Friends, Cheese, Wine and Dirty Laundry!

Having left the Trek crew and thrown out into the ‘wilderness’ that is Washington DC on our own, we decided to take advantage of the facilities at Cherry Hill campground and catch up on some much needed sleep.... in the cafe/library/recreation area. 6 hrs and 1 exploded shampoo bottle in my bag later, we headed out of town on the train crossing 3 states to meet Kristin. Maryland to Washington DC to Virginia all in 1.5 hrs! You can’t even fly across Queensland in that time.

It was sooo good to see Kristin, Heidi's childhood girlfriend whom I grew up with since the age of 8 and someone from our side of the world with the good ol’ Aussie accent. We headed back to her apartment and met her Fiance, Vanja and plonked ourselves on the living room floor for the next 3 days! To have a real bed to sleep in was heaven – even a fold out couch bed! And man, did we do some washing!!! That poor machine went for days. Even the sleeping bag didn’t escape although it had to be rescue by Vanja when, after pulling it out of the machine it was twisted up more than a Chicken Twisty. Should have read the label stating, ‘Do not Machine Wash’. Hmmmmmm.....

The next couple of days were so lovely and relaxed. Poor Vanja headed out to work each day at 7am whilst we caught up with the Sandman. Heading out at our own leisure, we had the pleasure of Kristin’s company each day as she managed to get some time off work. We saw the beautiful countryside that is Virginia, visited the township of Leesburg – we went into a cafe there which had a ‘Take a book, Leave a book’ area and Serena, seeing a book she REALLY wanted to read, did as the sign said. Well the first part anyway.

Kristin, Serena and Heidi enjoying a coffee in Leesburg - the infamous book taking shop

Taking the ‘scenic route’ home one afternoon via Middleburg, we got to see a bit more of the countryside than anticipated but it was worth it as we meandered down little country lanes and even saw a deer. We made our way to Sunrise Hills winery one afternoon for wine tasting in an old barn that had been done up beautifully by the Mormans many years ago.

The old barn style Winery
A beautiful afternoon out in the Vineyards of Virginia

Having left my ipod in our Trek Van, I enlisted the help of Trek Leader, Brian, to somehow get it back down to Washington from where he was... New York!!! So one afternoon we headed into DC to meet up with another Trek Leader who had met up with Brian the night before to be given the Ipod to bring it down to Washington to meet up with me to hand it over! Phew! We took advantage of our time in town and visited the Holocaust Museum. I have been to this museum 3 times now in my life and each time it has such a great effect on me how one event, although over many years, affected the world in such a way. It is a definite MUST DO on your list of things to do in DC if you ever go.

The greatest thing about travel has to be the people you meet. I make a point of keeping in contact with friends I’ve met along the way because you never know when.... you are going to need a floor to crash on! Apart from catching up again time and time again! My friend Andy from Ohio is one of these people that I met whilst travelling 11 years ago in France and someone whom I’ve constantly kept in touch with (wish I could say he kept in touch as much – just kidding Andy!) over the years. We met up again 6 years ago on my travels around the States and here we were again, in Washington DC. Andy and his girlfriend Dana met up with Kristin, Serena and myself for a lovely Ethopian dinner. Yes that’s exactly what we thought; ‘do they eat in Ethopia?’ The food is amazing. Poor Dana, Kristin and Serena had to put up with a couple of hours of Andy and myself reminiscing about ‘old times’ but it was a fun night and interesting to hear what the both of them are up to these days.

On our last night we made the trip to Wegmans to get dinner.... oh but this is no ordinary shop. This was heaven in Ashburn. Wegmans was a massive gourmet food extravaganza. From ready made salads, cold meats and cheeses, wine, condiments and oh so much more. We stocked up on the necessities – bread, cheese, wine, dips and meat and headed home for our feast. And as if that wasn’t enough but later that night we headed into town for Gelato. Now, when I mentioned to Kristin that we were coming to visit months ago, she said back then that she was going to take us to the most amazing Gelato place she had been to, and by hook or by crook she was determined. It was worth the wait. I will be back one day Kristin for more Mojito Gelato mmmmmm mmmmmmm.

The best dinner in the world... all from WEGMANS!

And thus ended our journey in Washington DC/ Virginia.

H and S