Monday, April 20, 2009

We Made it to the DC Area

Well, I think it was pretty obvious today that we are not big travelers and that we are from a small town. It was so nice to be part of the excitement and newness of several different experiences for the kids today!

Both kids have flown before, but it has been at least three years so Basia has no recollection. We were sitting still in the plane and had not even backed away from the gate when Basia asked if we were flying yet--and she had a window seat!

Once the plane started moving, she was sooooo excited! The amazing thing I noticed about the kids at their current ages was that they each carried their own backpack and pulled along their own suitcase. We did still carry along Basia's booster seat, but it was so much easier than those days when we had to carry a kid, a car seat, a diaper bag, and about everything we owned.

We made it to Baltimore and got to ride a city bus to the Metro. Again, Basia was giddy with excitement. None of the other passengers seemed quite so excited to ride the bus. Then came the Metro. It was more fun and excitement (and confusion for a while as we tried to figure out how to buy a ticket, how to put the ticket in the slot the correct way, which direction we were going, how to get 2 parents plus 2 kids plus 4 backpacks plus 4 suitcases plus a car seat in the doors before they closed on us, not to mention sitting down before it lurched ahead). We noticed the other Metro riders were traveling a bit lighter than we were for some reason. Once we got to the Metro station in Silver Spring, we got to call the shuttle. Basia even enjoyed that ride.

We checked into the room, which is excitingly on the 15th floor, and then took a walk around downtown Silver Spring, looking for food and hoping to find a place to buy some fresh fruit and other provisions for our stay. We ate at a Lebanese restaurant for our first meal away from home (we packed a lunch), and we all enjoyed it and left well fed.

After a good night of sleep, Jon will start his meetings. The kids and I will walk down to the nearest Metro station, where we will no longer be confused at all, on our way to our first day at the Smithsonian museums. I'm thinking that we will start with Air and Space.

3 comments:

Robin said...

How exciting! I can just hear Basia as the plane started to move! What an awesome experience for them! Have a great day, and keep us posted on the happenings!

Maryanne Daves said...

What wonderful memories and adventure. I am so happy for you. Enjoy and take it all in. You can rest when you get home.

Maryanne Daves said...

I only lost the dogs once! Of course, I had Camden too and so that made it interesting. All is well and we have 4 dogs back in our abode.

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