D.C. Trip and the White House

Nov 14, drove to Ft. Belvoir to see Bertie and family. Hung out for awhile and then went to an AirBnB in the district. It was pretty nice and much cheaper than a hotel. In the morning, up early to take Uber to the White House. We lined up outside at 8:15 and at 8:30 we went through the first checkpoint. They just looked for our ticket. Next security checkpoint they took our driver's license. My birthday on the DL and birth certificate don't match, so there was a bit of a hold up there. Then we went to the next checkpoint and showed our DL again. Then into the building and through the metal detector. After that, we just wandered through the east wing. Self-guided, but there was a docent in each room. The room were beautiful, of course and there were portraits everywhere. So much history! Afterwards we wandered out and found a really cool coffee shop/cafe. I had herbal tea and a fantastic pistachio cherry pastry. Then, Uber back to the AirBnB. It was about 8 miles and took 30 minutes. The traffic!! We stopped at Wegman's and picked up lunch for both of us and Bert. The boys were in school and Milo was in daycare. We chatted a bit then headed back home. We really enjoyed it. Next time--we'd love to stay longer.

NASA Open House

My brother invited us to the Open House at NASA's Langley facility, Oct 21. We met at his house and took the shuttle. He packed lunch for everyone so we wouldn't have to deal with the food trucks. It was cold and windy and VERY crowded, but very interesting. That evening, Kyle cooked dinner and we had a karaoke jam. Also there for the festivities were Johnny Mac and his family and later my old friend Carol. Lots of fun. My brother, like Mom, really enjoys entergaining a bunch of friends and family.