Virginia's "Niagara Falls"

I went exploring today. Every Sunday, as I'm driving to church, I pass a sign for Great Falls. I never took the time to head out there last year while I was here, so I decided to go have a looksie today. Granted, it's no Niagara Falls, but it's pretty!

When I got there, I found the trail & headed out. Of course, I went the wrong direction. :) As I walked along, I kept seeing signs warning about the "strong undercurrent", but all I could see was calm water. I found this quite amusing. I walked & walked and ended up at the dam, which I thought was "the falls". Not too impressive, but since I'd walked so far, I decided to take a couple pictures anyway.

After I turned around to head back to the visitor's center, I realized what I'd done and went to see the real falls! It was so nice to get in the middle of nature, even though surrounded by city, and spend some alone time with God without the distractions that pop up at home. As I walked along the trails beside the Potomac, I was reminded of a poem all of my English teachers had on their walls:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost

Now, believe me, I'm NO literary (as most of you already know), but it made me think about life. (I promise to not get too philosophical on ya!) I've been on my personal "less traveled" road for almost a year now. (travel nursing) Many of you have asked me what made me decide to make this huge change in my life - knowing I'm not a huge proponent of change! :) Well, here are some of the reasons - some mature and some not so much!

1. Get to see different areas of the country


2. Learn how things are done in different NICUs - aka become a better nurse


3. Self challenge in depending on God and flexibility!!


4. People all but dared me to do this, and I couldn't let them win :)

Since I left Texas, which was a HUGE step out on faith for me, I've learned a lot about depending on God. He has continually taken care of me! So, as I come up on my one year anniversary of this new career, I'm asking that you pray with me about the next step. I'm praying for God to clearly lead me where He wants me to be, whether that be settling down somewhere or continuing with my current travel position. Thank you for your prayers over the past year, and I'll keep you updated on any new developments.

Happy Memorial Day!

Hug a HERO today!!

Back to the District

I had today off, so I went into the city. The weather was absolutely perfect! It was so nice to walk around for a few hours in the sunshine. Believe it or not, I actually saw stuff that I had missed when I was here for 6 months last year!! :) Here are a few pictures I thought you might enjoy.

This is the Jefferson Monument. He's SO tall!!

This next one is of the Lincoln Monument. (duh, huh?) :)

Lastly, here's another view of the White House. They were letting us get right up to the fence today. Later, as I saw Marine One returning to the House, I realized why we were given this kind of access. :)

Have a wonderful week!!

Things I've learned . . .

I finished my little road trip adventure this afternoon when I arrived in Arlington, VA. It's been a fun and educational adventure over the past week. I was talking with my mom this morning, and it's hard to believe it's been less than a week since I left Alabama! I've gotten to see & do so much, it seems like about a month! As I drove along, singing at the top of my lungs, I was thinking about some of the strange things I've seen & learned on this trip, so I thought I'd share them with you.

1. The term "speed limit" means COMPLETELY different things in different states. For Alabama & Georgia, it seems to be a goal that's never really reached. If you want to enter a highway where the speed limit is 65 or 70 going 40, it's perfectly fine. We'll just get out of your way or slam on the brakes so that we don't crash. South Carolina seemed to drive faster - driving at least the speed limit was the norm. Once I reached North Carolina, it seemed that the "speed limit" was really the "minimum speed required for survival". As I drove through a large part of Virginia today, I realized that driving ONLY 10 MPH over the posted speed only inconvenienced/angered about 2/3 of the people on the highway - as opposed to angering the entire population driving by actually going the posted speed.


2. If you ever want a large variety of miniature golf places in a small area, just go to the northern part of South Carolina on HWY 17. I must have passed 15 mini-golf places in as many miles!


3. The PERFECT time to visit Myrtle Beach, SC, is the last week of April or the first week of May. Beautiful weather, and no crowds. :)


4. There's a "Ni River" in Virginia! If you've never seen Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail, this probably doesn't mean much to you. But when I passed it today, I just chuckled to myself thinking of "the knights who say 'NI'!!"


5. The city of Durham, NC, seems to have two, completely unconnected Main Streets. And yes, I drove on both of them a few times looking for Duke University.
6. 
   At least two families in North Carolina have a lighthouse as a next door neighbor!
7. The majority of the people working the desk at the hotels have no idea how far Texas is from the east coast. When I checked in to the hotels in North & South Carolina (both of which I checked in between 2 & 5PM), I was asked if I had driven in that morning from Texas! Um . . . That would mean that I left at least at midnight of the night before. Did I really look that tired?!? :)
8. Lastly, but most importantly, I'm SO grateful to have a job that doesn't require me to live in hotels the majority of the time!! It's next to impossible to have a "jammy day" (which y'all know I'm a huge fan of) in a hotel.

Not important or life changing lessons I learned, but fun thoughts that fill my head. Speaking of apartments, here's a picture of my new place.

Thank you for going on this journey with me and reading through all of my rambling thoughts! I hope you at least enjoyed the pictures!! :) By the way, they're playing "Taps" across the street at the Army base - something I haven't heard since January.

FINAL LICENSE PLATE TALLY: Well, today I only saw one lonely Illinois tag, which brings the grand total to 13. I was amazed at the number of New Jersey plates I saw during my travels! Maybe next time I'll count those instead because I'm sure the number was at least 3 times the number of Illinois plates!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Raleigh/Durham, NC

Yesterday morning, I left the beach and headed north - getting ever closer to the final destination!! I drove up the coast a couple hours so I could see some lighthouses. (at least that was the plan) I did find one of them, the Oak Island Lighthouse.

Yes, that's a street lamp in front of the lighthouse. :) It's really very bizarre! This lighthouse is in the middle of a neighborhood! After success in finding this one, I set out to find the Bald Head Lighthouse, which is supposed to be just down the road about 30 minutes. Well, after about an hour of searching, I gave up and headed towards Raleigh.

Today, I set out exploring the Raleigh/Durham area. I first went to Durham, where Duke University is. There's a beautiful garden you can walk through there. The roses were in full bloom and smelling amazing!

When I finished with the garden, I walked around the campus for a while. Seeing all the hustle & bustle of this time right before finals made me SO GLAD that I'm through with that part of my life!! While in Durham, I also found the Bulls' old stadium, where the movie Bull Durham was filmed. The team doesn't play there anymore, but it was neat to see the "old-timey" stadium. Then, I headed back to Raleigh where I drove around downtown. I circled the capitol and snapped a few pictures.

Just west of the capital is the Oakwood Historic District. I drove through that area and looked at all the pretty houses that have been refurbished. I don't know that I'd ever want the stress & expense that comes with that kind of "fixer-upper", but they sure are beautiful once completed! I didn't get any pictures of them because I didn't think the families living there would appreciate someone taking pictures without permission. :)

That's the extent of my adventures here today. I had to get back to the hotel to do a little bit of work stuff. The good news is that my apartment will be ready tomorrow afternoon, so I'll be headed to DC tomorrow morning!! I've enjoyed my little adventures, but I'm ready to unpack and get settled in my apartment.

Have a wonderful Friday!

Myrtle Beach

When I left Savannah, I went over this HUGE bridge, and I ended up in South Carolina! :) (which was the plan, by the way - not another "Jenn Detour") I wouldn't recommend this particular stretch of HWY 17 North because it's mostly not nice places. Anyway . . . After a couple hours of driving and only one "Jenn Detour", I ended up at my final destination for the past two days - Myrtle Beach. What a gorgeous place!!!! If you've never been, I highly recommend it. If you have, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. :) I had originally planned to stay there just one night, but after I arrived and played in the VERY COLD water for a little bit, I decided I couldn't leave that quickly! So, I stayed a second night to be able to enjoy the water all day yesterday. Other than having to do a few hours of work on the computer for my next assignment (which I was a little upset about them bothering me on my play day!), I got to sit under an umbrella overlooking the beach & waves all day. Is there anything better in the world?!? Here are a couple pictures I took while there. The first is the sunrise from yesterday morning (yes, I get up that early without the aid of an alarm - sick, I know!)

The next is of the "moon rise" last night. If it wasn't a full moon, it was really close!

I have to admit, the camera can't capture all the pretty colors I was able to see, but it can give you a general idea. :) I hope you enjoy the pictures!!

License Plate Tally: Another slow day. . . As I left South Carolina, headed to North Carolina, I only saw 1 Illinois tag. This brings our grand total to 12 so far. Only one more day of real travel, which will be on Friday. :)

Savannah

Well, I arrived in Savannah, GA, Sunday evening. It's a pretty drive across the state, and I was very happy to see the magnolia trees starting to bloom! Savannah is a quaint little city with several WONDERFUL restaurants. Sunday night, I had dinner at a little Irish Pub named Molly McPherson's (at least I think that's how you spell it). It was delicious, and the music was great. (Mom, it had mostly bagpipes, so I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for you.) :) Then, I got to walk around downtown a little before it got too dark. There are 22 city blocks solely dedicated to being parks in that city. It's so nice to be going along and see yet another area of trees, beautiful flowers, water fountains or statues, and park benches. What a fun place to live!

Monday morning, I got up and boarded my trolley tour of Savannah - with the senior citizen groups. :) I enjoyed getting to know the others on my trolleys. It was like having a bus load of grandparent substitutes all morning! (the only thing better was if it had been my actual grandparents) On the tour, we got to see where different films were made - like the bench where Forest Gump told his life story (The actual bench is gone, but the place where it sat is marked with a sign.) and the Six Pence Pub where Julia Roberts caught her cheating husband in Something To Talk About. They mentioned some others that were shot in Savannah (like Matt's The Legend of Baggar Vance), but we didn't see where they were filmed.

MOST importantly - at least in my Mema's opinion - I got to see The Lady & Sons. Actually, I stayed about a block & a half from the restaurant and didn't even realize it. :) I admit, I didn't plan too well because when I arrived at the restaurant when it opened at 11AM, the next seating time available for lunch was 2:15PM!!!! So, I took some pictures, looked in the gift shop, and went on my way - knowing that I wouldn't be able to wait another 2 1/2 hours before I ate. (sorry, Mema) The man who wrote the song Moon River was from Savannah - I didn't know that. They have a little restaurant/pub there named Moon River, so I ate lunch there since I love that song! It was fun.

After lunch, I hopped back on a trolley and headed to my car for my next adventure. Savannah is very pretty! My only recommendation is that if you want to actually eat lunch at Paula Deen's restaurant, be at the "host stand" there on Congress St. by at least 9AM!!!! :) (or eat a REALLY late breakfast!)

License Plate Tally: Not too exciting - only 2 new Illinois tags making the grand total 11 so far. On to South Carolina!!