My journey (that started in Helsinki the day before) continued overnight as I made my way (extremely slowly) towards Washington, DC - I was still sleeping on the train (still in New Jersey) at midnight. We arrived in Philadelphia at 0115 and the train parked there for three hours. I'd known about this plan but, by then, was having trouble sleeping because the seats weren’t very comfortable, the lights were never dimmed and my fellow passengers were quite loud (even the "the quiet car"). Still, I managed to doze off/on for about two hours. At 0420, the train started moving from Philadelphia to Wilmington and, at each subsequent stop, we stayed in the platform longer than usual. More people boarded and the train was soon nearly full - this meant that we got lots of people (including small children) who didn't follow the rules of "maintaining Library-like silence". The sun came up and all the other passengers started getting really loud before we arrived in the District of Columbia at 0620. I felt good to be getting closer to my car and walked to the Metro platform. There were no restaurants open so I gave up any notion of eating breakfast. Since it was a Sunday morning, the WMATA train spacing was huge that I had to wait until 0635 a west-bound train to arrive at Union Station. I took the Red Line to Metro Center (arrived at 0645) and then switched to the Orange Line. At 0715, I got off at West Falls Church Station and began the slow, methodical walk to Kim & David’s house. Fortunately, it was still rather cool but the humidity and sunlight implied a much warmer day was coming. I took my time and stopped often to rebalance the bags I was carrying. Fortunately, there was a sidewalk all along the roads I traveled. At 0750, I reached my friends' home - whew! I did a little bit of visiting with Kim before she left for work (0815) and then took a shower. From 0830 to 1430, I took a much needed nap in their guest room. When I woke up, I did some reading and relaxing before heading downstairs to visit with David. It was great to talk with him (we have similar professional backgrounds) and I told him how much I appreciated how he and Kim had so lovingly watched my car while I was away. At 1910, I left Falls Church to attend Mass at Marymount University in Arlington, where Kim was playing the organ. By then, the temps had reached into the high 70s and the humidity was palpable. The service lasted from 1930 to 2025 and I got to enjoy both Kim's playing and some amazing vocal and violin performances by her students. I also got to meet the Campus Chaplain, Father Gabriel, who was very interested in my Nomad Life story. Afterwards, I went with Kim (in her car) to a nearby Silver Diner (still in Arlington). Kim entertained me with her ordering, food selections and special requests - it was like old times. We had a good conversation and the food was tasty (like I remembered from when I used to take my daughters to this chain while we all lived in NoVA). After getting done (2150), we drove back to Marymount University and I picked up my car. From there, I followed Jim to her house (we arrived at 2215). In Kim and David's condo, I spent the next hour visiting and telling them about my trip (they don't use social media). Since I hoped to get back on "normal time" after being away for so long, I said goodnight and retired to the guest room again. Before going to bed, I did some reading and Duolingo - it was lights out at 2300. It's been 30 days since I last slept in this bed and everything that I experienced in between seems like a blur. One thing is certain, though: it was a GREAT vacation!
