An Afternoon in Washington, D.C.

If you only had six hours, how much of Washington, D.C. could you really see? Let's find out!

First, bring a fantastic tour guide and start your day with strong coffee. It also helps to have great weather, running shoes, and patience...lots of patience. Catch a commuter train and rest up. You're going to need the energy later.

Most excellent tour guide Amelia and fellow D.C. traveler Alison

 Adam paid a quick visit to his parent company. 

Our first stop was the National Museum of the American Indian, just a short walk from the U.S. Capital. Since we arrived in D.C. around noon, we were delighted to lunch at the Mitsitam Cafe, which offers regional native cuisine from across the Americas.

The rumors of fry bread were true! And I'm very proud to report that the Great Plains food station was the most popular during our lunch hour. Everyone loves a bison burger.

Due to our short timeline, we couldn't stay long at many of the museums, but we did speed-read through a few of them. The fourth floor of the American Indian Museum was particularly interesting, as was the center dome architecture.

No snow, but plenty of Christmas trees. This one was decorated with ornaments from military families, I believe. The tree itself traveled all the way from California, for some odd reason. Maryland seemed to have plenty of its own trees.

Here's a travel tip: the Capital guards will not let you enter with a water bottle. An empty water bottle still counts. Two weeks later, I'm still trying to figure out what you could do with an empty Nalgene, but I'm sure someone somewhere tried something once.

 Note the three black SUVs. That can't be a good sign.

Poor Adam - always the odd man out!

Well, that takes care of the first two or three hours. Taking time to eat always slows you down.

The Past Becomes The Present

Nicole and Alison Jones were willing to recreate an epic photo shoot from a Spring Break 2000 Habitat Trip. Here are the results. 

 How much has changed? I'm not sure where all the birds went, there is a crack in the Washington Monument from the recent earthquake and instead of double sweatshirts, Nicole and Alison can now afford better thermal jackets. I think that is about it. 

 Amelia and I found the spectacle quite entertaining. 

More fun from Baltimore and D.C. to come. 

Spro

An awesome, extended weekend in Baltimore with good friends, Amelia, Basil, Alison was highlighted by a trip to Spro. This little coffee bar is located a few blocks away from the Safi home and they served me one of the best coffees I have ever tasted. Below is their weekly menu. I had a Piendamo and the Nigusie on the two days I visited. Each coffee is built and served in a method that brings out the best of the bean. 

 Here on a whiteboard in the back room are the remains of an interview test to hire a new employee. Sproployees need to know their stuff.

Coffee used in cold drinks never needs to be heated in the first place. The devices below add water to coffee grounds one drip at a time and collect the coffee in the pitcher at the bottom. It takes 12 hours to run a cycle of cold coffee.

 Most of our crew went with coffees that were brewed in with the pour-over method. It is similar to a drip machine, but with greater control of variables to create better coffee.

By slowing pouring water over the grounds in different waves, you allow the grounds to foam up and suck up the water before releasing it into the cup.

After one and a half years of a Spro location in Basil's neighborhood, I was able to take him along for his first trip. (It was my second.)

Baltimore and D.C. had tons and tons of fun adventures to offer, but I had to share my Spro trip first.

Giving Thanks

My parents recently made a long-anticipated move to a real town for a new job (and secretly, I suppose, to be nearer to children and grandchildren). Lo and behold, they settled on lovely Mitchell, South Dakota, home to both the World's Largest Corn Palace and Adam's extended family. This has been a wonderful gift for all of us, and we're so happy to see them settled in their new place. 

Their new home came with 30 years of wallpaper, but I promised my mom that if she did the hard work of wallpaper removal, then I would help paint. So, I traveled to Mitchell to help out for the entire week of Thanksgiving, which was the best form of a working vacation that I can imagine. 

We took a break from painting to make the easiest and most delicious pie in the entire world, gleaned from an early morning episode of The Nate Berkus Show. I'm not kidding - I don't even like pie, and I made two, one right after the other.

Adam and TJ arrived just as the second pie was coming out of the oven. Their timing, as always, is impeccable.

Unfortunately for home decor fans, I was too busy to take any "after" photos, so I'll have to snap a few photos over Christmas, once we get everything put back into place. I do have one photo of the basement wall, which is still a work in progress. This delightful color treat is called Chrysanthemum. Looks even better in person.

The best part of my parents' move to Mitchell is that Adam's parents are now only a five minute drive away. By the time we arrived at their home for second Thanksgiving, TJ had already reverted to his wild country dog ways.

Thanksgiving Day reached a beautiful record high of 71 degrees, and then, being South Dakota, the following days immediately returned to winter. It's a wonderful time of year to be a Samoyed. TJ is already looking forward to a white Christmas, and so are we.

The Final Days of Fall

Here's a quick photo round-up of our final fall weekends. We've been lazy, and I'm going to miss the sun terribly.

We let Pickles out for her last rendezvous before the snow, and she took full advantage of her time: posing, stalking, climbing, pouncing, and more posing. (FYI, I'm referring to her excellent skills at leaf stalking, not wildlife. We're a bird-friendly house here, and I've been known to leave out the occasional carrot or two for the resident bunnies.)

TJ was originally dressed as a Work Dog for Halloween, but he kept tripping on his tie. So, he converted to a Vikings Dog (again) for the rest of the night.

BOO! Guess which one Adam made? (Hint - it's probably not the one you think.)

I think these photos are so funny, but my camera just couldn't keep up with TJ's speed. He had a blast running through the leaves, although he looks a bit like a fake dog.

We showed TJ the prettiest yellow maple leaf in our whole yard, and he happily tore it to bits. This is a dog that is ready for winter. He might get his chance this week.