Shuttles, Trains, and Automobiles

There's a first time for everything, right? One of my friends from the hospital in Dallas and her husband moved to Richmond, VA, last year, and they just moved into their new house last weekend. She invited me for a visit to see their new home, and she suggested that I try using Amtrak instead of driving to save money. So, after much internet research on the local shuttle buses, Metro, and Amtrak, I bought a ticket and packed my bag.

I left my apartment with plenty of time to spare Tuesday morning to catch the local shuttle that would drop me off at the closest Metro station. After a couple of Metro trains, I ended up at the Union Station in DC. I'm a little paranoid about punctuality and being late - have been all my life. For me, on time is what other's consider about 10 minutes early. Well, I overshot that by about 2 hours Tuesday morning! Yep, I arrived at Union station 1 1/2 hours before my train was scheduled to leave . . . about 2 hours before it actually left. (Little did I know that Amtrak has the opposite problem of punctuality . . . in that they aren't!) Oh well.

I don't remember visiting Union Station in DC before. Once I printed out my boarding passes and found where I would board the train, I decided to meander through the station. One of my friends had told me about it a few days before I went, but it still blew my mind at the grandeur of it all!!






Of course, I HAD to get a picture of the station clock! :-) (perhaps some of the people in charge should pay attention to this informative piece of art) I digress . . . ALL of those statues appear to be life-size, and there are probably a hundred of them all around the foyer. I loved all the skylights and windows there. It really opened up the space. The front area had some specialty shops with unique artifacts from different countries. Between the grand entrance and the trains was a small mall. It was pretty amazing.


We did finally board the train, and they actually shouted "All aboard!" :-) How fun is that?!? I've never traveled by train before, so this was a fun adventure for me. Thankfully, I got a window seat so I could watch the scenery. Our 1st stop was in Alexandria where I got a great shot of the Mason's Lodge. (or whatever it's called)

Our next stop was in Fredricksburg, but I could get a good picture with all the trees outside my window. It looked very quaint. Next, we had a stop at Quantico where I took a quick picture for my Sean-Sean.

It seems like there was one more stop before Richmond, but I can't think of what it was right now. There were some beautiful "doll house" homes in a town called Ashland. I tried to get pictures of them, but we were going too fast for the pictures to turn out. I'll have to remember to go back there sometime!

We arrived in Richmond about 20 minutes after when we were scheduled to arrive, so my friend was there waiting. Bless her heart! We had such a great visit - sharing everything from war stories from work (she's also a NICU nurse) to overseas travel. She also took me on a driving tour through downtown Richmond. It's a really nice city - and VERY small (especially for being the capital of VA). We talked non-stop, catching up on each other's lives. Needless to say, we didn't get one single box unpacked!!!!

A pretty lake we crossed on our return trip to DC

York dropped me back at the local train station this afternoon for my homeward bound adventure. Well, (no surprise here) the train was about an hour late. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem for me on my day off. An annoyance, yes, but a problem, no. Well, in my "great planning" of the trip, I decided to take the shuttle from my apartment to the Metro station like I said before. The problem arises in the fact that the shuttle only runs during rush hours (granted, up here that means between 3PM & 7:30PM for the evening runs). I had timed my return train ride to arrive in DC by 5PM, getting me to my Metro station to pick up the shuttle by around 5:30PM. Even if the train was a little late, I still had until 7:05PM to get to the last shuttle. (I'm sure you can see where this is going.) With my train being an hour late, I missed the last shuttle. Great . . . stranded at the Metro station as it's starting to get dark.

Thankfully, the night before I left, God prompted me to go get a little more cash to take on my trip. I didn't think I'd need it, but I went ahead and found the ATM. Yay, GOD! Once again, He's taking care of me in all my little adventures!! After wandering around the Metro station for a little bit, I found the taxi line, and a nice man from Ghana gave me a rather expensive ride back to my apartment. No complaints; I got home!! (and that extra cash came in VERY handy!!)

All in all, it was a great trip. Next time, I probably will try to get an earlier return trip in case it's delayed again. Maybe I'll even try a longer trip sometime. The only draw back for riding a train is that I can't sing along with my music without getting some strange looks from those around me! :-) I'm so used to being alone in my car and belting it out whenever the mood strikes that I had to keep catching myself while on the train - especially at the particularly moving or exciting parts of a song.

Moral of the story . . . if you have a LOT of free time to travel to a destination and if you love pretty scenery, I highly recommend taking a train! Have a great day!!

Amazing Weather Day

In case you don't follow the Northern Virginia/DC weather (which, why would you since you don't live here?) :), today was completely uncharacteristic for this time of year! I'm not sure if it even reached the 80's!! Thankfully, I had the day off and decided to take full advantage of the beautiful weather . . . yeah, I went back to the District to sight see. :~)

When I was working up here last summer, the statue on top of the Capitol dome was being worked on, so it had scaffolding all around . . . not great for pictures. I noticed that the scaffolding was gone when I was there a couple of weeks ago, so I went to that end of the Mall to get a couple of pictures. Some of them actually came out okay.

From there, I started back towards the White House. It wasn't long before I stumbled upon the National Gallery of Art. I've never been in there (at least that I remember), so I went. Some of it wasn't exactly my taste (I'm more into the classics than modern art for the most part), but there were several rooms that I just sat down in to admire the talent. Amazingly enough, they allowed photography in a few of the areas. Here is a little peak into the gallery:

One of the cool things in the classic area was that an artist was there with his canvas, easel, and brushes recreating one of Monet's pieces. He's very talented, and I enjoyed watching him for a while. It reminded me of watching some painters on PBS (i.e. Bob Ross & Gary Jenkins) with my dad growing up. People amaze me with their natural artistic abilities!

After leaving the gallery, I was on Pennsylvania Ave., and I was hungry!! Thankfully, there are several places to eat along that road. (horray for Potbelly Sandwich Works!) After getting a full tummy, I continued on my way past the F.B.I. building. I love that they always have beautiful flags lining the outside of their building. Seeing all of them brings such a sense of patriotism.

Aren't they pretty in the sunlight?

Just past the White House on the west side is one of the smaller of the Smithsonian's called the Renwick Gallery. It has "unique jewelry". At least that's how they advertise it, and never was a truer statement made. It seemed (at least to me) to be jewelry for looking at and not for wearing. It looked most uncomfortable! Unfortunately, more for this next part than for the jewelry, I wasn't allowed to take pictures in this gallery. On the 2nd floor, there is what appears to be a grandfather clock covered with a white sheet - like they used to do when someone in the house/family passed away. For those of you who know about my clock obsession, this piece fascinated me! I actually read the sign that went with it! (I know, don't pass out on me, mom) :) As it turns out, it's not really a clock, but a piece of wood carved to look like a grandfather clock covered with a sheet. ALL of it was carved out of just one piece of wood!! Even standing inches away from it, I couldn't tell that the "sheet" was really wood - the curves and wrinkles were so real looking. Absolutely amazing! Apparently, this artist has an entire collection of art with clocks as the theme. Something I'll need to look into.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

Dancin' with Dad :-)

Dad's are SO important, and they completely deserve to be celebrated! Unfortunately, I'm not able to spend the day with my dad today since I'm living in Virginia. They're having bar-b-q with the family this afternoon, which sounds WONDERFUL!!

I'm so blessed to have a Godly, loving dad. I know I don't even realize how blessed I am because I've never had anything but this. So, if you're a dad, thank you for ALL that you do to care for your children and lead them "in the way they should go." If you're not a dad, I hope you find a special way to celebrate your dad or father figure today.

Here are some of the important "fathers" in my life:

P.S. I don't have a picture of my Grandaddy on my computer so I could put it in the slide show, but I'm so grateful for him! I've been blessed to have 3 wonderful grandpas my entire life! :-)

Guilty Pleasures :)

Today turned out to be a day of self indulgence! After a quick trip to the post office this morning, I set out to find a coffee shop for a yummy, Saturday morning treat. Much to my joy, there are SEVERAL Caribou Coffee places near my apartment!! :-)

Along with delicious coffee, they serve a cinnamon roll muffin . . . and yes, it's so good it's sinful!!!! It basically consists of 3 small cinnamon rolls fused together on top of a cinnamon muffin base. YUM doesn't begin to describe that phenomenon!!!! Since the weather was so nice this morning, I sat outside with my coffee, muffin, and a book that my friend mailed to me this week. What a great way to spend a couple of hours!

After a little while, I decided to walk around the area to see what stores were in that shopping center. It's like an outdoor mall similar to one that opened in Garland just before I left Texas a couple of years ago. Window shopping is fun, and it's always nice to see new stores and what they have to offer.

When I got hot, I came back home, cleaned a little around here, and then headed to my friends' house for a visit. There is a restaurant near them that serves the closest thing to Tex-Mex that we've found outside of the Friendly State. So, we frequent this place! (great supreme nachos!!!!) The kiddos were SO much bigger than I remember. Yeah, I realize that happens, but it always surprises me to see how much they grow in just a year. :)

After supper, we went back to the house and played/visited for a while. The kids put blankets on their backs and transformed into Super Sarah and Super Ethan. (although Ethan removed his cape before I was able to get my camera) They're SO cute! I love being able to visit with them more while I'm in Virginia again.

So, to complete my day of indulgence, I'm having ice cream while watching some baseball. Doesn't get much better than that! I hope you're having an exceptional weekend, too! :-)

Opening Day for Tourist Season . . .

at least for me! :-) I had planned to go to the National Aquarium in Baltimore this afternoon after church, but the weather was just TOO pretty to be cooped up in a building - even a building filled with enormously, fun fish tanks. So, I instead caught the closest Metro train and went back to downtown DC. Amazingly enough, each time I go there I see something new (as well as some old favorites).

Mandy, this one's for YOU!! :-)

I went by the Red Cross Building, which is dedicated to the "women of the Civil War" (a.k.a. the nurses). Yay Nurses!! I ended up going to the art museum on the Mall, and then came back home.

For some reason, lampposts fascinate me - especially ornate ones. I noticed this one day last summer while walking around downtown. I asked one of my friends if it's weird to be focusing on them while surrounded by such things as our nation's Capitol, the White House, the Washington Monument, etc. I was told (& this is pretty much a direct quote), "Well, Jenn, I wouldn't say it's normal." Too funny!! I know it's strange, but it amazes me that they put so much thought into the lampposts along the street or fences surrounding buildings. So, to share this fascination of mine, I've made a slide show of the ones I saw today - at least the pretty ones.

Finally, I couldn't resist snapping a picture of this stranger who found the "DC cool zone"! (like at Six Flags with all the spritzers)

This was at the art museum I went to. There's a fountain in the middle of the circular building, and it became a spritzer when the wind hit the water just right.

Mi casa es su casa!

I took a few pictures of my new apartment the other day after 'tidying up' a little. :) Now that I have functioning internet service, I am able to actually upload the picture slideshow. Enjoy!!

Unexpected Visitors

So, we have these Canadian Geese that are hanging out around here - swimming in the lakes, squawking (what exactly does a goose say anyway?), and pooping everywhere. I keep expecting them to head on back north. After all, I think it got close to the 90's today . . . WAY hotter than I'd think they're used to up in the frigid land called Canada.

Anyways, Wednesday night during all the storms, I was sitting at my dining room table doing some orientation paperwork while watching the sky for that all-telling green color we all know and fear. (it didn't come to the sky at my apartment thankfully!) I was lost in concentration - or day dreaming - when something caught my eye. It was a gaggle of gees on my patio!! I grabbed my camera and quickly took a picture as they were looking into my dining room at me. A couple of the brave ones came right up to the screen door. Too cute!

I went back to what I was doing, and they went on their way. Then, about 20 minutes later, back they came with their friends and family. I couldn't get a good picture of the big group since they were running by - probably to get back to their home as the storm was picking back up again. It just made me laugh that they felt the need to check out the new kid in the neighborhood. The babies are pretty big, but their wings aren't that big yet. I'm not sure what the prerequisites for flying back to Canada are, but they'll be cute to watch until they have to leave. I only wish they'd have the courtesy to NOT poop on my patio!! :~) It's kinda gross.

By the way, I have taken several pictures of my new apartment . . . too many to post individually on here. So, I'm trying to get a 'blog slideshow' made (stealing the idea from my blogging cohorts out there). The only problem is that with my TOTALLY unreliable and weak internet service right now, it's not working. I should be able to use the new service starting this weekend, so you can check back next week some time if you want to see my new digs.

I hope you have a terrific weekend!!

Road Trip . . . In a Nut Shell

After much ado, we reached Fairfax, VA, on Saturday afternoon around lunchtime. YEA!! My dad was able to take off a couple of days to help me with the trip up here and the unloading of 'Roony' (always a difficult chore). THANK YOU!!!! I can't put into words how nice it was to have someone to share the driving with . . . not to mention having someone to unload my car for me!

We left the metropolis of Noonday, Texas, :) Thursday morning for our "final destination" (at least that day) of Birmingham, AL. We arrived just in time to get to the ballpark and watch the Barons play some ball. It was a pretty close game which is always fun. When we pulled into the parking lot, we saw the Drumstick ice cream truck. They were giving away FREE ice cream!! :D Needless to say, we got one. (I know, I know . . . dessert before supper.) We did get some supper later.

Much to my joy, this ballpark had the baseball helmet ice cream cups. Since I'd just eaten a drumstick, I asked the man if I could just buy the cups. He said yes, which made me very happy!

Friday morning, we started out on our LONG drive day. It wasn't supposed be longer than Thursday, but we got to sit in some traffic a couple of places. Oh well, part of the road trip fun! :) When we arrived in Georgia, we stopped at the welcome center to pick up our Georgia state map. Little did we know it was Georgia On My Mind Day. This means that vendors from hotels and attractions were set up at all the welcome centers giving away free stuff. (If you're a nurse, you understand my utter excitement when I saw all the free pens!!!!) We spent more time than we'd planned looking around there, but it was fun and nice to walk around a little . . . you know, break up the monotony of driving halfway across the country.

After spending a few hours enjoying the roads of Georgia, we passed the South Carolina State Line. South Carolina wasn't having any special event, so we just picked up our map and went on our way. Starting just east of Birmingham that morning, we started noticing that the number of Cracker Barrel restaurants were increasing exponentially. By the time we hit South Carolina that afternoon, we were seeing them about every 10-15 miles!! Unbelievable!!!!

Moral of the story: If you're ever in need of several Cracker Barrel restaurants in a small area, go drive on I-20 east of Birmingham and I-85 north of Atlanta!

Finally, later that afternoon, we made it to North Carolina. Durham was our "final destination" for Friday in the hopes that we'd get to watch the Durham Bulls play that evening. Well, due to the aforementioned traffic delays, we didn't hit Durham until too late to watch the game. Instead, we walked around Target for a little while, got some supper, and went back to the hotel to rest up for the final day of travel on Saturday.

It only took a couple of hours to get to the Virginia state line after leaving Durham Saturday morning.

Of course, we stopped at the welcome center to get our state map, and then we continued north to complete our journey. Inside the center, they had the cutest benches with the state of Virginia on the back, so I snapped a quick picture. :)

It was only about an hour, maybe an hour & a half, to reach Richmond, VA, the place where we joined the other travelers on the ever-dreaded I-95!! (hearing panicked screams in the background . . .) MUCH to my surprise (and GREAT JOY), there wasn't much traffic along the road. In reality, for that area, I wouldn't even consider it a little trafficky - just normal driving. What a blessing!! When I took this route (going in the opposite direction) last year leaving the DC area, the ~90 miles from DC to Richmond took me around 4 hours!! So, needless to say, this was the part of the trip I dreaded most. Once again, God took care of the details and got us to the apartment complex, checked in, and inside my apartment just in time before the complete deluge of rain that started about 5 minutes after we closed the door to my apartment! (I'm not kidding . . . the creek behind my apartment was dry one minute and then rushing with about a foot deep of water the next!!) It was a quick storm, though, so it didn't really delay us in moving my stuff into the apartment.

Later last night, we did some exploring to find where my grocery store, Target (yes, knowing where my closest Target is located constitutes a necessity) :), and hospital were located. This morning, we got to go back to my church. I absolutely fell in love with this church when I lived up here during my first 2 contracts back in 2006. I was able to get involved there again last summer while I was living in the area for a few months, and I'm looking forward to jumping back in with both feet this time! :D

After church, we went to lunch, and then did a little more exploring of the area. We weren't looking for anything in particular today, just seeing what's around here. Then, I had to drop my dad off at the airport so he could get back to Texas and work this week. So, I've been sitting out on my patio (the place I get the best signal on my phone & computer oddly enough) enjoying the weather and the squirrels playing most of the evening. I can't get over how nice and cool the weather is here!!

I have a few more things to unpack and clean up in my apartment, and then I'll take some pictures of it and the view out my back patio to post. It's an amazing area! I hope you had a terrific weekend and that this will be a great week for you! Please keep me in your prayers as I learn a new hosptial/NICU . . . always a challenge! Thank you! :~)