In VIrginia

I was up at four thirty and out the door by five. There were maybe three open parking places in the long term lot at SFO, and it took me about twenty minutes of cursing to find one. Lucky me.

I was on the shuttle to the terminal when I suddenly remembered that my iPad was in the trunk of my car. For a split second I considered leaving it. I had a ton of books on my iPhone, after all. I could get by. But I'd transferred so many movies to it for my flight and idle evenings that I forced myself to get off the shuttle and go back to the roof of the structure to get it. At least it wasn't raining.

There were half a zillion people waiting for some airline to process them when I got to the International terminal. Fortunately I discovered that they were not waiting for MY airline. Virgin America had me in and out and through security in no time flat. Unfortunately I was wearing a leather coat and carrying a heavy backpack full of camera and computer gear, so by the time I got to my gate I was thoroughly soaked with sweat. Gotta tell you: traveling while fat is no fun. I began to dread the flight. No doubt the Fates would seat me next to someone with my kind of physique.

Fortunately I was wrong, or the Fates were merciful. The flight was great. The couple sitting next to me were lithe and young and in shape, and the woman who sat to my immediate right took a Xanax to ameliorate her fear of flying, so she was out like a light before we left the ground. Virgin America is a splendid airline. I wish they went everywhere. I'd never fly anything else. Decent sized seats. Seat-back entertainment systems with a Google map showing the plane's location among other things. Pretty good food, too, and more legroom since I was sitting in Main Cabin Select (a poor-man's business class).

Everyone around me put down their windowshades, which effectively prevented me from seeing anything the whole way across the country. I watched the extended version of "The Fellowship of the Ring" and occasionally glanced up at the seat-back monitor. States came and went. Our Great Circle route took us all the way north of Cheyenne, Wyoming before it began slowly to curve south again.

We landed five hours after departing at 7:30 AM, but the time zone differential meant it was already late afternoon when I stepped out of Dulles International Airport. The workers at the airport and the car rental agency were unfailingly polite and good-humored. I got a nice dusty black Chevy Impala at Enterprise Rent-A-Car. I hooked up the iPhone and turned on the Navigon software and plotted a route to the hotel. It's so nice not to have to rent a GPS unit. I was a little nonplussed by the car for a moment. What's this? A key that you actually have to put into the ignition switch? No rear-view camera? The steering wheel doesn't slide up and out of the way when you get out? How... quaint. (I admit I am spoiled when it comes to cars, and I don't know anyone who rents an Infiniti M35.)

This is a very relaxed part of the Washington metro area, I guess. The trees actually have colors other than green, which is a nice change from the Bay Area. Most of the leaves there are either green all the time or suddenly turn brown and fall off without much of a transition. I hope to drive in some of the more rural areas around here to get a sense of the countryside. I quite like what I've seen of Virginia so far. It feels comfortable. The Crowne Plaza Hotel is quite nice, and the room is freakin' huge. The hotel's restaurant, Houlihan's, is nothing to write home about. So I won't. At least they had a decent beer (Blue Moon) on draft.

I'm staying close to the airport, both for convenience and because I plan to take at least two rather long day trips (one to Gettysburg and another to Monticello and possibly Richmond) and thought a hotel outside the city center would be a good idea. My first stop will be the National Air and Space Museum, tomorrow!

I can't wait.

Capitol-Bound

Tomorrow I start a week-long vacation to Washington D.C. and environs. I'm excited.

It will be nice to get out of town and not worry about work for a little while (though I expect I'll be checking mail and making sure my co-workers don't blow themselves and the service up while I'm gone), but even more exciting will be the opportunity to see museums and monuments I've only read or heard about up to now. I've never been to D.C..

I already know to avoid using the Beltway, so thanks in advance if you were planning to advise me not to.

I'm staying near Dulles Airport and plan to take the Metro into the city. Knowing that it's too easy to overdo it in the museums and become mentally burned out, I plan to alternate day trips with museum visits. Here's my current itinerary (weather permitting):

• Sat Oct 30: Travel to D.C.


• Sun Oct 31: National Air and Space Museum (the big new Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles)


• Mon Nov. 1: Day trip to Gettysburg, PA (about 75 miles)


• Tue Nov. 2: Smithsonian Natural History Museum


• Wed Nov. 3: Day trip to Monticello and Richmond, VA


• Thu Nov 4: Smithsonian American History Museum


• Fri Nov 5: The Air and Space Museum on the Mall, then the monuments (maybe by Segway!) -- this will be a long day because I want to shoot the monuments at night.


• Sat Nov 6: Arlington National Cemetery in the morning, and then return to the Bay Area in the afternoon

Depending on the weather forecasts I may juggle this schedule around a bit, or throw it out altogether if it turns out that I'm too fascinated by the museums.

I'm taking my camera and will be posting lots of photos on my PBase Gallery (http://www.pbase.com/jeffkirk1).