Dan left for The Basic School back in June and we did not get to see each other for close to 100 days (we liked to joke that we didn't get to see each other for a quarter of a year)! So needless to say I was very excited to finally get on a plane and see him. I was also pretty pumped to do the tourist thing while we were there because I'm a history nerd and seeing all the monuments and the Smithsonian museums was quite a draw for me too.
But first I had to get there. My flight was originally supposed to leave out of Des Moines at 11 am Friday, but I got an email from Delta saying that I got bumped up to the 6 am flight instead! Now, I'm a morning person but having to wake up at 3:30 in the morning to make a flight that takes off before the sun is a wee bit ridiculous! So I showed up in my pajamas and without makeup and made it through security (but not without getting a pat-down first for forgetting to take something liquid filled out of my purse...gotta loved getting felt up at 4:30 in the morning!). I landed in Memphis around 7:45 am and thus began my hate/hate relationship with the Memphis International Airport. I had a seven hour layover (they bumped up my first flight, but not the second) so I hunkered down in the gate waiting area and started watching movies on Netflix...thank god I chose to bring my computer with me! (Side note: if you want some really good BBQ and Elvis souvenirs, go to the Memphis airport, otherwise...don't go there).
What felt like ages later, I was finally on a plane bound for DC! It was really cool flying into DC and seeing all the monuments from the air and I was really starting to get excited to get off the plane. Not before we had a super rough landing, however. The girl next to me ended up practically in my lap as we landed and then a second later, I was in hers....awkward. Good thing she had taken a Valium before taking off, otherwise she would have been an unhappy camper :). I finally was off the plane, claimed my checked bag and waited ever so patiently to be picked up. Dan's truck was not running, so thankfully his friend let him borrow his car for the weekend as he was flying out to go home over Labor Day too.
We finally made it to the hotel and we were both pretty exhausted (Dan had been in the field the four days leading up to the weekend, and traveling for over twelve hours apparently takes it out of a girl), so we ordered room service and pretty much passed out.
The next day, I made Dan take me to IKEA (can't pass it up when in the vicinity) and lets just say, he is not an IKEA kind of guy :). I only bought a few small things just because I had to pack them in my suitcase to take back to Iowa, otherwise I would've gone hog wild and bought the whole damn store. We hung out the rest of the afternoon, and tried to come up with a game plan for sightseeing the next day. That night, we met up with one of Dan's buddies whose girlfriend was also in town for the weekend and we had some bar food and got to experience the price difference in drinks between the East coast and the Midwest. It was nice to hang out with another girl who knew what "fun" it is to date a Marine ;) We came back to the hotel and Dan ate the rest of my chicken wrap (jerk!) and then decided he needed to chew some gum for minty fresh breath and then promptly passed out...with the gum still in his mouth! I woke up the next morning to find a chunk of gum securely stuck in my hair! There was no way it was coming out and Dan had to cut it out with his pocket knife :(
I was SO mad
After an unexpected haircut, Sunday was dedicated to seeing the sights and being tourists. Lots of pictures on the way!
The capital building
Washington monument from far away...I took lots of pictures of the Washington monument for some reason.
Attempt #1 at a picture together, I think it's impossible for us to get a really good picture together...we can't stay serious long enough!
Geekin' out
Civil War Relics at the Smithsonian: A real horse, cavalry jacket, some spear things Dan made me take a picture of...
Abe Lincoln's hat he wore the night he was shot, death mask made after he died
Kermit!
Near and dear to my heart: Dorothy's ruby slippers
Washington monument: as seen from the Lincoln Memorial, from WWII memorial, and up close (I told you I took a lot of pictures of it!)
White House, Korean War Memorial, Jefferson Monument
Vietnam Memorial
WWII Memorial
Being tourists at the WWII memorial and attempt #2 at a picture together..fail
Honest Abe
Looking across the National Mall towards the Lincoln Memorial
Oofta, that was a lot of pictures and me looking like a complete tourist. I really wanted to run in the Reflection Pool a la Forrest and Jenny, but it was seriously disgusting. Like the ducks were pooping in it and the water was green and nasty. So we decided to skip that haha. By then end of seeing all the monuments and going through only ONE of the ten Smithsonian museums, we were pooped! It was time to relax back at the hotel and enjoy our last night together...it was crazy how fast the time flew by!
Monday (Labor Day) was my last day in DC but my flight didn't leave until around five so we slept in and got McDonald's for breakfast, (Another side note: people on the East coast are RUDE...like dude, it was FIVE CENTS, get over it!) and pretty much hung out. Around one, we checked out of the hotel and went to the airport to pick up Dan's friend who lent us his car for the weekend, got some lunch and hung out in a "trendy" (Dan's words) neighborhood of DC until it was time to head back to the airport.
Our goodbye was short and sweet, as we were in a drop-off zone and I'm sure Dan didn't want to seem too sappy in front of his friends ;) I checked in and went through security without a pat-down and waited until it was time to board. (Yet another side note: Why is it $25 to check a bag when flying within the US but its free to check a bag when flying out of the country?!? Shouldn't it be the other way around???) This time there was no seven hour layover in Memphis, the exact opposite actually...only 30 minutes. I was kind of worried that I wouldn't make it in time, but my gates were literally 100 feet from each other (I found this out during my layover while waiting the first time). We landed in Memphis and I got to the gate just as they were announcing that there was going to be a two hour delay due to faulty AC on our plane...BOO. It ended up not being able to be fixed and my flight got delayed another hour, and we didn't take off until around ten (an hour after I was supposed to already be home!) I ended getting back to Ankeny a little before midnight...needless to say I was not looking forward to being at work at 7:30 the next morning!
So there is my trip to DC in a (long) nutshell. Here's one last picture from the trip:
Dan gave me this picture frame full of pictures because he knew all my pictures and frames were destroyed in the fire and that my new apartment would need some pictures for the walls. I guess this makes up for the gum in the hair...maybe :)
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