Took a break from driving and used some of the many frequent
flyer miles I accumulated doing my old job to fly to DC, for a week of hanging
out with my friend J, doing a little sightseeing and enjoying a week of living
indoors. This was the first time I had been on a plane since the beginning of
December, probably my longest streak of not flying since 1996. After a slight
delay in Houston (replace a computer on the plane) and a longer one in DC
(track problems on the Metro), I eventually reached my friend’s house. Her
place is really nice, and I’m not just saying that because any place with
indoor plumbing seems nice to me. Regarding the Metro, I recall riding it in
college on some trip and we were impressed at how much cleaner it was than the
T in Boston; those same cars almost 25 years later aren’t looking quite as
fresh.
Friday was a lazy day, as we hung out at the house. We
ordered Chinese for dinner, but when it arrived, we could not tell the Orange chicken
and General Tsou’s chicken apart, but it’s possible they just sent two of the
same dish. Whatever it was, it was tasty.
Saturday featured lousy weather, overcast and rainy, but I
managed to get off my butt and go running for the first time since the half
marathon. It felt pretty good. J and I walked down to Horace and Dickie’s to
pick up some dinner, and the line out the door indicated we made a good choice.
For the record, the fish platter is more than enough food for two people. Their
website listed a Custard Bean Pie as one of the desserts, so we decided to try
that. It turns out that a very tasty way to eat navy beans is to combine them
with sugar, eggs, flour and such to make a pie.
Sunday was beautiful, perfect for seeing some of the sights.
We went the FDR and Jefferson Memorials. Afterward, I introduced J to the
fabulousness of Nando’s. Mmmm. I just wish they were all over the US instead of just in the DC area.
Peri-peri fries dipped in peri-peri sauce. Mmmm again.
While J went to work, I went sightseeing on Monday. I rented
a bike from Capital Bikeshare and headed to
the mall for a bit before meeting my friend D for lunch. (A tasty veggie
naanwich.) Resumed sightseeing in the afternoon with the WWII, Korean War,
Lincoln and Vietnam memorials.
After two beautiful days, the rain returned on Tuesday. I
managed to finish my run before the rain came, as it started sprinkling just as
I was finishing. Headed out to the climbing gym for an afternoon workout, then
met J for dinner. The weather was nice again on Wednesday, so I did more biking
around the city to see the sights and to meet friends for meals, H for lunch
and D and S, who had flown into town for an interview, for dinner.
Caught an early morning flight back to Houston (thanks, J,
for the ride to the airport) and realized I had no idea where I parked my car.
Fortunately, once we got to the lot, I recognized where I it. It certainly helped
that the place wasn’t totally packed and my car has a roof box on it. After fueling up with a tasty meal at
Waffle House, I stopped by the Texas Rock Gym for some bouldering before making
the drive west to the Austin area, where I would be meeting some people that
weekend to climb at Reimer’s Ranch.
