookies for my friends. Even Soulmate was quite impressed with all the wood work. He pointed out that 5 years previously,walking in the immediate neighborhood would have been dicey and to avoid points immediately south or even worse, east. And walk I did as it was not exactly on a metro line. To see him, I would walk to Dupont Circle for the Red Line, take it to Tenleytown (which sounded to me like Tinytown)and then walk forever again to his house (I'd get a ride back). I looked at the map yesterday. His house is a block or so to the MD border. I was trying to see how easily it is to run from his house to the Capital Crescent trail. Not obvious to me.
Still trying to get ready. You would think a bike ride scheduled around the summer solstice would obviate the need for a bike light. I am renting a bike. Gotta to call to see what it comes with. On one of the days, we go through 3 long tunnels, one 1000 feet long without lighting. Also today, I have a not pleasant medical appointment to deal with.
But tomorrow.. Blue Skies.
We had a chatty pilot. Due to the wind that day, we had to use the runway that faced the Washington Memorial. But the plane was too heavy to clear it on take off so thus we had to sit idly while they burned off the excess fuel (now as I was just reading, much scarcer). Apparently siphoning it out was not an option.This took much longer than the flight itself. I hate waste.
You wouldn't want me to hit the Memorial, ha,ha.
No I would not. But a little planning on the part of the airline would have been nice. It wasn't that the wind direction was a national secret and that maybe, they would not need to fill the plane to the top. And hopefully, the info that they plugged into some computer on how much the plane finally weighed and what the lift would be were correct so we didn't get to see that memorial close and personal. It was (sort of) like nagging a kid over and over to use the bathroom before a trip and then 15 minutes into the strip, a stop is demanded.
I hope my exit very early Sunday will go more smoothly as I need to be in Cumberland, MD some 120 miles away at 7 am. I will go by it on the way there even though it isn't what the Garmin recommends. Soulmate, who will host me, keeps sending me different routes I should take complete with which scenic stops I should pull out for. I am to avoid the turnpike at all costs as he is certain I will meet my death in one of those tunnels. He called yesterday to see exactly what route I had decided upon. Well I will be on the Turnpike for a little bit but I will get off before the dangerous part and make it to safety to WV and MD. I see Rte 68 is all speckled on the map meaning that it is Scenic. I had hoped to eat lunch in Morgantown. He gave me his recommendations. I didn't tell him that I was hoping to find that chain of biscuit joints that I used to take the kids to when we were en route to white water rafting on the New.
I had last stayed in a beautifully restored turn of the century B&B on Q Street near Logan Circle rather than the sterile Hyatts and Marriotts my co-workers were in. The last time I had stayed in a soulless chain hotel by myself in a big city, I had had a mini-meltdown overcome by loneliness and a disconnectedness. No more that. I would host my meeting friends in my residence for the duration and they were impressed. It had an outside veranda in a private garden and the B&B owner brought out homemade cookies for my friends. Even Soulmate was quite impressed with all the wood work. He pointed out that 5 years previously,walking in the immediate neighborhood would have been dicey and to avoid points immediately south or even worse, east. And walk I did as it was not exactly on a metro line. To see him, I would walk to Dupont Circle for the Red Line, take it to Tenleytown (which sounded to me like Tinytown)and then walk forever again to his house (I'd get a ride back). I looked at the map yesterday. His house is a block or so to the MD border. I was trying to see how easily it is to run from his house to the Capital Crescent trail. Not obvious to me.
Still trying to get ready. You would think a bike ride scheduled around the summer solstice would obviate the need for a bike light. I am renting a bike. Gotta to call to see what it comes with. On one of the days, we go through 3 long tunnels, one 1000 feet long without lighting. Also today, I have a not pleasant medical appointment to deal with.
But tomorrow.. Blue Skies.
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| From website: the veranda where we ate cookies |
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