the first last week

Well my parents have long since left, but I'm still thinking about all that happened last week. We must have walked a good 50 miles around the Mall, Arlington Cemetery, Pentagon City, and Georgetown. It seemed like we were always on our feet. On top of that, I ran the Cherry Blossom 10-mile race, and I ran 1.5 miles before the race started. I think if you pile that together, I could have easily circled the Beltway, and had energy left over to take a swim in the Potomac. I always love how active my folks are. We're such a mobile family.

Not to say that we didn't take in our fair share of calories during the week. We had such a random and voluminous concoction of foods that that I think we actually gained weight. My stomach is still trying to sort out all the flavors. It was like a gathering of the UN on my palette: Indian, Lebanese, Chinese, Mexican, Australian, Irish, Polish, Italian, and a wide assortment of American (barbeque, seafood, chicken pot pies, hot dogs, pizza, and many more). I guess we never really think about how much food we can take in during a week, and the wide swath of countries it can come from. Honestly, ever since college, I've been pretty much a Pasta Roni and Malt-O-Meal tycoon, which is a taste that's easy to satisfy.

On their way home though, something cool happened. They were scheduled to fly to Denver, and then on to Wyoming, but the second flight was overbooked. Sometimes airlines will just offer you a $100 voucher for future flights if that happens, but my parents got the royal treatment. They were sent on a shuttle to a Doubletree hotel, had their meals paid for, flown out the next morning, and then given two free round trip tickets to anywhere in the continental US. The only rule is that they have to use them within the next year. How cool is that?

Anyway, I enjoyed their time here, and I found that I can actually be a decent tour guide. This city presents itself so well . . . it needs very little explanation. Just take people downtown and let them go exploring. The big pointy thing is hard to miss.