Family in DC - Friends in ABQ

As I said in an earlier post, we decided to fly to Washington, DC to see Nanc's younger sister who was recently diagnosed with cancer. It was her birthday and her other siblings were also there. We had a great weekend getting caught up and are happy to report that Michelle is doing very well. We left Albuquerque at 6am on Delta and were fortunate to make it to Washington as it was the day Delta had cancelled nearly 3,000 flights.

Jim, Nanc, Keith, Dave, Michelle, Judy and Braedon out to dinner. We have not all been together for a couple years so there sure was a lot of reminiscing and story telling going on. 

My new friend Spartacus, Sparta for short. He is a labradoodle who is more of a lap dog than the warrior his names implies. He did enjoy having many people to throw the ball and Frisbee.  

We did a day trip to Old Town in Alexandria. The weather was beautiful and we walked along the river and just soaked up the sun. It was the weekend of the Cherry Blossom Festival so we stayed out of downtown Washington. 

The four Scott siblings Judy, Dave, Nanc and Michelle. Judy drove in from Ohio, Dave flew in from Seattle and Nanc and I flew from Albuquerque.

Dave's grandson, Braedon, has become his traveling partner. They have been on several trips together. He is a great kid even though he is a Seahawks fan.  He sure has changed since we last saw him in 2009. 

Another day we visited National Harbor. This is The Awakening, a very neat sculpture that used to be in East Potomac Park in the city. We always took the seventh graders there on the DC field trip. 

National Harbor is a newer, commercial development with a convention center, hotels, shops and restaurants. My favorite store is Peeps. Here is the link to the Washington City Paper winners of the diorama contest that uses "Peeple" to celebrate current events. The contest has been a favorite of ours for years and it was neat seeing some of the entries.

A few of the statues at National Harbor; Henry Ford, Churchill and FDR, Rosie the Riveter, Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.

Our yacht awaits. The Capital Wheel is 180 feet high and offers fantastic views of  the sites in nearby Washington. We opted to keep our feet on the ground.

The whole gang was on hand. We had a great time making Michelle's birthday a weekend long event. She has just started a new treatment and seems to be tolerating it much better than the chemo she had been undergoing. We were so happy that she is doing well and have already made plans to see her and Keith in North Carolina in July.

Family portrait Keith, Sparta and Michelle. We all had a fun time sharing stories and laughing about all the crazy things we have done over the years. They were great hosts putting up with all our foolishness. 

This was as close as we got to the city, taking off at National Airport. I love having a window seat to watch the world pass by and how the land changes as you fly over America.

I enjoy trying to pick out places I know. This is Snowshoe Ski Resort in West Virginia. Nanc's skiing days ended at the bottom of Cupp Run, the long slope on the right, when she went down and tore up her knee.

 Flying east to west the land changes from forest to farm to prairie with the big crop circles showing where the climate gets dry. I could see a lot of windmills even in the oil fields of West Texas.

During our first year on the road we contacted Larry Stone whom I worked with at my first teaching job. At that time it had been nearly 30 years since we had seen him. We got together with Larry and Amy and now try to see them every time we are in Albuquerque. Since we were here for an extended stay we invited them for dinner and really enjoyed spending a few hours relaxing and getting caught up on all that has been happening in our lives. As we always say, seeing friends and family while traveling has become the best thing about our RV lifestyle.  

We are leaving Albuquerque and have reservations in Canyon de Chelly, Monument Valley and Cortez, Colorado over the next couple of weeks. We will have limited Internet coverage at the first two stops this week but, hopefully, I won't get too far behind on the blog.