July 5, 2015

(East) Coasting in DC and VA

We had to shuffle around our itinerary a bit, and we ended up in the Washington DC area for two weeks!


We had only a few objectives.


The Mall. The fireworks. See friends and family. Relax and workout. Add in Marc's goals to see the Marine Corps Memorial, the Pentagon, and Arlington. Plus my hopes to be at the pool everyday and hang out in Georgetown.


The weather was so-so, and we are coming to understand that most of the USA is humid, unpredictable, and not actually very fun in the summertime. I was raised to expect the sky to be sunny and blue everyday from May to October. California really warps your mind, doesn't it?

Freedom is not free, and neither is good weather! 
We did fit in most of what we had in mind, focusing heavily on the "relax and workout" part. Turns out we still hate driving, and after loads of traffic, tolls, freeways, bridges, and rainy weather, we loved kicking back at Marc's sister's place while she was in Europe!

(It helped a lot that her apartment complex had both a pool and a fitness center!)

Hanging out at the University of Virginia. 
After Alex returned to America, we got to have our own version of the 4th of July! Best explanation is that it looked a whole lot more like Cinco de Mayo, sangria and all. We were a party of five (Alex, her best friend, Brandi, Marc, me, and our best friend, Tanya Schmidt! You may remember this Tanya from NYE 2014 and my trip around Germany?), all from California, but all currently with addresses outside of our home state.


We got to figure out the DC fireworks scene together, but I think we'll pick a better location next time. Blame it on the weather again, because we didn't want to go too early and set up camp if it was going to rain all afternoon! We watched from the hill above the Iwo Jima Memorial, and we could only really see the highest fireworks. Alex should live out there for a while, so we're banking on getting a second chance at this.


It was awesome, nonetheless, to be a part of the fireworks scene in our nation's capital city!

Attempt #1
Attempt #2
Marc and I consider the East Coast segment of our time in the USA as "our vacation" this summer. I have to put it in quotes because, no matter how much fun we may have here in America, we would just rather be in Europe. We both get stressed out by the intensity of America, and we dearly miss our lifestyle and routine in France. We know our moments in the USA are important to our relationships, but it gets harder and harder to leave our home(s) in Europe every year.


This next phase of #SwagVilUSA has Marc and I dividing to conquer as much ground as possible. I'm off to Wisconsin to visit my aunt and grandma, then to Idaho to see my best friend, Jenn, and her family. Marc is flying to Colorado to be with family and to work, then to Arizona for more family and friends. Eventually we'll reconvene in Southern California, then we'll be starting our next Europe adventure in Scotland, England, and the Netherlands!

Georgetown got me my Euro fix.
I've got another plane to catch right now, and the Wisconsin and Idaho parts of my trip will be on the blog next!