Hi. I am finally free from the imprisonment of public means of transportation. Who knew it could take a whole EIGHT SOLID hours to make it on an 1-1/2 hour flight from Atlanta to Raegan National in Washington D.C. The trip was meant to be fast and family-filled. One side of my mom’s family all reside in the D.C./Virginia area. We had to go up for a Friday funeral, left Thursday morning and were set to come home early this morning. Well let me just tell ya…

We left Atlanta on-time. Perfect, I thought. I’ve always felt once you pushed back from the gate and were airborne you were good. The factors of delay are completely out of the picture, right? I mean you have to come down out of the air. So we were set…One hour in. Yay, only 30 minutes left. The captain comes on the loud speaker to tell us passengers that we have been given a “holding pattern”? What? We basically float around in the sky aimlessly for 30 minutes. We then are told that the fuel is getting low so if this last much longer we are going to be diverted to Raleigh-Durham. Wait, things sound good, the weather in D.C. might be passing. Nope that was a tease. We are going to be diverted to Norfolk, Virginia. That is one place I have always wanted to explore (sarcasm, though I am sure it is a lovely place), but really?? Not today? We sit in the plane on the runway for about one hour? Still cannot leave for D.C. We are stuck. We finally get a gate, and must deplane. The weather clears in D.C., we are set to re-board. Oh wait, never-mind because now the weather in Norfolk is blowing UP!!!!  The weather is slowly passing, and we are set to re-board again. Oh no…this time the flight crew’s time is almost over. There are no “extra” crew member “floating” around the Norfolk airport to help us out. Hear me out, this place have one restaurant. Praise the Lord, the crew agrees to work overtime, and we make it to D.C. EIGHT hours later. By this time we were just happy to of actually made it.

It was well worth it. The memorial service was really special, but the family time with my cousins was priceless. Especially when Riley, aka Marley (from Marley & Me) greeted us post-service with a grand surprise in the family room and kitchen. A chewed up i-pod, swallowed ear buds, flowers AND vases strewn EVERYWHERE!! Even an eaten platter of cinnamon rolls with lots of remnants scattered amongst the kitchen floor, and evidence (dog fur) across the top of the Viking stove range! It was a priceless moment. Of course “mom of the house” was trying to send him outside before we left, but we complained it was too hot. And who’s i-pod got eaten…the mom of the house. Perfect Riley!

On another note, the architecture in Great Falls and the Falls Church area is fabulous. Lots of beautiful homes, and stunning architecture. Sorry, I have NO pictures to share. My cousins house is historic, and the room we slept in George Washington is said to of slept there twice in his lifetime. It is recorded in historic journals of his. The history in our Nation’s Capital is pretty stunning. If you have not been there for a visit, it should be on the top of your list. And, venture out of the city proper. You will be sure discover lovely land, beautiful homes, enormous trees and fabulous restaurants.

This morning alarms were set for 6am. We get a call, flights cancelled. We are to be rerouted at 3:30pm through Michigan, then Atlanta. One hour on the phone we work it all out. God is good.

Traveling=Not so Glamorous. Time with family=Priceless!

i am loving this Ainsworth-Noah piece i snapped a cell quality picture of last week while at ADAC.

Yesterday. We loaded up the car with all the necessary belongings :: the ipod USB connector, water bottle to beat the heat, cell phones, and off we went to ATL. Yet again. I was there Saturday, the Saturday and Sunday before, and about 20 other times in the past few months. Kind of feels like second nature to hop on I-85, for a quick jaunt over to the BIG city of HOT-lanta.

We luckily managed to dodge all traffic as we scooted all over the city. Why? Wasting time until we took two special girls to rendezvous with a camp friend at the airport.

Our first stop…a late lunch. Can you see the smile on that girls face on the far right?

For those familiar Houston junkie friends of ours, you’ll recognize this outdoor patio and instantly identify the restaurant.

Houston’s is a all-time favorite. Nothing quaint and special about the location, but the food is fabulous. We passed on the spinach-artichoke dip it is not a summer figure friendly dish, but definitely indulged in other scrumptious delights.

You can see it in our smiles…

And afterwards. Shopping at Phipps and Lenox. Then to top it off a quick trip to Bodies :: the exhibition @ Atlantic Station.

The poster does this exhibit NO justice. It is full of fun-filled facts. Like :: We do not yawn due to a lack of oxygen. In fact, scientist do not know why we yawn. AND If all of our muscles worked together in our body we could lift approximately 10 tons. The exhibits are all REAL. Like REAL human bodies donated to the “sciences”. The most fascinating to me was really seeing the intricate details God used as he knit us together one by one. It really puts a look of awe on your face. The high ticket price is worth every single penny.

We gave our visit two thumbs up!

And finally the real reason we drove almost two hours…to pick up  another camper at the airport. These two gals are Colorado camp friends. One from Alabama and one from Texas. The reason the be at the airport…meeting another camp friend from Indiana.

They made a last minute sign (hence the lack of creativity) and decided to try to throughly embarrass their welcomed guest. Unfortunately these two girls beauty required them to keep the sign rolled up the majority of there wait. They unfortunately were receiving request from randos claiming, “I am Mark, I’ll be whoever you want me to be”. Even and old man walked over, while the sign was not visible, saying, ” Who are your hear for? I am looking for somebody here to pick up somebody.” Really? These girls are 17 years old. Come on. People these days. You see it all at the Atlanta airport. All walks of life. All sizes. All heights. and ALL STYLES.

and finally the real Mark arrived. 9:30 PM. It was a long day, but we were entertained by their laughter on the way home.

Now for a side note :: I am taking advantage of every single moment I get to spend with my sweet sister and Mom these days (and Dad, brother, sister-in-law, friends, and extended family). As excited as I am about going to NYC, I will miss seeing there sweet faces whenever I like. Even Birmingham was only a short two hour drive away. My family and friends are a wonderful blessing in my life, and they mean the world the me. With that being said, Mom and I would like to issue a weather advisory in the upcoming weeks. There will be Flash Flood Warnings streaming from the Deep South to the BIG Apple. Why? Tears. Lots of tears. There will be tears of laughter, memories, anxiety, excitement, and fear all wrapped in one car. The BIG stuff will be delivered, but us two are going to spend quality time together road-tripping it up the East Coast. With some wonderful and exciting stops along the way. But just FYI…beware of flooding. Seriously. Oh, this is so so bittersweet.