3.10pm
Last Sunday evening we ended up watching the film Robin Hood with Russell Crowe. Actually I only saw most of it Sunday evening. I saw the last 20 minutes on my laptop whilst waiting at Dulles Airport the following afternoon because I'd fallen asleep the previous night. It was quite a good film.
My journey home started early at 5.30am. Time for last minute packing and my last Bagel and Coffee breakfast for a while at Panera Bread. Richard dropped me off at Penn Station in Baltimore just in time for me to catch my train up to Newark. I then caught a flight down to Washington. Yes I know it was a silly route. Six hours after setting off from home I was still only about an hour's drive away. Oh well. Fortunately the flight from Washington to London was shorter than usual due to a particularly strong tail wind. The flight was deliberately late leaving so we didn't get to London before the airport opened!
Anyway, just before lunchtime on Tuesday I got back home. A nice trip but glad to be home.
12.20pm
Over 5 inches of rain fell at Richard's house during Thursday. Most of Maryland had a lot of rain. One place had over 14 inches! Anyway, Friday things started drying out and Saturday was a nice sunny day although noticeably cooler than of late. Definitely starting to feel like autumn/fall.
Thursday evening Richard and I went to Shailu's. We basically just ate, drank and hung out. We ended up playing a game called Scattergories. Great fun.
Friday Richard decided to take the day off work. We just hung around the house, did a few odd jobs and ran a few errands. Oh - and we had a Costco trip. I think we just needed nuts. We came away having spent about $100.
Friday evening Rong joined us and we drove downtown to get something to eat. After eating we then went to Vaccaro's for dessert. I had gelato, remembering my recent trip to Italy.
Saturday morning we had a sailing lesson booked. The weather was bright and sunny, if cool, and a gentle breeze at home which we hoped meant there would be a little more once on the open water. We were disappointed, there was very little wind. We hired a 23 foot Sonar sail boat and skipper. Donald - our skipper taught us the basics and talked to keep us entertained whilst we sat around in the bay waiting for some wind. Sometimes when we got some wind, we were flying along a little too fast for comfort. I kept remembering the words we had been told "These boats are unsinkable". Didn't they say that about the Titanic? Anyway, when we weren't sailing we were boat spotting. There were lots of different boats about ranging from small fishing boats to cruise ships and cargo carriers. Fortunately we managed to avoid them all - with a little help from Donald.
Saturday evening we had another bit of culture and went to see a concert of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. It was nice and I, unlike nearly everyone else, quite liked the relatively modern Doctor Atomic Symphony by John Adams, but to be honest, two classical concerts in two consecutive weekends was a little too much for me. Or maybe I was just tired but I really needed the coffee we had during the interval.
Today, has been my last full day on holiday. This morning we went to the Farmers' market downtown and this afternoon Richard and I have been for a little bike ride. I've done a little packing and Richard and Rong are downstairs preparing dinner (Chilli). I'm about to head down to join them and grab a beer (or two) and then we have a favourite evening (of mine) ahead of eating, drinking and perhaps a movie.
A little sad that this is the last day of my holiday.
8.45am
Last night Richard, Milo and myself went to Rong's house to do a few DIY jobs (well Milo wasn't expected to help with the DIY but he came anyway). We installed a hoist to store two kayaks and hung some mirrors (in Rong's gym room). We were paid in food and stayed there overnight.
Milo slept in my room. He was supposed to sleep on a rug beside the bed. He ended up sleeping most of the night curled up at the bottom of my bed. Consequently, I was confined to the top half of the bed and so didn't get as much sleep as I'd have liked.
We woke up to it pouring down with rain outside. The forecasters were predicting between 3 and 6 inches of rain and there's tornado watches! The drive back home from Rong's house was slow - mainly because of an earlier incident but the poor weather didn't help.
2.05pm
Monday morning things calmed down a little after the busy weekend. Richard managed to get home from work early and we had a mad dash to take the junk from yesterday's workshop tidy-up to the "Drop Off Center" (or tip) before it closed. We arrived in time only to be told that we couldn't take the many tins of old paint we had there. They had to go to the main tip on the other side of town - impossible today in the rush hour traffic before it closed. We abandoned the day's attempt.
Tuesday morning we had another go. The weather was horrible - really heavy downpours. The weather has definitely turned since Saturday. Fortunately we found the tip, got rid of our paint and headed downtown to drop Richard off at work before I headed home for another day of pottering and playing with my new iPod touch!
Richard again managed to get home early from work and so we set about trying to recover the lawn tractor which had been left abandoned in the rear garden since last Thursday when Richard beached it on a tree stump whilst cutting the grass in a hurry. We'd each tried individually to free the jammed blade but with no success. We needed a joint attack. After a lot of rocking, pushing and pulling, we got it free only to find (not surprisingly) that it's timing belt had snapped. We had to suspend it's repair until another day as we had a gym session booked. Fortunately I didn't overdo it unlike last week when I had soar muscles for the next 3 days!
Today was a Maid Brigade Wednesday which means a mad dash around putting all your stuff away to allow them to be able to clean! After taking Richard to work, I set about buying the necessary parts to repair the lawn tractor. Once back at the house I began fitting them. I was quite proud of myself. I've never repaired a lawn tractor before. I celebrated by cutting the grass!
It's just started raining. Quite a lot of rain is expected - especially tomorrow. It's still feels relatively warm though - for fall/autumn anyway.
9.45am
Saturday morning Richard and I got up at 5am. Yes - my second 5am start this holiday. We had a lot to do before our first planned event for today: a pre-booked tour around the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. After a little navigational uncertainty on the best route to our parking spot, we got there in time and enjoyed a 2 hour guided tour. It's an impressive building, even from the back!
The next planned event was sightseeing downtown Washington by bike! Richard and Rong had brought their bikes. I hired one from Bike And Roll beside Union Station. I had a very comfortable bike for the day and biking is a great way of getting around and seeing all the sights. There are many bikes around and the traffic is either light or stuck in a jam so biking was easy. It was a gloriously sunny and hot day. A bit too hot - We all caught the sun and we must have been a sight to the other diners when we walked in to the Chinese restaurant for lunch, all hot and sweaty.
More sightseeing by bike in the afternoon (perhaps slowed down a little by the large lunch) and then we ditched the bikes and headed to a local gym. The main reason for this was to use their showers and have a chance to clean up and change into "posh clothes" before heading to the day's final event, a concert by the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center for Arts starring pianist Lang Lang and soprano Renée Fleming. It was a wonderful way to end a very enjoyable day.
After the hot and sunny weather on Saturday, back in Baltimore on Sunday it rained all morning. Richard and I took advantage of the cooler temperatures to clear out his workshop. It took us all day but we managed to get rid of a load of junk and the workshop is so much better now. And what's more, just like at home when I often go National Trust Volunteering on a Sunday, we even managed to have a little bonfire burning scrap wood!
8.40am
Yesterday I spent most of the day with Shailu and her family. We went out for lunch and then went to see a Decorator Show House in Woodbine. Basically it's just a nice house which is decorated by a bunch of different decorators as a showcase of their work. Very nice house and a lot of work had gone in to the rooms but some were a bit over the top for me. The house was actually up for sale. Sale Price? $1,950,000. I've decided not to buy it ;-)
Last few days have been very hot here. Today has started off quite warm and humid already and it's expected to get up to 34C this afternoon. Maybe I should go do my outside jobs now!
9.05am
Tuesday night was gym night. Probably wasn't a good idea for Richard and I to have yet more Chinese food left-overs half an hour before we turned up. It was a hard session for both of us. My arms were aching all the next day during my road trip to Richmond, Virginia. By the way, my trainer said I looked very much like the Nascar driver, Jeff Gordon. What do you think?
Wednesday was a nice day. Bagel and Coffee breakfast. Leisurely drive down even though Baltimore to Washington DC is a busy commuter route but I was not in a big hurry. Found a great radio station WGRQ which played "Superhits" (although just listened to it now online and it doesn't sound as good). Got to Richmond a little early so had a trip down memory lane... or Monument Avenue to be precise, seeing where Richard lived when he first moved out to the States and the destination of my first visit to the States back in the early 1990s. Richmond is a nice-looking place, even more so when the sun is shining, temperatures are in the 90s and there's good music on the radio.
Spent a pleasant afternoon with my friend Joanne. We went to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden for lunch and a look around. Very nice place. I wish I had remembered to take my camera. It was so colourful and pleasantly not too busy during the week. Set off home about 7.30pm. It was a clear 3 hour drive back to Baltimore. Could have been a little less if I hadn't had the radio on so loud I missed a few of the sat-nav's instructions. Mind you, even when I did hear them, I still managed a few wrong turns. Got home around 10.45pm.
2.05pm
Enjoying a couple of lazy days here before a road trip to Richmond, Virginia tomorrow and an afternoon with Shailu on Thursday.
Helped Richard with a little light gardening last night before dinner. We were splitting and re-planting plants in the garden. The ground was, in places, so hard because of the dry summer I think I've got sore wrists today from all the digging!
Later on, Richard gave me a break from eating Chinese food left-overs cooking a nice mushroom pasta dish followed by a fresh fruit salad. Very nice. We then settled down with a glass (or two) of red wine to watch the film Robin Hood - Men In Tights (and not Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves as mentioned in the last post. I'd been drinking - what can I say?) inspired by Saturday's visit to the Renaissance Festival. As the last post says, we weren't too impressed.
Last night on TV aired the premier of a remake of the Hawaii Five-O cop series from the 1970's. I was keen to see what it was like but couldn't watch it last night for 3 reasons:
Fortunately this morning I was able to connect my laptop to the TV and watch it online. It was good. Loved hearing the title music again. Might give next week's episode a go.
9.35pm
Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. Is this the worst movie ever? I'm not a fan of complicated films but this film was terrible! Richard and I only managed 30 minutes and then switched over to watch "Dancing with the Stars" (American version of Strictly Come Dancing).
Ok - and 15 minutes after watching that we decided to switch off the TV and check our emails ;-)
9.30am
Busy weekend! Started on Friday evening with picking Richard up from work and heading to Shailu's for a catch-up and meal out. We went to a local mexican place. We all went in Richard's car: 4 adults, 2 kids and one dog. Rohan was in the back with Milo. Not the most comfortable place to be when the journey included 3 speed bumps. When getting out at the restaurant I asked Rohan if I had driven too fast. He said, "No. Go faster". So on the ride home I deliberately went faster over the speed bumps. The car wasn't quite leaving the ground but it wasn't far off. Back at the house Rohan said I was "the best driver ever!".
Saturday morning, Richard and I set about getting rid of the remains of a cut-down tree in his garden. We'd been lent an hydraulic log splitter and Richard especially appeared keen to try out the new toy. (I'd already used one at a WYNTV task). Manoeuvring the large tree trunk sections was tiring but the log splitter made light work of breaking them up into fire sized logs. By lunchtime we had done.
Rong arrived and we headed to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Basically a medieval themed fun park with lots of stuff to do, buy, eat, drink and watch. Even the food on sale was medieval. Rong and I were soon tucking in to a Smoked Turkey Leg each. Perhaps not the best advertisement for non-vegetarian food, we couldn't tempt Richard to take a bite. Later on we had Cheesecake on a stick. Watching a jousting competition was particularly good. I also got chance to meet Rong's eldest daughter Danielle who was visiting the fair with her boyfriend. After the fair, we all went to a Chinese restaurant in Columbia for dinner. All the food was good but there was just too much. We ended up bringing home about 6 boxes of left-overs.
Sunday morning, Richard and I pottered around the house and ran a few errands before eating Chinese left-overs for lunch and heading to Rong's house in preparation for a party with Shailu's family. Rong's house was enormous but soon filled up when Shailu's family arrived. We all spent a lot of time in the basement playing ping pong/table tennis and pool on the 2 full-sized tables down there. We also played outside briefly in the glorious weather but the kite flying didn't really get off the ground at all, literally... no wind. Rong prepared lots of different dishes of chinese food which the adults enjoyed but the kids, less so. Richard tried to broker a compromise but Rong wasn't having any of it. Richard got into trouble for sneaking off to quickly cook some smuggled in french-fries for the kids. A fun party though. Everyone had fun. Brought home more Chinese food.
11.45am
Richard's girlfriend Rong joined us for dinner Wednesday evening. Entertaining as always with lively conversation - mainly from Rong ;-) We're all picking on Richard's protein-focused eating habits. He seems obsessed about increasing his protein intake. Apparently it helps muscle repair. Does he have a problem with muscle repair? No.
Big news story here yesterday. Murder Suicide at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Downtown Baltimore.
Accompanied Richard to his Gym/Personal Trainer last night. Wasn't looking forward to it as I've not been doing that much exercise recently and have been eating a lot over here (predominantly wine and cheese). Fortunately it all went well. First I did a warm up on the machines and did a Fit Test on the tread mill which told me I was "Very Good". Then Brad, my personal trainer for 45 minutes said I was in good shape. Enjoyed it.
First coffee and bagel breakfast of this trip this morning. I deviated from my usual Cinnamon Crunch bagel. It's apparently one of the most unhealthy bagels they serve! I liked this morning's healthier French Toast bagel choice.
2.15pm
This morning was Maid Brigade day. Usually this requires an early start to be out of the house by the time the cleaning group arrive (usually around 8am). Today however, I was already up. I had gotten up at 5am! Richard was going to cycle into work this morning as part of some health-drive at the university and I was to bring the car back from the starting point. I had time to come back to the house, finish my coffee and watch a little TV before heading off on a little shopping trip: LL Bean in Columbia for a few clothes and Wegmans at Hunt Valley for a bit of food shopping.
Lovely weather again here. Sunnier than yesterday and perhaps a bit warmer. So why did I buy a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt this morning? Go figure.
They have some very funny television commercials over here. Check out this Gieco ad.
2.45pm
Yesterday's, or should I say the last couple of day's journey out to the states was always going to be a bit of a marathon. Trying to save a little money by using Richard's soon-to-expire air miles resulted in my journey consisting of:
Fortunately, it wasn't so bad. The 9 hour stop-over at a spookily-quiet Heathrow T1 went ok. I and a few other die-hard travelers made use of a Costa Coffee open 24/7. I managed to get some work done on my laptop and the time passed relatively quickly.
Flight to Chicago wasn't full and the empty seat beside me allowed me to stretch out. I was also able to catch up on a bit of sleep. Saw most of the film "The Joneses". Not sure if it's been released in the UK yet. Interesting plot - but isn't going to win any Oscars.
I had just under 2 hours to spare between landing at Chicago and catching my connection to Newark. Should have been plenty of time but after spending over an hour in the line to clear Immigrations, I was starting to worry. Fortunately, I made it with only about 15 minutes to spare.
Saw a spectacular thunder storm whilst waiting at Newark Airport's train station for my train to Baltimore. Flights into the airport were suspended and trains, which previously had arrived very punctually, began arriving late. My train was 20 minutes late. The days' travel was by now starting to catch up with me and I struggled to stay awake risking missing my Baltimore stop and waking up in Washington DC. Fortunately I managed it and by 10pm I had been picked up by my brother Richard and we were back at the house drinking wine, eating cheese and catching up.
Today, Tuesday, Richard's gone in to work and left me at the house to recuperate. The weather outside is Partly Cloudy, a little breezy and temperatures are low 80s (about 26C). Expected to stay like this for quite a while. The weathermen are describing this as "Pleasant". Fine by me!
