Nomad Life - Day 32

After a great sleep last night in Brenna's apartment, I was awake by 0600 and did my normal reading, puzzles, etc.  Because Brenna was still in bed, I had time to work on my blog and get more organized for my departure later in the morning.  We'd talked about going to the gym so I could do some lap swimming - unfortunately, Brenna didn't get up until after 0930.  By that point, I'd packed up my car and suggested we might only have time to get something to eat before I left Harrisonburg.  She suggested we check out a restaurant she'd been wanting to try for several years (First Watch) and I agreed.  Since it was located in the same parking lot with a Staples, I brought along an old piece of technology so I could recycle it there - Brenna dropped me off and I was finished with the process by 1010.  From the store, I walked to the First Watch restaurant and, once inside, found lots of people waiting for their table to be ready.  Only then did I noticed that Brenna had texted about going to the nearby Mr. J's Bagels instead of waiting.  This is something we've done several times before so I countered with an idea that we could just go to the Panera Bread (across the street).  Brenna agreed with this idea and, once we'd ordered our meal with the self-serve kiosk (1025), we got amazingly fast service.  Before long, we were eating our "brunch" (half tuna sandwich and half chicken sandwich for me; breakfast croissant and iced coffee for Brenna).  Despite having had parts of four different days to visit with Brenna, I was feeling sad as we wrapped up our meal - it's hard to say goodbye to my daughter...  Next, we drove to the nearby Walmart and I bought some travel supplies for myself and some kitchen and bathroom items for Brenna.  We were finished with our shopping at 1105 and then returned to Brenna's apartment.  We double checked I hadn't forgotten anything and I reluctantly said goodbye (1200).  After making my way towards I-81, I headed north.  The weather was beautiful again (70s and sunny) and the traffic was pretty light until I reached the junction with I-66.  For some reason, there was a major slowdown there and, despite my attempts to avoid it by departing the Interstate, I had to give up and return to the traffic in order to continue my journey.  From that point, the traffic increased in volume and I had to pay close attention in order to avoid disaster.  Along the way, I listened to audiobooks and reflected on one full month of life on the road.  During this window, I was also in touch with my friend, Kim, and her husband (David) about getting into their home in Falls Church - they'd just departed on a trip to Pennsylvania but left very specific instructions to allow me to stay with them for part of the coming week.  Once I'd arrived in Falls Church and located the correct parking spot for my car (1400), I got unpacked and settled inside.  To ensure I had good work clothing and knew where my suits were (for Erin's upcoming wedding party), I opened the car top carrier and repacked my clothes hanging bag.  I also worked on one project I'd been deferring since I departed: sorting through surplus toiletries and travel supplies.  It felt good to get this project complete!  Just after I finished, I heard from my friend, Stephanie K., that she was up for getting together for a walk and a drink.  Since I still had some money on my old WMATA SmarTrip card, I decided to use the Metro to reach her neighborhood in Arlington (Crystal City).  From Kim's house, I drove almost two miles to the west and located the West Falls Church Station - I quickly located a parking lot (rather than the garage) that had plenty of room for my Subaru with car top carrier (1520).  I'd forgotten that parking was free (Labor Day) so I wasn't able to check out my parking balance.  Will do that tomorrow morning...  Walking to the Metro Platform (for the first time in nearly 18 months), I was lucky to find a passing Orange Line Train - from there, we traveled quickly to Rosslyn, where I switched to a southbound Blue Line train (1540).  By 1550, I was exiting the Metro Station at Crystal City and, after a bit of text coordination, soon found Stephanie.  We walked for a little while but decided that it would be good to sit down for a drink - we chose a place with outdoor seating (Colada Shop) and ordered drinks from their happy hour menu (1610), along with an interesting appetizer (nachos with plantains for chips).  We had a nice conversation for a little before Stephanie mentioned that she was feeling cold (I hadn't noticed that it had gotten quite breezy).  We walked to see her new apartment building (she moved in April) and then went on a nice walk nearby.  I really enjoyed how the scenery changed after we crossed through the Crystal Drive area and continued west - there were pretty residential homes and nice parks.  After building up an appetite, we stopped off for a meal at Los Tios Grill - I had an Ecuadorean dish and margarita while Stephanie ate much lighter fare.  We'd again chosen outdoor seating (the breezes had died down) and our conversation continued until nearly 1900.  Finished with our meal, we walked back to Stephanie's building and she took me to her pool area, where the building was celebrating an end-of-year-doggie-pool swim.  It was funny to watch all the dogs trying to get used to the idea of human-sanctioned pool fun!  After about 15 minutes of watching the shenanigans, I told Stephanie that I should probably get going towards Falls Church.  We said goodbye and I walked back to the Crystal City Metro Station.  Once again, I got lucky and a northbound Blue Line train passed very soon after I reached the platform.  At Rosslyn, I was fortunately again and caught a westbound Orange Line train.  By 2000, I was exiting the Metro system and, after getting my car, headed back to Kim's place (arrived at 2015).  For the rest of the evening, I caught up on emails, blog and finances.  Feeling tired, I retired to Kim and David's den (where my bed was) at 2145 and spent the next 45 minutes reading.  By the time I went to bed, I was quite tired and I fell asleep almost immediately.  Working in DC tomorrow!