To carry on from where I left you... Washington DC illumination tour with our lovely leader and oh so professional tour guide Kait. She drove us into the city and where possible parked up to let us get out and have a look around, if there wasn't parking, loaded us with facts on the road then kicked us out, drove round and came back for us! We visited Capitol Hill, Jefferson, Lincoln, the brand new Martin Luther King and my favorite, the FDR Memorial. The memorial was split into four sections, one for each time he was elected as president. "Freedom of speech, Freedom of worship, Freedom from want, Freedom from fear." The lighting wasn't the bright white of the other monuments but peaceful yellow and greens through the mini waterfalls that gave the place more life and noise.
The next morning we had a whole day to explore the city. We started at the Post Office and got the elevator to the 12th floor which provided us with a 360 view. The FBI building was just next door and the Smithsonian Museums spread out in front of us waiting to be explored.
Just up the road we spent time in Fords Theatre & Museum where President Lincoln was assassinated with a single shot to the head by an actor. Then walked right around the White House, stopped for photos and then carried on to find the Air & Space Museum which as pretty fascinated. I touched a piece of moon rock! But so have a million other people by now... I spent most of my time in the WW2 displays and planet exploration before going to find Tui and heading over to the National Museum of Art. Roaming through the quiet rooms for an hour was barely enough time to see it but we covered as much ground as we could. Regrouped and on the metro we had time to see Arlington Ccemetery, which isn't as easy as it sounds. Rows upon rows upon rows of white graves in perfect lines, men and woman who died for their country. The JFK family are there too. There wasn't time for us to stay long but I'm glad we went.
Metro back to the Verizon Centre where we met up with the rest of the group at Clydes for dinner. I had to eat with a lobster in front of me and to the side of me! Crazy people! But saying that my dinner was great too and it was our last meal all together. The ride home was full of laughter even though we were tired and then after I showered a few girls had journals that they wanted messages from us in. It was hard to get emotional about it because I'd chosen not to think about how much I'll miss trek.
However, the next morning the goodbyes started as we left Sarah (one of the Grand Trekkers - 6weeks) in Washington to catch her flight to San Fran to meet her mum.
The Frumen Family (Kaits family!) had very kindly invited us to their house in New Jersey on our way through to our last hotel so we stopped off in a real American home for a few hours, had some amazing food and got to use a real bathroom! Joy! Not long after we arrived Amy had to be dropped at a shuttle to catch her flight too that left another gap in the bus. We stayed a while longer with the Frumens and friends which was lovely and emotional for most. My team won the cooking competition surprisingly which was nice! And then just before we left we were group hugging Kaits parents in the kitchen and Tui popped out for a Tootsie roll for the road and walked straight through the screen door, knocking it onto the patio! Needless to say we all fell to the floor with laughter. Then in a rush we shot to the train station and had a frantic goodbye on the platform to Tui, Zoe, Jess, Bell & Lise. Lots of tears and throwing bags out of the trailer onto the train. They headed into Manhattan for the night while the remaining few carried on to the Hilton in Newark. Here we had to say goodbye to Kait... more tears. Then because I had a room to myself I invited everyone in to hang out - providing they give me half an hour to enjoy the luxury of a bath first!! We chatted, ate junk and helped make plans for people staying a few days while I completely repacked my bag for the journey home. Then it was time to say goodbye to Sarah (there were two - I'm not crazy) Miwa, Sam, Iso & Taz. And I was left alone again.
Up at 5.30am and grabbed an apple cinnamon muffin from Starbucks then got on the shuttle to the airport. Check in was easy, fumbled through security with sleepy dust in my eye and only an hour or so until boarding. So bought 3 books and some presents with my last dollars then got on my plane home to chilly little England.
I hadn't cried yet even when everyone else had which isn't like me. It almost happened on the plane but the movies distracted me. But when Jimmy picked me up at arrivals I was a mess. Snorted and everything...
And now I'm home. It's weird but I'm getting used to it. Reality is a kick in the teeth after all my adventures but Bournemouth is exciting in its own way. And I still have New Zealand with mum to look forward to in October. So until then.........
Josie x
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| Group shot on Jefferson steps |
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| Post Office, 12th Floor. Washington Monument in background. |
Just up the road we spent time in Fords Theatre & Museum where President Lincoln was assassinated with a single shot to the head by an actor. Then walked right around the White House, stopped for photos and then carried on to find the Air & Space Museum which as pretty fascinated. I touched a piece of moon rock! But so have a million other people by now... I spent most of my time in the WW2 displays and planet exploration before going to find Tui and heading over to the National Museum of Art. Roaming through the quiet rooms for an hour was barely enough time to see it but we covered as much ground as we could. Regrouped and on the metro we had time to see Arlington Ccemetery, which isn't as easy as it sounds. Rows upon rows upon rows of white graves in perfect lines, men and woman who died for their country. The JFK family are there too. There wasn't time for us to stay long but I'm glad we went.
Metro back to the Verizon Centre where we met up with the rest of the group at Clydes for dinner. I had to eat with a lobster in front of me and to the side of me! Crazy people! But saying that my dinner was great too and it was our last meal all together. The ride home was full of laughter even though we were tired and then after I showered a few girls had journals that they wanted messages from us in. It was hard to get emotional about it because I'd chosen not to think about how much I'll miss trek.
However, the next morning the goodbyes started as we left Sarah (one of the Grand Trekkers - 6weeks) in Washington to catch her flight to San Fran to meet her mum.
Up at 5.30am and grabbed an apple cinnamon muffin from Starbucks then got on the shuttle to the airport. Check in was easy, fumbled through security with sleepy dust in my eye and only an hour or so until boarding. So bought 3 books and some presents with my last dollars then got on my plane home to chilly little England.
I hadn't cried yet even when everyone else had which isn't like me. It almost happened on the plane but the movies distracted me. But when Jimmy picked me up at arrivals I was a mess. Snorted and everything...
And now I'm home. It's weird but I'm getting used to it. Reality is a kick in the teeth after all my adventures but Bournemouth is exciting in its own way. And I still have New Zealand with mum to look forward to in October. So until then.........
Josie x
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