{"id":23,"date":"2012-09-01T01:55:43","date_gmt":"2012-08-31T19:55:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=23"},"modified":"2012-09-01T20:40:34","modified_gmt":"2012-09-01T14:40:34","slug":"hello-washington-goodbye-the-life-of-riley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=23","title":{"rendered":"HELLO WASHINGTON, GOODBYE “THE LIFE OF RILEY”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wow, has it really been the extant of the whole summer since my last blahg?\u00a0 Time flies when you’re having fun.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>\"ScottI don’t know how much fun I’ve had but I’ve been really busy and it looks like the fall is shaping up to be the same way.\u00a0 At least, my wife and children will not be at home in the fall to distract me from writing here.\u00a0 So this blahg is going to be a little different.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In my last blahg, I mentioned that our eldest daughter, Emily, s<\/span><\/strong>ince the beginning of May, has been serving as an Intern with the Digital Advocacy Research Group at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C.\u00a0 At the end of June, we decided to drive down to Washington over Canada Day Weekend to see her.\u00a0 Canada Day was July 1st and it fell on a Sunday.\u00a0 We decided to leave Friday, June 30th and I want to tell you the whole trip was one experience after another.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We did not get away until after 4pm on Friday afternoon after my wife got home from School.\u00a0 We were delayed two hours in Ganonoque, Ontario as our GPS attempted to get us past a huge accident on the major highway.\u00a0 That’s as much time as I ever want to spend in Ganonoque again.\u00a0 It’s probably a nice town but creeping at a snail’s pace through the downtown core is not what tourism is all about.\u00a0 We didn’t get to Binghamton, New York and our hotel until 10:30 after our detour, border crossing, and stopping for dinner.\u00a0 It was a nice hotel but nothing to write home nor here about.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Saturday, we stopped in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania to do some shopping and someplace else I do not recall to have lunch.\u00a0 We didn’t get down to Washington until after 3pm.\u00a0 It was obvious that there were some problems in the area because many of the traffic lights were out and many tree limbs were down.\u00a0 We later learned that a major storm blew through the night before.\u00a0 In Canada, when you come across an intersection where the lights are out, we treat it as a four way stop.\u00a0 Apparently in Washington, you treat that scenario as an excuse to speed through the intersection and not give the cars from the other direction a chance to cross through.\u00a0 Our GPS only failed us once when we got to the street where our daughter lived and found it was closed off because power lines were down on the lower half of her street.\u00a0 We just took a side street and came it from a different direction.\u00a0 Luckily, the upper half of the street, where our daughter’s townhouse was situated, was not without power.\u00a0 That was a blessing because it was 101 degrees and she had air-conditioning.\u00a0 Luckier still, the air-conditioning in our van worked well the whole trip.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A few quick hugs later with our daughter and the use of her washroom and we were on our way to our hotel a few blocks from her home.\u00a0 When we got there, we noticed a makeshift sign that said that there was no power in the hotel.\u00a0 When I checked with the front desk, the manager explained that I could not stay there because of the power outage.\u00a0 It was a tricky communication thing between he and I because initially he told me I would not be charged for my stay there.\u00a0 I thought I was going to get to stay free but he was just trying to say I couldn’t stay there and my credit card used to book the room would not be billed.\u00a0 Using the GPS, we tried three other local hotels and found there was no room at the Inn.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We didn’t panic.\u00a0 We went to a mall and did some shopping and then went to an Ihop Restaurant for dinner and the use of their free WI-FI so we could find another hotel.\u00a0 We located one about 30 minutes outside of Washington and quickly booked it.\u00a0 With that resolved, we decided to go visit the Lincoln Memorial.\u00a0 When we finally got to the Lincoln Memorial it was dusk and the Lincoln Memorial was actually the Jefferson Memorial.\u00a0 It was still 100+ degrees and we were sweating but we enjoyed the Jefferson Memorial.\u00a0 We then drove around in circles for 30 minutes before finding the real Lincoln Memorial.\u00a0 The Lincoln Memorial was well worth the wait, the heat, and 30 minutes of circling and arguing trying to find a parking space.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 After both Memorials we decided to drive to our hotel.\u00a0 Emily decided to stay with us and she had packed an overnight bag.\u00a0 By the time we stopped for gas and two other stops to try and find a public bathroom (which are scarce) we finally got to the hotel about 11:30.\u00a0 It was pitch black.\u00a0 Everything else around it was lit up but the hotel was dark.\u00a0 An inquiry at the front desk gave us the explanation that they had no power (why didn’t the online booking tell us that) and didn’t expect to have power until the next day.\u00a0 We were welcome to stay at the hotel but we’d have to use the stairs because there was no power for the elevator.\u00a0 We were so tired, we agreed and the night manager found us a room on the third floor so we wouldn’t have to walk up too many stairs.\u00a0 There were two queen sized beds in the room but that was the extant of the luxury.\u00a0 No power meant no air conditioning and the windows didn’t open.\u00a0 We were all exhausted from the walking around the memorials that we fell asleep despite it being 90+ degrees in the room.\u00a0 The next morning I had a quick shower because there was enough water in the lines for that.\u00a0 My son managed to get one in too although it was cold.\u00a0 My wife and daughters just wanted to go back to Emily’s place and shower there.\u00a0 I never did get a discount from that hotel and when I complained to their day manager, I was told they agreed to provide us with a room and did not guarantee power.\u00a0 Act of God or something.\u00a0 I didn’t catch his act but who would you get to open for him? <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We managed to get back to Emily’s and while the girls took turns with the shower, Noah and I went off to a local McDonald’s to get breakfast for everyone.\u00a0 Most of us had some variation of Egg McMuffin but Abbie just wanted a Chocolate Chip Muffin.\u00a0 When I tried to order this through the McDonald’s drive-thru I encountered another language communication issue.\u00a0 The tinny voice at the other end of the receiver didn’t understand my request for the muffin and kept asking if I meant a McMuffin.\u00a0 She even said, I obviously wanted a Chocolate Chip Frappe.\u00a0 I don’t know who you get Frappe from Muffin but because it had Chocolate chips she assumed I didn’t know what I really wanted.\u00a0 I guess they don’t have have Chocolate Chip Muffins in Washington.\u00a0 When I tried to describe this type of pastry, they informed they had never heard of such a thing.\u00a0 Emily made Abbie a bagel back her place.\u00a0 Muffin people!\u00a0 Muffin!\u00a0 Have you never seen Seinfeld?\u00a0 Mufffin!\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The remainder of that Sunday was spent walking around the Smithsonian and the outside front and back of the White House.\u00a0 It was now 104 degrees.\u00a0 We had lunch at a restaurant called Potbelly’s and then we took Emily home and started the drive back north to Canada.\u00a0 I was glad to be out of Washington.\u00a0 We stopped at a hotel in Wilkes-Barre that night and the air conditioning worked.\u00a0 The next day we drove home and were ecstatic to be back in our own Country.\u00a0 It’s true:\u00a0 Nice Place To Visit But I Wouldn’t Want To Live There.\u00a0 Emily flew home about two weeks ago after finishing her internship.\u00a0 She too, was tired of Washington.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I know this narrative has been rather short and bleak but I did take some nice video while in Washington.\u00a0 I want to end this part about Washington by posting those videos here.\u00a0 The quality is a little grainy because the conversion to Youtube type videos was to a lesser quality.\u00a0 Believe me, the originals look better. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Night time at the Jefferson Memorial (which I thought was the Lincoln Memorial) : <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n