Trip to Virginia

I'm now at the Denver airport eating some french fries and a hot dog for lunch. I'm hungry, and the line for Mickey D's is ridiculously long. Plus I don't really feel like a box lunch from United. I'm on my way home from my second trip to Virginia. It's been a rather fun and intense week.

My flight to D.C. from Ontario was pretty uneventful, except that the video system didn't work and I didn't get to watch Music & Lyrics, which I really wanted to see! That sucked, and the lady who sat next to me kept chewing on her nails non-stop and that bugged me a bit too.

I didn't get to my hotel in Old Town Alexandria until 10.30 on Monday night. I was still working on west coast time. I got set up in a really ritzy Hilton hotel, since all the other hotels were booked up and the Hilton was within walking distance of the office I was to visit, Sciences International. Talk about plush... the carpets were so thick I had trouble dragging my suitcase along, and the towels were thick and fluffy. Very very nice furnishings too. I was comfortable, except they had feather pillows and they just don't give me enough neck support. So I slept really badly the first night, especially since my room was across the way from the metro station and train tracks.

There's something about old colonial style brick buildings... I think they're cool. To think that they have been standing there since the late 1600's. Just amazing. I walked down to the river and all the way back up to my hotel mid-week. I got a lot of shopping done for Mother's Day, and there were so many neat stores in the old buildings. I stopped by the Ramsey House, named after the founder of the town or the first mayor... I can't remember which. It's now a visitor's center, but they were closed by the time I got there. I picked up a guide to Alexandria while I was there, but I kicked myself for not reading it first before I started walking again. I missed doing the walking tour of some of the more historic buildings there... George Washington's old townhouse was just a block away! All in all, I think I walked about 24 blocks that day... which is a huge accomplishment for me!

I met up with a buddy of mine who lives out there. The weather was beautiful! We had a really nice dinner and he drove me around some of the monuments at night. We didn't stop anywhere, and he had to work the next morning so we didn't stay out too late, plus I had to pack.

I had a really nice ride to the airport... I guess the driver who took me to the airport has this secret road he takes to Dulles, that doesn't involve traffic. It was such a scenic drive! Drove by some of the monuments by day, and this area by the river which was just woodsy and oh so green. I made it to Dulles with plenty of time to spare, and there was almost no one at the check in counters! The last time I was there on a Saturday, that place was packed, so I planned for extra time just in case there was a line. I hate rushing anyway, so this worked out just fine.

Anyhoo... I got some breakfast and took it on the plane, and I got an ice blended drink from Dunkin Donuts. Pretty good, but not great. Anyway... the freakin stewardess who was asking us what to drink didn't see it or chose not to see my drink, so when she leaned over to drop napkins on the other folks tray tables, her sleeve or skirt or something caught on my drink and she spilled it! And instead of apologizing, she said "Jesus Christ! That wasn't a very good place to put a drink!".... uh... excuse me? SHE spilled MY drink, not the other way around. How rude. She never did apologize for spilling my drink, and she almost didn't ask me what I wanted to drink... b*tch. That kinda spoiled my mood. I think I will go to the UA website and write a complaint.

Anyhoo... the United Economy Plus seats are pretty nice. I didn't realize how much more space an extra 6 inches gives you. It was a really good flight otherwise. They were showing the Painted Veil, so I finally got to watch it. It was a pretty good movie. By the time the movie was over, it was close to landing time.

I want to get home to get some sleep... sleep has been eluding me this week. My folks arrive tomorrow, and we're hosting mother's day brunch on Sunday. It'll be a busy weekend, but I'm taking next week off to spend time with my parents, so I'm very much looking forward to it.

To all the Mom's out there... HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!