WoW! What a jam packed fun trip. Daryl had to fly out for his usual monthly work trip to the DC area. I was eager to see everyone one last time before the new baby comes and before we have to start paying for a seat for Phoenix (at 2 yrs of age). So, Daryl challenged me if I could find reasonably priced tickets, he'd let me go. Well, bargain hunting is my favorite kind of challenge. I found unbelievable $218 round trip tickets from ABQ to BWI. Flying in to BWI was doable, but would take a bit of extra planning and coordination. But, the price was too good--less than half what he would normally pay. So, Phoenix and I packed our bag!
We got in late and Ry & Sam were gracious enough to agree to pick us up and drive us to Alexandria where we keep our car. We got caught in traffic on the Wilson Bridge, despite the late hour and I felt bad that Sam & Ry didn't get home before midnight and had to get up at 6am the next day! But, I did get to meet Sam and quiz him a bit. By the way, his favorite color is blue.
During the trip we spent several nights at Dad's up at the Holler which was conveniently close to a measurement we had in Middleburg. Laura baby sat Phoenix one whole day while I assisted Daryl with the measurement. She even met me half way at Gilbert's Corner to do the drop! This was the highlight of the trip for me since I haven't done a measurement in a very long time. Daryl and I enjoy that part of our work. Phoenix was a good boy for Laura and got a fun day playing in the pool and bouncing on the trampoline. I had a heck of a surprise when I went to pick him up. I left the Holler and started winding around the country roads in my convertible with the top down (it doesn't have AC). As I came around a corner, I had to slam on my brakes to stop short of hitting the black bear that blocked my path. My screeching tires got his attention and he ran off in the woods. I dug for my camera and got a snapshot and movie of him running off as proof. He's the black mass near the blue gas can in the middle of the woodsy picture with the blue car.
We spent the weekend visiting. Dad had a cookout at his place which stood in for a father's day party. Carl, Ry, Sam, Buck, Melissa, Joan & Lil Toby all hung out. Carl came early and helped Dad with the scape (see John Deer shot). I told Dad his present was my ticket out. But, I assisted Toby in making some pastries, too which is pretty impressive considering she spends 10 hours a day in the kitchen making stuff like that! We got to see her kitchen which looks an awful lot like a boat galley. As Tobe and I worked in the kitchen at Dad's house, Phoenix played with her cat, One Eyed Jack. He was pointing to the cat and saying something over and over. As I approached, I figured out what it was, "cat broke...cat broke...cat broke..." You see, One Eyed Jack actually only has one eye and this seemed to perplex Phoenix. It made us laugh, though. Well, maybe not Tobe. Phoenix' vocabulary has exploded lately and Carl got some entertainment teaching him some words we will have to unteach him later. He has a series of words that are already a bit of a public embarrassment which include his words for clock, frog, fork, cockadoodledoo and octopus. It would be easy enough to ignore save his enthusiastic vocal volume and tendency to repeat himself to no end.
The night ended with the traditional game of Poker. It was a nice way to get to know Harrison, Melissa's younger son who joined the game. He had an entertaining style of play but soon got distracted with a party. It was a really fun game and things turned painful quickly at the end. I had a strong chip lead with Daryl close behind. Then in three short hands, Toby took the pot from all of us. First, Toby took a significant bite out of Daryl's chips while she feigned a sleepy/give up look that signaled to all of us that she was done for the night and just playing recklessly. Then, with the most biting play of the night, she booted Dad out of the Father's Day game when he went "all in" on his pocket pair of ACES and lost to her mismatching 3 and 10 that both landed matches on the flop! Ouch. That nearly tied Toby and I up on chips. I decided to press her luck by threatening with an "all-in" on a pair of queens. She called and beat me with a pair of aces. Daryl survived a few more rounds, but that was that. Daryl, Dad and I just stood around stunned at the end of the game.
The next day, we had a quiet morning. The , we finally got to introduce Phoenix to his cousin, Jamie. We visited Nate and Jess in Chantilly and had a fun cookout. Lots of great pics from that day. Jamie just started walking a few weeks prior, so it was a perfect time for the boys to hang out. He's a super smiley kid and Nate and Jess seemed like they were really blossoming as parents (aside from the lack of sleep, which no one survives mentally intact). They really seemed like they had a great team attitude.
We left the cookout after Phoenix woke from a very long nap to swing by Andrea's Dad's house, where Andrea's family was visiting nearby. We had a brief, but good visit. It was heartwarming to see our kids playing together. I took the opportunity to ask them lots of questions about handling two kids and how i might expect things to change as the kids get out of this cute toddler phase. The word "bickering" came up a lot as a thing to watch for. It sounds better than lack of sleep, personally. But, we'll see.
We stayed with Carl that night at his new cool bachelor pad which Daryl really liked. I told Carl Daryl especially liked that the fridge was stocked with a good selection of canned beverages. Carl made a special grocery run to stock some Phoenix-friendly food. Ry joined us for dinner as we tried Mary's delicious Lasagna. Anyway, it was definitely the most baby-proof house! There was lots of room for Uncle Carl and Phoenix to build tents and Carl showed Phoenix PS3 Grand Turismo, which impressed us all, especially Phoenix who wanted to see it again as soon as he woke up in the morning, "drive...car...drive...car..." I love the shot of the four of us sitting in the awkwardly large front entry.
We had more appointments in the Alexandria area. While Daryl conducted meetings, I was able to catch up briefly with Audrey Anne. We quickly covered the highlights, but we've been keeping up on the phone from time to time, so we fell right into our usual conversations that bypass banter and get to the heart of things. It always makes for an interesting conversation as we are nearly opposites in how we approach most things, except that we share a common desire to understand one another and grow beyond our current perspectives.
She drove us to the metro and we began our long journey home. We took the metro to the last stop in Maryland. Took a bus in the rain to BWI airport and took a shuttle to a nearby hotel for a short night. We made the most of it by hitting the hotel pool and enjoying a nearby restaurant. It was a totally mod suite at the Hyatt Place which I snagged on Hotwire for a mere $60! Wish we could have enjoyed it longer, but had to leave at 4:30am for our redeye flight. Travel was relatively uneventful except for one mean travel agent.
We were glad to get home. But, the drama started the next day. We thought we had one day to rest in between our flight to DC and our trip to Oregon, but I mixed up the departure date and we missed our flight out altogether! It was disappointing, but we were able to cancel the tickets and recoup full value of the tickets which we applied to new tickets in a couple of weeks. It was surely a subconscious cry for a break from travel. And, now we'll get to celebrate the Fourth of July with the Oregonians!
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