Day three.
Another day with the dogs. Scout and Hilo needed some company again. This time Angie accompanied me for the morning; yellow line to King St., cab ride to Jenny's house. Good morning Alexandria.
Most of the day was spent getting some work done and contemplating how Jenny should decorate. Angie would like to take on this task but Jenny's "I'm going to do it when I get around to it and if I think it's a good idea" approach prevailed. We'll see what happens when we get back from Columbus.

Speaking of Columbus, we're driving out tomorrow. Distance: 414.1 miles (666.4km) Time: 6 hrs., 21mins.  I'm assuming the time reflected here doesn't factor in the fact that a major winter storm is passing through as I write.

The idea of driving through falling snow, turning to dirty slush, slick and icy and the other guy on the road brings back memories of the times we made the trip to Tahoe.  Oh, what a tomorrow it's going to be. Just hopping we miss the heavy stuff. We'll keep you posted.

Day Two.
Up early;going over to Jenny's to spend sometime with Scout and Hilo. They need someone to visit while Jenny's at work as a briefer. Easy commute via the Metro and cab ride to her house in Alexandria, VA. Nice day.
Can't say the weather is the best but not the worst either; cold with the promise of rain tonight. Had a great walk with Jenny and the dogs. She lives in a development that was built in the fifties to house military. All brick, multi-storied boxes, but with east coast charm. Not sure what that means but there's something.

Day One in DC. 
Can it be: to be woken up by the noise of a jackhammer tearing up the sidewalk next door. Oh the cli of the big city. Can't believe we're here again.
A day of errands. Last time we were here I thought I loaned our TV to my daughter until we came back. I guess I was mistaken. It seems I gave it to her and it is now well encased in her new home. So our task today; acquire a TV and locate an exercise bike for Angie. The TV's not a problem thanks to Costco, the bike was another issue entirely. Why is it, what should be a simple task can become much more than expected. It seems that Costco California had a specific bike Angie wanted but the only store she could identify as having it on the east coast was in Norfolk, VA. That turns out to be about a 6 hour car ride, that is if you have a car.  Once we established that was a bit far to go for a bike we started a search of local Costco warehouses. After calling a number of locations all over Maryland and Virgina, even one in Columbus, we found the bike in Fairfax, VA. O'goody! that's only 20 miles away. Enlisting the help of our daughter and her car we headed out. Unfortunately, thanks to the wounders of technology the 20 miles stretched to ~40. The GPS had a propensity for directing us down a most circuitous route. Eventually we got it done, mission accomplished; bike and TV,
Oh, I failed to mention the exercise bike weights 100+ pounds. Not that getting it into Jenny's Outback wasn't a tight fit but getting it home and up the elevator was great fun.
Home at last. Now un-box the TV and put it together. Screws wont go in where they are suppose to, so now its a little wobbly on its stand.  Since we don't have cable in the condo,  I don't want to pay for it during the time where not here, I had to arrange the antenna position about 4 times and reprogram the TV before locking in all the right signals. 35 stations now, half of which are Spanish language, but at least we get the major stations and we're TV enabled.

Now for the fun stuff, the Bike. I thought that I was through with "some assembly required" Christmas's. After two glasses of wine and a lot of angst it got done, thanks for the tools provided with the kit and a great instruction interpreter.

Sitting at SJC waiting for the plain. Departing 2:10 to Chicago Midway. Angie and I shared a sandwich for lunch. Not gourmet but adequate. I love going but I hate getting ready. The packing is just to stressful. We packed four suitcases; one for the little girl Annabel, one for me and then ther was Angie. In addition we have carry-ons for all the hardware we're caring as well as a cooler for nourishment. It just getting to be such a major move every time we go traveling.
Boarding shortly, I'll write latter.

Waiting to go to the airport. Just opened gifts with the Barman kids and Barbara. Very nice from all. Angie got a new SF Championship blanket. I got the first session of the Big Bang Theory. OK we're off.

Getting ready for our winter adventure to Washington D.C.. This blog will recount the adventures and trauma of going to D.C. for ~6 weeks to visit our children and especially our granddaughter Anabel. If your not familiar our little band of characters I'd like to introduce them so when we talk about someone the reader will know who of which we speak. For those who know us please tolerate what follows.
Meet Angie! She is the other part of this blog and has been taking care of me for the past 40 years.
Bob, that's me. I'll let Angie tell you about me when it's her turn to post. I'm just to modest, I guess.
Jennifer is our daughter. She works for the federal government and lives just outside of D.C. in the community Alexandria, VA. She has two wonderful dogs, Scout and Hilo. She has just purchased a townhouse and is in the process of renovation, this could be the source of much angst.
Chris is our son. He is 35 and lives with his wife and daughter in Columbus, Ohio, where he is a chief. We'll be heading out to visit over Christmas week.
Kathleen is Chris's wife. She is a writer of PR for the mining industry at the moment.
Annabel is our precious granddaughter. She is three and a half and is a joy. Lots more about her to come.