{ written Thursday, 9/8…I didn’t have internet access that day, so I couldn’t post it online in time! }
Last night we ended up polishing off a bottle, or two, of wine, and headed out on the town. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts at trying to find an 18+ club, we headed back to 14th Street. We ended up at a chill bar called McKenna’s and just hung out together until about 3 AM. Once back at Rachel’s, we took over her apartment, and even made her kitchen into a bedroom (sorry Rach). It ended up being a super late night, and by the time I had to wake up (wow, I can’t believe that was only this morning!), I had only gotten about two and a half hours of sleep. We said goodbye to Samboy, once again, and then we were on our way out of the city.
I had the fortune of having the first driving shift. I was a bit delirious and “dehydrated”, but with my Terra chips in hand, things started to look up. After about an hour and a half into the drive, we stopped for food and a bathroom break. Of course, I had a very nutritious breakfast–a TCBY yogurt with chocolate sprinkles, and some Burger King hash browns. Mmm. Cerian then took control of Mariah (for those of you who are unfamiliar, this is the name of our beautiful vehicle), and I dozed on and off in the passenger seat. We made two more stops where we fueled up and I got yet another nutritious meal–an oreo sundae and fries, and then I hopped in the driver’s seat for the remaining two and a half hours. When there wasn’t a downpour of rain, there was incessant traffic. It was not ideal. After what seemed like forever, we pulled up to Kelso’s beautiful, Asian-flair home on Belmont Bay in Virginia. Her friend, Jill, met us the house and we all headed to the metro station.
We rolled up to D.C. around 4 PM, excited to see the sites (the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the World World II Memorial, the Washington Monument). Unfortunately, rain, thunder, and lightening also had D.C. in their to-do lists. We attempted to keep dry under umbrellas and way too thin raincoats, but quickly realized it was a lost cause. Ultimately, we gave into the rain and spent the next few hours getting soaked and snapping some photos. Mid-picture I got stung or bit by some rude creature, and boy was it painful. Weirdly, it still hurts now, but I have no idea what the culprit was. To add to it all, Cerian’s ear was really bothering her and she felt extremely faint. So, around 8 PM we headed back to the parking lot to take Mariah back to Kelso’s. Funny thing was, we couldn’t exactly locate her. We thought she was trying to play a game of hide-and-seek (she can be real cheeky like that), but after about 15 minutes of trying to find her, we had had enough of her shenanigans. Luckily, James ended up finding her, and we piled in.
Once back at Kelso’s her mom and brother, Kyle, greeted us with a 7 layer dip, chicken wings, and salmon. We got to talking about our summer, how we all met, traveling, and our lives (particularly our love lives…). Kelso’s mom was instantly a hit. Wow, was she a hoot! “Just sayin’…” After hanging out for a couple more hours, I wished I had more time left with Kelso and her family. But, North Carolina and Allie Audet await us! Tomorrow we plan to wake up around 8:30 AM and head out before 10 AM. Although it will add about an hour onto our drive, we’re going to take the scenic route and cruise along Skyline Drive. Bed time for me, night night!
