Courtyard By Marriott Gaithersburg Washingtonian Center

... though. Everyone has their own lives and is doing interesting things so it's nice to catch up with them and see what's been happening, as we don't really talk during the year much...Sara managed to fit in nicely with everyone and we all had a great time. So much so that my buddy invited us out to his house in the woods the next day for a little hike around the reservoir. We did go out there the next day but we never made it around the reservoir. Instead, we took his ...

... cockroaches waiting for her in her bedroom so after a few words with the night manager we moved her back to the apartment I was staying in, and thus ends Day 1. Day 2 - So we had breakfast at my cousin's apartment (two floors up) before heading to Jess's hotel to sort out the issue. To give the manager some credit he dealt with two angry ladies well. He gave her money back for the previous night and moved her to a 4* hotel in the chain. We then ...

... so we flew south, west and snuck up from behind. By the time we reached the monuments we were in the backside with sporadic rain. By the time we left the monuments, the storm had cleared east. Overflying the monuments was pretty cool. First we picked up Crazy Horse, then took two turns around Rushmore. The rule is greater than 2000' AGL. Who can tell, with all those hills? Eastward, we overflew the Badlands. Looks like a hundred+ mile sore ...

... waterfalls all the way along it (it stretched probably 2-300 meters... We made a side trip into China town after the White House for a very bad lunch before walking back down to the Capitol building and then went to the Air and Space museum (pretty cool) and the Natural History museum (Gaynor wanted to see the butterfly's (not as good as Melbourne zoo's BTW) and the Hope diamond (huge)). Both were pretty good, however, by this stage I had probably ...

... programs of the 1960s and 1970s, but the real reason we stopped in was to see only piece of the American History Smithsonian available during that buildings renovation. The ENIAC (first computer) was there as well George Washington's uniform. I was pretty excited to see the exact Mickey Mouse calculator and Casio keyboard that I spent hours playing with as a child. Just down the hall was a GPS section with one of Garmin's (my employer) first hand held consumer GPS units.

... in the Camden Yards Warehouse; I've been laughing at the Beckham retirement soccerball circus over there in LALA-land; I've tried to teach my god-daughter some Cockney rhyming slang using a book written by my first cousin Ray; I've been on an 18-mile bike ride along the Potomac in Washington DC with the unlikliest triathlete you're likely to meet (Zak for those of you that know him from SMC); I've ...

... beautiful April Saturday night in the center of town. Henk Botwinik set us up in a little closet-like space backstage and we got the mike on Steven ben Israel, Lillian Day Jackson, Baraka himself and Baba Israel (Steve's son) for some scintillating conversation, spiced up by some great music by Jimmy Preston & His Prestonians, Magic Sam, Dinah Washington, Jimmy Witherspoon, Baba Israel & Yako, John Sinclair & His Blues Scholars, and Thelonious Monk ...

... the long distance baggage allowance. 5 ½ weeks ago, I came with 16kg. Never in my life have I checked in 32kg worth of luggage before. *sheepish grin* The day disappeared and darkness arrived. It was still raining and miserably cold. Ok, maybe 5 deg C isn't all that cold but when it's raining, you're alone in NYC, most of the shops are closed, you see family and couples all around and your hands are bloody freezing, it's ...

Well after a 6 hour 45 minute flight from Dublin we made it to the Big Apple, woohoo!! It is lovely and sunny here, much better than rainy Dublin. We've been for a walk around Central Park and are now having a relaxing time in the hostel. We are knackered so are saving the sightseeing until tomorrow. We had a great night ...

... I say this because I seem to be cursed to watch terrible, mind-dumbingly boring in-flight movies every time I fly cross country. For instance, I remember having to sit through Ya-Ya Sisterhood and some movie with Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd. Not to offend any of you who are fans of those movies, but they just weren't my thing, you know? So I've basically given up and spent my flights in a state of semi-sleep. Ok, I'm on my Dad's archaic computer, which ...