Virginia (Washington DC)

I am about to go on vacation, which I will blog about when I get back. But before I do that I want to blog about the trip I went on at the end of March/beginning of April.

I went to Virginia to visit my GOOD friends Eliza and Matt and to meet baby Theo. I was so excited to meet him that I was actually able to conquer my fear of flying that far. I had a layover in Phoenix on the way there and then flew to Fairfax. The flights there were great, I sat next to some really nice guys on both legs of the race who were fun to talk to and I watched Deja Vu, which was enjoyable. I was so excited to get there and see Eliza.

Friday night when I got there it was already a little late so we just hung out, talked, and went to bed and of course I got to meet Theo, which was amazing. He is the cutest.

On Saturday Eliza had to work in the morning so I hung out with Katie Aimone (Vickie's and my friend from La Verne) who lives and works in the area. Katie and her parents picked me up and took me to DC. They showed me the Air Force Memorial (which is the picture at the left). Apparenty, it hasn't been there that long and Leann Womak sang at the opening ceremony. (A bit of trivia for you). After that Katie's dad took us on a little tour of his work place, which just happens to be the PENTAGON. It was so cool. Unfortunatly I have no pictures of this because they don't let you tak cameras inside, something about national secrurity. It is so neat inside, and you can tell where it was hit by the plane on 9/11 because even though it is rebuilt the color is different. They are making a memorial for it but it was not open yet. The inside is really cool, but kind of confusing because everything looks the same. I got to see the Secretary of Defense's office door with the flags standing outside of it. The whole thing was just so impressive. After that we went to the Pentagon Mall and had Noodles & Co. It was so great to see Katie and meet her parents, who were awesome tour guides.

Later that day Eliza, Matt, Theo, and I went back into DC on the Metro. The first place we went was the Arlington National Cemetary, which I think was my favorite spot of the trip, because it was so impressive and moving. It really made me respect the people who serve our country. I can't really describe it but I would recommend seeing it if you are in the area. To the right is a picture of Robert E Lee's house which I think the government took from him after the Civil War. I like this picture because I just meant to take it of the house but Matt and Eliza turned around right when I took it so it looks kind of posed. (I would like to sumbit it as a possibility for their Christmas cards this year).

One of the main things to see there is the Eternal Flame and the Kennedy graves. JFK, Jackie, and two of their babies are buried there. I really had to take a minute and appreciate the moment. It really is a moving memorial. Further down the hill Bobby Kennedy is buried. Someone had placed roses on all five of their gravesites. While we were there we walked over to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and saw the very end of the changing of the gaurds. It was neat also and drew a huge crowd.

Here is a picture of a tree at Arlington. Apparenlty, I picked the perfect time to go to Virginia because the cherry blossoms were in bloom. Actually, I don't want to brag or anything but I was there the exact day that the cherry trees bloomed, a story I will tell my grandkids (LOL!). Truly though they were so pretty and I was lucky to ave such great weather while I was there although I will admit I wore a jacket everywhere. Matt and Eliza saw me and said "is it cold out?" It was to me. I am pretty much cold all the time and I just wanted to be prepared back East.

After the Arlington Cemetary we walked to the Flags of our Fathers Memorial which is the top picture. That is a nice memorial. I am not sure if you can tell from the picture but on the base of the statue all of the names of the wars that American soldiers have been involved in are engraved. It was cool to see it up close because there is so much detail. After this we went to Baja Fresh and then back to Eliza's and Matt's house and talked and watched The Office Season 2.

On Sunday we drove into DC, which was really crowded because of the above mentioned cherry trees. We saw the Jefferson Memorial and learned some interesting history about the making of it from Matt. I saw the Washington Memorial, which you can see from everywhere in Washington DC. It was just so fun to see all of these things I have read about and seen in movies up close and in person. That same afternoon we went to the White House, which I was very excited about seeing. We went to the back first, which gives you a better view and then walked around to the front. There is a huge front yard and a huge fence around it so you can't get too close. I think that you should be allowed a lot closer to "the people's house" but again that whole national security thing. Later that night Eliza made a great dinner for us and we hung out with Theo and watched more of The Office. Also, here is another cute picture of Theo at the Jefferson Memorial.

The next day, Monday, Matt had to work so Eliza, Theo, and I went to "The Mall" and saw the museums. We went to the National History museum, mostly just for the bathrooms, where some lady haggled with Eliza for a diaper. We went to a couple of the other museums as well. All of it was very impressive and it was free so that was also nice. There is a nice view of the Capital Building and the Washington Memorial there. It was such a beautiful day. Matt joined us for dinner at Teaism, which I am excited to tell you is one of the places Rachel Ray went to on her traveling/eating show for $40 dollars a day. It was pretty good. I hope to see the episode sometime so I can see what ol' Rachel thought of it. We took the Metro back after that and I fell over twice, those things lurch foward pretty quickly. Here is a Selander Subway Shot. Yep, this just proves everyone loves to have their picture taken on the subway.

I went home the next day via a plane trip that left a lot to be desired. I got to sit on the tarmac for over an hour in VA, plus I had to sit next to the escape door, which I'm telling you if the plane goes down I am not helping anyone else. I will be the first one out. But I told the flight attendant I could handle it because it was my only option. Saw "Freedom Writers", the only saving grace was that McDreamy was in it. I had a layover in Denver where I got to sprint through the airport and I must have been a real sight because when I finally got to the plane several people asked if I was okay. But alas, I made it to Ontario where my parents, and by some miracle my luggage were waiting for me.

It was a great trip. Eliza and Matt were great hosts and made me feel right at home and it was fun to hang out with them for a long period of time. Matt is very funny, not that Eliza isn't but you know what I mean. I love that they live in such a fun place so I get the bonus of seeing cool stuff when I visit them. Even if I hadn't seen any of it the trip would have been worth it to hang out with the Selanders.

Thanks for being such great friends! I can't wait until I go back to visit again. I am already thinking of other stuff I want to see there.

Here are some more pictures of the trip.

*Also, thanks to Theo for being such a good sport while being schleped around on my account.