A Week to Remember

It all started with what I thought was a rock. I was driving down I-66 when I heard a loud noise. That must have dented something, I thought. Then I started hearing a clicking noise and I could tell something was wrong. I turned down the round table discussion I was listening to and started moving over. By the time I was in the second to right lane I was having a hard time keeping the car straight. Thankfully there was a shoulder and I got off safely.

It turns out my one month old Costco tire had blown out! Getting the tire changed wasn't too bad. The worst part was getting the blown one off. Even after all the lug nuts were gone it didn't want to move and I had to pry it off with the wrench. It still sent me sprawling into the guard rail. Fortunately, Costco is really good at standing by what they sell. They fixed it for free and while I was there I picked up an enourmous bag of fish sticks and a fascinating book about how DC was founded.

On Friday I decided to go site seeing. Most of the group I like to site see with bailed so it ended up just being Lindsay and me at the Smithsonian. We spent two more hours in the "Science in America" exhibit to bring my total up to three and a half hours in that exhibit. I'll never get through all there is to see here.

The plan was to head to a concert in the statuary gardens at the National Gallery of Art once the Museum of American History closed. We came out at 7:30 to serious wind and lots of dust in our eyes. I started wishing it would rain a little to knock the dust down. Someone must have been listening. We had an umbrella but within five minutes we were both drenched and the umbrella was repeatedly blowing inside out. We gave up on the concert idea - even if they had moved it in we wouldn't enjoy it as soaked as we were - and ended up taking shelter underneath the porch of one of the Smithsonians. Once it lightened up enough I went for the car. I was grateful it was still there, I had parked it in a questionable spot.

When I dropped Lindsay off I was finally dry enough to get my camera out and take this picture. I don't think it does justice to how wet we were. We set the camera on the car and used the timer and it was the last time I saw my car for a couple of hours. I went upstairs with Lindsay to talk to her roommate, Abby, about our food plans for the next day and got a little distracted.

When I came back out my car was gone. It didn't take too long to settle in, unfortunately this isn't my first experience with a towing company. Drake was nice enough to take me to the tow shop. Abby, Lindsay, and I are still fighting over who gets to pay for it. Abby is in the lead right now, my wallet was in the car when we got to the shop so I lacked the plastic to back up my argument when we went to pick it up.

Saturday was incredible. We left just after seven for Monticello. It's about a two hour and fifteen minute drive and after picking everyone up we arrived just after ten. The movie that introduced the property was disappointing and politically charged - it ended with Obama's inauguration. I guess Thomas Jefferson isn't known for his bipartisanship though, he was arguably the first political party leader so maybe it fits.

The rest of the visit was really enjoyable. We toured the gardens, the old slave quarters, and the mansion. The mansion was obviously the best of the tours. Walking back to the car, we stopped at the grave and I think that was my favorite part of the property. Jefferson designed his own tombstone before he died and I really love what he chose to write. He wants to be remembered as the writer of the Declaration of American Independence, The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and the Father of the University of Virginia. Maybe the father of his children would have been a nice addition but I think he chose the things that we most owe him honor and gratitude for. Once we were done at the mansion we had lunch at the Michie tavern. The food was delicious and our waitress turned out to have a bunch of member friends, one at BYU, and one on a mission. She heard Ben and I talking about our missions and started asking us about them. By the time we left, we had a new friend.

We drove home via Shenandoah National Park and hiked to a waterfall while we were there. It is a beautiful park! On our way out we stopped to watch the sunset. It was the perfect night for it, the sky was full of whispy white clouds on the western horizon and they all turned bright pink.

We only got lost once on the way home. We were following the signs to Washington and they pulled a fast one on us. Watch out for Washington, Va if you are ever reading the signs. It's a really small town and probably not what you are looking for. We realized it was time to turn around when we saw the sign that said, "Tractor crossing, next 37 miles." Fortunately we were only about 15 minutes out of our way and we had plenty of gas. We got back home around midnight.

Tomorrow I am back to the Smithsonian! Life is good!