Virginia -- A TMI post about why we came for February and stayed until Easter

 

It is Easter-Eve (is that a thing?) as we post this  and we've been MIA from our journal/travelogue for a couple of months...... If you are curious, even a little, read on, and if not, more road adventures are coming soon.  We are attributing our absence to the now-called March Medical Merry-Go-Round. Couldn't seem to get off it.   Nothing serious, just some health issues that put the brakes on our travels.

Medical stuff might have created the  brakes but the ensuing delay gifted us the proverbial silver lining:  lots more time for more fun,  seeing friends, visiting events, forgetting to photograph them, and so on...     And yes, we are telling you about it here because besides being our travelogue, this is a journal for us and our family. Also because we no longer have reliable memories.  Starting with the March Medical Merry-Go-Round:   

• Supporting  Bill's brother John's knee replacement surgery and rehab  was our original purpose for being in Virginia in February.    We can report quite good results for him that we attribute to the fabulous inpatient rehab at INova Mt. Vernon Anderson Orthopedic Center.

 

• A too-soft mattress seemed to exacerbate some quite unhappy back problems for me.  No worries, my hero of a physical therapist, Chuck Ottavio, rescued me with  a course of exercises and specialized techniques. It turns out the fall in Florida  (details on this post) was likely caused by, or perhaps resulted in, a slightly  misplaced navicular bone in my right foot paired with a slightly misaligned hip structure that manifested as a subtle, but critically uneven gait. The combination of this with  even slightly uneven pavement is probably what led to the last fall and likely to a future one.  Scary!   And to cleverly dodge the fact that there are no pictures of me falling, I offer this glamor shot of Baby Beluga from Chucks' 4th floor windows:  

If there are any readers out there not related to us that might possibly care, this shot show's BB's roof:    Our newly added (and so far never used) air conditioner, her 5 solar panels that make our power, and a max-Air fan that we do use quite a bit. You can also barely see a bar light stretching across the roof front that prompted a friendly chat with a sheriff.  Turns out you can't drive with that thing on.  We didn't even know it was on.  

• Back to the Merry-Go-Round:  The last and longest delayer of our departure from our Virginia home was a newly minted product of  Bill's propensity to create elusive kidney stones. Lest we would have to find treatment for him on the road, we delayed our  departure until Bill had it resolved. A  couple of unhappy 'procedures' and lots of water later, and we are on the road again....with frequent bio breaks.   As a couple, we may be consuming maybe more than our share of the nation's fresh water supply.   Good thing BB has a 40 gallon water tank.    

But ENOUGH!  The extra Virginia time wasn't wasted.  

We've seen relatives -- especially my cousin, Cindy Wagner.    She's the best and steers us to nifty places:  Restaurants in her Bethesda, MD neighborhood, a great musical  at the Round House Theater in Bethesda (Next to Normal -- absolutely see it if you get a chance), enjoying orchids on display in the atrium of the Smithsonian's Portrait Gallery.  I took a gazillion photos  and didn't see the same one twice.  And they are stunningly beautiful.  We had some fun assigning personality to the flowers by making up  descriptive captions and invite you to do the same in the comments.

EWWW -- there's stinky stuff in that bucket

You better not get any closer

        

 Look at me, blowing my pretty purple top

 "Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars". 

   

. What a cute Bassett Hound pup I am.

As we all know the Smithsonian museums can quickly be overwhelmed by school field trips.  While we were looking at orchids, a whole bunch of elementary-sized children literally overran the atrium. We had planned to dine there,  but they all clutched  Chick-Fil-A bags and quickly sat on every single horizontal surface, and OPENED those bags.  That was enough of an excuse (as if we needed one) to send us  down the street  to our favorite DC restaurant -- a Tapas place called Jaleo.  

Cindy at Jaleo with a cherry parfait that she raved about.  Restaurants in DC tend to find ways to celebrate the cherry blossoms when they are in bloom. 

 

Following our long-standing family tradition of arriving downtown before sunrise to see the famous cherry blossoms, we were treated to showy trees in the  FDR Memorial, adjacent to the iconic tidal basin, sunrise behind the US Capitol building (imposing even if it now seems to house a clown car full of politicians) and a good photo op of Mr. Jefferson himself standing in his memorial.

I  had several lunches with my long-time (never say old any more) colleagues and friends-- Mary, Becca, and Pat.  And other such events with Virginia friends.  One of those occasions was a sad one -- I  reconnected with many colleagues at a Celebration of Life Service for a much-esteemed colleague who was lost to cancer.    Folks I had loved and worked with for years gathered there for this group photo.    Included in this photo are the aforementioned Mary, Becca, and Pat .  Mary shines in her pink blouse and is standing just behind Pat.  Becca and I are bookending the front row, both us wearing white shirts with black jackets.  While we behaved ourselves at this event, our too infrequent lunches often result in lots of laughter and sometimes a bit of mischief.  These are often led by our most senior member and mentor, Pat herself! 

And our last great gift during the March Merry-Go-Round was a surprise visit from our son Michael.   He was in town for a conference, and spent a day (mostly) working  at our dining room table, with a quick Dixie Bones Lunch. (This is an old family favorite hang-out.)  Getting a little extra time with one of our kids is always a treat.   And we're looking forward to Easter with Michael and his family!   

Happy Easter everyone.  Next Post -- North Carolina, Alabama and Mississipi and beyond.   

Retirement Lesson Learned:  The road takes you where the road takes you.

Woyaya