Washington, DC (USA)

[it basically poured all day - I still made it to the regular happy hour (at Vie de France) - afterwards, I rode the Metro towards home - I got a text just before I made it to Huntington Station that several of my former co-workers wanted me to join them at Vermillion pub - doubled back to the King Street station and caught a ride to the little bar - I had a good time (light fare and drinks) with our company alumni for several hours - one of them gave me a ride to my car around 2100]

Alexandria, VA (USA)

[had a nice dinner at Red Hot & Blue with Brenna and Mollie - we did a lot of catching up while we enjoyed the tasty BBQ - afterwards, we drove over to Huntley Meadows and took a nice hike on the trails]

Sterling, VA (USA)

[drove to Sterling at 0700 - several of us from work had volunteered to support a "Rebuilding Together" (formerly called "Christmas in April") project - after meeting the group at a nearby Safeway parking lot, we drove to the work site (0800) - I worked all day with several co-workers: chipping, painting, landscaping - we were there for nearly 10 hours - lunch consisted of pizza provided by Alok - despite the heat and threat of rain (along with grueling work!), we had good times and made an older lady very happy after she saw her "new place" - the work wasn't done, but at around 1800 I left the site for my car - the drive home took a very long time (because of traffic) - I actually had to go through Fairfax and found some interesting "shortcuts" - it was a satisfying day!]

Washington, DC (USA)

[I headed over to Poste after work to meet up with some work friends for drinks and dinner - it was another farewell (this time for Sean G.) - we all stayed very late, enjoying the nice outdoor weather]

Washington, DC (USA)

[several of us went to lunch at Hill Country Barbeque in Chinatown - the place reminded me of our time living in Texas and the food was tasty (mmmm...)]

Arlington, VA (USA)

[after getting an early lunch (1100L), I decided to drive over to Theodore Roosevelt Island again (see APR 2012) - I managed to find a parking spot (1145L) and then hiked around for several hours, enjoying the weather, flowers and new leaves on the trees - it wasn't too crowded, which also made it nice - around 1430L, I headed over towards the Pentagon, looking for the 9/11 Memorial there - I stumbled across the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac - it was located on Columbia Island (which I learned today was part of Washington DC - strange, I always thought I was in Virginia...) - I enjoyed a nice walk in the pines and other flowering trees before driving a little further to the Pentagon parking lot - I don't think I have ever been as close as this - for the first time, I also found the entrance/exit for the Metro stop - it wasn't too hard to park (since it was the weekend) and I quickly located the Memorial - it was located on West side of the building and was comprised of 184 benches (the bottom looked like the bow of a ship sailing in a calm pool of water), representing each of the people who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 - I've now been to three sites that link to that terrible day (see AUG 2008 and JUN 2012) - there was a volunteer ("ranger") who provided some interpretation - she pointed out the Air Force Memorial, which I had always wondered about ("Was it there on 9/11?" - answer is "No") - once I finished at the Pentagon, it took me a bit of navigation (and taking some wrong turns) to backtrack to the Air Force Memorial - it looks like the contrails of three F-16s flying high into the sky - the construction reminded me a bit of the St. Louis Arch... - each of the Medal of Honor winners from the Army Air Corps and Air Force were listed on some massive walls nearby - perhaps the best thing about the site, though, was the view of Arlington National Cemetery and the Washington skyline - overall, each of these places was well worth the visit - I'm glad I ventured out today!]

Washington, DC (USA)

[worked all day, then rode Metro to Nationals Park - met up with my friend, Phil - we watched several innings of the game, walking around to get better views of the action - my ticket included some food/merchandise, making for a nice evening - the Nats won the game, 3-1]

Warrenton, VA (USA)

[got up around 0600L and drove to Chantilly, where I worked with several members of the Cloud Computing team, prepping for some new work I will be doing - later, continued my Executive Coaching process with Kim - after lunch, drove to Warrenton to meet up with a member of my project team - after I completed the meetings and finished my work for the day, headed home]

Washington, DC (USA)

[I met up with several friends for drinks after work - we celebrated Chris' birthday at Partisan Restaurant - while expensive, the food was pretty good - we stayed pretty late and Chris actually had to promise me to get him out of there before 2200 (which I did) - we went back to our office on the Metro and I caught one of the last trains to my car]

Washington, DC (USA)

[spent some of the day on the phone with Nicky, who was taking the kids to Meridian (for Spring Break) - later, got dressed up and went to the Metro - rode into the city (Gallery Place) and switched to Red Line - got off at Woodley Park and sat down at Cafe Paradiso, right across from the exit - I talked to the waitress while I waited for several other co-workers to arrive - had some limoncello (mmmm....) - once we had assembled the crew, we walked across the street to the Marriott Hotel (Wardman Park) and made our way into the Banquet Hall - prior to the Blue Jeans Ball (celebrating the work of the Capitol Area Food Bank), we ate appetizers and enjoyed an open bar - Mary, Jimmy, Kristin, Colby, Kelly, Drew and his girlfrend were with me until the banquet hall opened (roughly 1900L) - dinner was served by more than 20 local restaurants (sponsors of the food bank) - it was great to try all of their wares - Amy and her husband showed up later (with a camera) and our host (CEO, John) arrived with his family soon after - it was an honor to sit a table with our company logo, close to John's table - the silent auction used iPods with information that could be used to bid - later, there was a live auction with a lady who was an expert on the art of county fair style auctioneering - more than $350,000 was raised - it was a great evening - around 2130L, I made my way back to the Metro and headed home]

Washington, DC (USA)

[went with Mollie to for another day of adventure! - we left around 1100 and drove up to the National Arboretrum, located in the Eastern corner of the District, near the end of the four lane section of US-50 in Washington, DC - we found a parking space when we arrived and checked out the visitor center - right after that, we visited the Banzai Tree display (very interesting) and the nearby Herb garden - we walked up to a set of columns on the hill (taken from the US Capitol Building, during a renovation) - we drove into the park and, after following other cars, located a parking area that was set up for the Tree Climbing Competition - we walked around half a mile to the area where different tree trimmers and rescue crews were demonstrating their skills - Mollie and I enjoyed watching their outstanding capabilities - we walked back to our car via a hilly trail (with a view of the Capitol) - it appears that Azaleas will cover the hills and trails of the park when Spring finally arrives... - we made it back to our car (which we later learned was parked in the area where the 50 State Pine Trees were located - we parked near the Georgia tree, which made Mollie happy) - we drove over to the Magnolia and Cherry Tree area, where there were lots of blossoms (pretty) - we ended our time in the Arboretum with a visit to the conifer section (lots of great samples) - on the way home, we stopped at Ikea (near Greenbelt) and walked around the huge store (first time) - it was amazing (but tiring) - we drove over to Andrews Air Force Base on the way home (to pick up some items I needed for work) - after that, we headed home]