The Best Vacation Ever . . . Warning: really long post

Norfolk Virginia

On Wednesday we drove to Norfolk Virginia. Technically we went to Suffolk first, I had the wrong directions. But thanks to Al's GPS we eventually made it. And might I add that Al loved being in the middle of my back seat. Super comfortable. Upon arrival we walked around Marie's neighborhood. There were a lot of really neat old churches and some cute shops. We went to a really cool pizza place for dinner. It was yummy too. It rained on us on the way home. I love walking in the rain. It always makes me melancholy for my Malaysia.

Thursday we went to the Beach, where it also rained on us. Bummer dude. So we just walked the boardwalk. Maci was our little shopper. We were having so much fun together. We didn't even mind that the weather wasn't on our side. We ate lunch at this great sandwich place. After the beach we took about three hours to get ready. I was always last to shower, cause I don't take care of myself. It was fun to share a bathroom with six girls and all do our hair together. That night we went to the Botanical Gardens. They were so GORGEOUS. It's just like the hugest most beautiful park ever. I couldn't believe my eyes. Right before bed we all roped each other into playing with our hair. Ali had to do double duty and didn't get any in return, poor girl. Heidi kept complaining about my rub down, but her hair was just too curly.

Friday was my favorite day. We woke up as early as we could (9:30) and got ready for the beach. This time the weather cooperated. Some of us were too prissy to have fun, Maci, but the rest of us had a blast. We were famous for doing this in high school - we would get one raft and try to fit all six of us on it at the rez. We actually are semi-pro. So we upped our challenge, at the beach there were waves and boy were we riding them. We could only ever get four at a time, but by the end of the day Ali, Marie, and I were pretty darn good. We went out so far in such big waves that the lifeguard started yelling at us. We were all going to ignore her but Marie was too responsible. One time I held on to Al's butt checks for dear life, after she drowned me in salt water. The waves were really thrashing us around, and I was laying on poor Ali and she couldn't get out of the water for like two full minutes. It was so fun. Just like old times.

Washington DC

We didn't get back to DC until late Friday night, but that didn't stop us from hitting the town. Marie brought five bikes for us to ride, I have two. So we were set. (I was an AMAZING tour guide and got all my friends lost in the middle of the city at 2 a.m. on bikes. Oh, and I almost killed them with my inability to adhere to traffic laws. Apparently, red means go and parking in the middle of a turn lane against oncoming traffic is frowned upon.) Ha ha Ali you are so funny! She must have wrote that while I left my computer unattended. Anyway, Maci's friend Mike flew in from Connecticut so we met up with him and were off. We were quite the sight. I was consistently a couple blocks ahead of the gang, they were slow! But we eventually made it to Abe. As Al said, it's pretty humbling to stand in his presence. After Lincoln we headed to the FDR memorial. Which is really quite interpretive. I thought I did a good job of explaining each room, which represents each term he served. Then we headed to Jefferson's monument. His quotes are my favorite. Very bright man. Next was the Washington Monument. We all laid down and looked up at it. Then we hit up the WWII memorial. I'm still trying to figure out the order of the states on that monument. Last we headed to the White House. Too bad I didn't realize how close they were. I knew the Pres lived on Pennsylvania and so we biked all the way up to G and then turned right, little did I know Penn was next. Within minutes we were touring George Washington University. And apparently everyone had a run in with a huge rat. That's city life. Well, after asking a bunch of drunkards for directions we finally made it to the White House. That wrapped up our night. Except for Mac and I. We took Mike home and almost witnessed a late night stabbing, and that was in the nice part of town! By 4:00 we were all in bed. I'm totally thrown off now.

We slept till about 11:00 the next day, and then took a couple hours to get ready. But once we were all dolled up we headed out for an Indian Buffet. Marie and Ali thought it was a little too spicy. But Heidi and I loved being reminded of our lovely South East Asia. After lunch we had to drop Heidi off at the airport. We were sad to see her go. But her mission President was having his homecoming on Sunday so she had to go. Next we went to Mount Vernon. I don't think my friends were super impressed, but I love it. So much history. Last stop was Arlington Cemetery. That is a moving experience. There are just so many white headstones, that stretch on and on forever. We made it just in time for the changing of the guard. That always makes me so sad, to think of soldiers who have gone on unknown. I always just picture 13-year-old Civil War soldiers. Fighting for our country. What great men. Before the night was over we hit up the mall for some pedicures. Mike was a champ and even got one himself. The girls all bought I(heart)DC T-shirts. And to close out the night we played a close game of Ticket to Ride. Al and I love that game. And we had the expansion pack.

Sunday we slept in real late and then stayed in our pajamas for a couple more games of Ticket to Ride. I was wompin on everyone and they were getting pretty mad. So the next time we played it their whole goal was to make me loose and Maci did a really good job at that. Well, Marie left in the afternoon and then Maci, Jen, Ali, and I finally got ready for the day. We headed out at about 5:00. We went to see the temple and then hit up Chinatown for some burgers, that should be a sin but Ali doesn't like Chinese. Here the girls had their real city experience. This bum begged us for money so I gave him a couple bucks and then an hour later we ran into him again and he told us how beautiful we are. We were thanking him politely and walking away when he asked Jen for a kiss and leaned in close. It was so funny. Poor Ali was a little scared. But like I said, that's the city. Before we went to bed we played one more game of Ticket to Ride and even fit in Scrabble.

Monday morning I drove Ali to BWI, then Maci, Jen and I went back downtown to snap some day pictures of Lincoln and the White House. We made a couple hour stop at the Zoo. I love the Zoo. I think it has to be the greatest one on Earth. Then for our last meal together we went out for some Sushi. It was yummy and we got really full. But before they left I had to get in one more game of Ticket to Ride. Ben skunked us and I lost for real. They were pretty satisfied.

So there you have it, the greatest Vacation Ever. I'm sad to see them go. But I'm excited to see them all again at Christmas. And hopefully we'll be able to add more friends to the crowd. We missed you Shar and Carolyn.