Wednesday, October 13, 2010

A Great Way to End it All

No, no...I didn't meant that! I just meant that today was the perfect way to end a perfect long weekend.

GFErnie.jpg  (102657 bytes)Can any day be bad if it starts out with people wanting to read your blog? Of course now that I know who's reading it from time to time I'll have to be more careful about what I write.

[NOTE TO SELF: No more disparaging remarks about Ernie!]

We had spent the night at Ernie & Lucille's house, along with Alice Nan and Joe and in the morning, Ernie fired up the waffle iron and made waffles for us all, which were delicious.

Alice and Joe are spending another night, so they had the day to explore and decided to use our 2-day tickets to the Newseum, so they headed off on the Metro.

In truth, I would have been perfectly fine just lounging around the house until time to go to the airport, but Lucille, the consummate hostess, made suggestions for how we could fit in a bit more sightseeing in our weekend. We talked about borrowing their car and going to Gettysburg or going to see the National Zoo, but a trip to Great Falls sounded like something nice to do on a beautiful day, so we did that.

In 1954, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas responded to a Washington Post editorial recommending that the Cumberland and Ohio Canal be turned into a parkway. Douglass agreed and wrote, "It is a sanctuary for everyone who loves woods -- a sanctuary that would be utterly destroyed by a fine two-lane highway." And so a national park was born, and it was as beautiful as Lucille promised.

I, of course, am always put off by the words "It's a bit of a hike..." but I'm game to give it the old college try and I was rewarded for my efforts with some really spectacular scenery.

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At one point we turned off the path and went to a series of bridges that gave you the Great Falls Overlook.

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We eventually headed back to the car and home to get our bags, where we were a little concerned to see a woman with a toddler in one hand and a chain saw in the other. I don't know about these Maryland people. But maybe I've been reading too many crime dramas lately!

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After giving us food to hold us for the journey, Ernie and Lucille drove us out to Dulles Airport. We were delighted to discover no crowds anywhere, so we zipped through security and out to the gate. Unfortunately, when we got there I discovered I'd lost my iTouch. I called Lucille, who was still in the car headed back to their house, and it had fallen out of my purse and was on the back seat, so I haven't lost it, but wouldn't you know that the one time I didn't have my iTouch with me would be the time that I had the seat with no reading light and I couldn't read the book I bought. Fortunately, I am never without a backup, so I listened to a book instead of reading one.

The flight was uneventful and we arrived safely. I want to get photos organized and posted to Flickr, but I have to be on the road by 9:00 in the morning for my next unusual adventure, and as it is nearly 1 a.m. California time (4 a.m. DC time), I'd better get some sleep because I'm going to be driving all day long.

2 comments:

cd0103 said...

As great a story it makes to talk about the toddler with the chain saw, that looks remarkably like a leaf blower in her right hand. :-)

Bev Sykes said...

Too bad. It was such a good story the other way!