Do you think?
My mother once told me that the anticipation of an event was far greater than the actual event .... hmmm ... Mom often had this dark sense of reality ... (truth be told, that quote was when I had a new sofa and love seat delivered, after a wait of about eight weeks, and I was so so disappointed).
With all that said, we are leaving the DC area in the morning.
There are so many things we didn't do while we were here and actually, if it hadn't been for the time we spent with our niece, this stop was a HUGE disappointment! And as everyone who has ever been in this area knows, something is very wrong if a "visit" to DC is considered a disappointment.....
Yes, I was glad to have seen the memorials I saw, and delighted to enjoy one rainy, raw and cold day and one fabulous, gorgeous "foot loose and fancy free" day with Elisha, Rick and Arlo seeing some sights and Georgetown (yeah yeah yeah, and again Elisha thank you for that suggestion) but I had NO idea that I wouldn't see anything inside any building (unless dogs are allowed - DAH do you think that would happen - dogs in any of the buildings - NOT!!) - all the history, the Smithsonian's (and in all fairness I wasn't all that excited if I couldn't see the Smithsonian with the Hope Diamond and Ruby Slippers - which was "closed in preparation for renovations"!!) but I had no idea that all the trips into DC had to include Sir Arlo because making use of the "dog walker" here at the "campground" wasn't an option for the Whelan family.
So we truly should have left here on Saturday - because anything beyond that we have been in a very expense state of limbo .... I guess we need better communication in the future (do you think) on any destination/event that is suppose to be one of the "major highlights" of a lifetime or if there is another over the edge priced stop. Live and learn and that is all part of this journey Rick, Arlo and I are on.
On top of that I haven't found the people in the area particularly friendly and the drivers - oh god, forget the drivers ... people say New York and Boston drivers are rude ... I have never, in all the travel around this country in the last year and a half, seen ANYTHING like these drivers - they are rude and aggressive and it is ALL ABOUT THEM - imagine that in an area so full of us "tourists").
Plus the fact that it can take up to an hour to travel ten flipping miles by car - not only into DC, but in the suburbs where we tried to get to a Trader Joe's on Saturday (finally finally got in the Trader Joe area again)!!! I so love that market and have had Trader Joe withdrawal/anxiety for months. And when we got there I suppose the chaos of the journey was "worth it", but they hadn't put the daffodils in water for heavens sake (and there must have been 400 bunches of them in that water deprivation) - all these gorgeous dafs at $1.29 for a bunch of 10 not in water - how long do you think those lasted?!?! When I got the three bunches home (yes I did put them in water when I got to the car) it was "too little too late" I guess because I just "tossed" them ~ about 50 hours after they came into the coach .... UGH that shouldn't be and I should have known better - if they weren't in water how long could they possibly last? Heck I go through how many (maybe five) 16 ounce bottle os H2O in a day ....
So, it is pouring outside, I am headed to bed shortly. We are thinking we will head to the Amish country in PA tomorrow for a few days (then either east to Atlantic City or North to NY, neither areas we've seen along the routes we are considering) ... I loved the calm when we were in the Amish country in Iowa .... we shall see, but I am fairly certain most places in PA will be calmer and gentler than where we are at now.
A trivia question as I close this out .... the "travel guides" for Lancaster County, PA (where I believe we will be tomorrow evening) refer to it as the Pennsylvania Dutch Country ... what is Pennsylvania Dutch compared to Amish or Mennonite? If you look at Chamber of Commerce type info it refers to the area as both? So for those in the know - what is the difference? At any rate, I am hoping we wont get run off the road there by aggressive drivers ..
2 comments:
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Well aren't you in a grumpy mood?
I can relate about the driving. It took Debbie and I over an hour and a half to go 4 miles to the dinner party in WDC. I was a wreck when we got there, over an hour late.
I think the difference comes down to beliefs...there is a small Mennonite group in Vermont, and they use electricity and modern conveniences. The Amish don't. The Pennsylvania Dutch comes from their homeland I think they emmigrated here.
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