Road Trip and DC

Since Becca’s plane almost crashed on her way to Miami she refused to get on a plane again. So we rented a car and let her drive us up the coast to DC. (We’re going to have to get drivers licenses till our next visit.)

The first night we stopped in Palm Coast, where Becca’s relatives live. The house we slept in was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It wasn’t a house, it was a castle. They were so nice to let us stay there. We were all so tired and … unhygienic. They even let us wash our clothes.

The next day we spent 10 hours on the road, driving through four states - Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina - up to New Bern, NC, where Becca’s best friend Amy and her family live. Frida and I only got to see them for 30 minutes or so, ‘cause they had to go to bed and we were quite late, but we got the impression that they were a very nice family. They seemed like such great people. We stayed at Amy’s mom’s house - her name is Gloria - who was so kind and treated us so incredibly well. She gave us food, she gave us corn chips, she gave us a bed to sleep in … Everything we could ask for really.

We later got to DC after driving through Virginia and we’ve been here for a few days now. Becca lives in Hyattsville just northeast of Washington and has three really cute dogs. The first day I spent studying at a really cool place called Busboys and Poets in Hyattsville, ‘cause my French class just started. I remember more than I thought I would, which is a relief. Yesterday we spent walking around the area around the Parliament building, the White House and the Smithsonian. We went into the Air and Space Museum, which was really cool. The highlight of my day was going into the American Indian Museum, where we looked at the exhibitions and I bought a decal to put on my travel guitar. The Smithsonian is the world biggest museum park and everything is free, which makes Washington a really cheap place to visit actually.

After being in town all day Becca picked us up and drove us to a really nice venue called Wolf Trap where we saw Gregory Alan Isakov play. The show was a little short, but met our expectations in every kind of way. We’ve been listening to his records nonstop the last year and were so happy that he decided to stop by Virginia while we were here. It’s incredible how rich the sound of his music is although the band only consists of three instruments at the most. We can’t wait for his new record to be released.

Today I’ve just been walking around town. I went to the Museum of Natural History and then took the metro up to Dupont Circle where I’ve been uploading pictures on Facebook. I’m going to try to upload some on the blog too, but meanwhile, if Facebook works as it should, you can click here and hopefully see some pictures from Cayamo. Frida is in Lancaster, PA, right now to see Jon Anderson play. Apparently the inn she’s staying at is next to an Amish farm. Can’t wait to see some pictures from the show … and from the farm. She’ll be back tomorrow, so don’t worry family members who might be reading this - we’re staying in touch to make sure we’re both safe.

Tomorrow I’m thinking about suggesting to the others that we should visit the coast along Chesapeake Bay and maybe seeing some birds. Would love to take some pictures, ‘cause there are so many beautiful herons and hawks in this area. I think we saw at least ten red-tailed hawks on our way from Georgia to North Carolina alone. We’re also going to try and get into to a conference where our favorite poet is performing - Andrea Gibson. If that doesn’t work, we’re probably just going to stay inside all day and cry.

Oh, and by the way! We smelled our first skunk!

Cat