The trip got off to a humorous start when I couldn't get through the security checkpoint without setting off the buzzer. I never did find out why it kept going off, the only metal I didn't remove was my glasses and the 2 clips in my right shoulder. Penny got a kick out of the whole ordeal and was standing there chuckling while I got the well publicized extensive TSA pat-down . The guy patting me down did not laugh when I asked him if I should cough when he checked a certain area. Penny also thought the joke was in poor taste.
The flight up was good and we got super treatment at the Dulles Enterprise rental car office. Actually the drive to the office was interesting because we had a conversation with the driver, who was from Ethiopia, about marriage in this country and his. When we arrived at the office the manager was inside the door handing out water bottles. My clerk was a friendly "100%" Italian woman who sat me down in the lobby and brought the paperwork out on a clipboard. She chatted with Penny and I as I filled out the paperwork, then she went and got the car, did a walk around checking for damage then dashed inside to get some maps for us. At the end of our visit our return to the office was just as friendly. I was surprised to find that level of customer service there.
The hotel turned out to be quite nice and we got a great rate for the room. The hotel was about 2 miles from Anne and Todd's house and the house was about a mile from the church so I didn't have any difficult driving to face on this trip. I only put about 50 miles on the rental car for the entire weekend.
Friday evening Kathy and Joe treated us all to dinner to celebrate their anniversary.
We slept in on Saturday and headed over to see Joey and family. Since there were no definite plans for lunch Penny offered to make ravioli using my mother's recipe. She prepared the meal and I spent some time with Anne plying with their Wii. I helped cook the ravioli and it all was good. Penny once again worked her cooking magic.
Sunday was the baptism at a beautiful church, Saint Timothy's. Two babies were christened and the deacon did a wonderful job of managing the ceremony without losing the beauty and meaning of the event. Joey was a champ. Here are some pics.
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| the whole group |
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| Todd and Joey |
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| the baptism |
After the Christening it was back to the house for sandwiches, football and family time.
Joey is a big boy. He's only 6-months old but he is into 1 year old clothing. I never expected to see Todd show much in the way of emotions but with Joey he is a typical dad. He plays with him and is usually the one holding him--because he wants to. Anne looks great and appears happy. It was good to see how well Anne, Todd and Joey go together.
Monday was the go home day. We surprised Joe with some Dunkin Donuts coffee and apple fritters. He was missing that on this trip.
After bidding farewell to the family we visited the Udvar-Hazy - Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on our way back to the airport. It has displays and items that didn't make it to or didn't have room in the downtown air and space museum. The most prominent being the space shuttle Enterprise, an SR-71, The Enola Gay, a Concorde SST, the first Boeing 707 and hundreds of other aircraft, rockets and satellites. Here are some pics.
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| SR-71 Blackbird with shuttle in the background |
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| a WWII German missile with wooden fins and wings |
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| the Concorde SST |
The trip home was typical of air travel today. All our flights were delayed. We got home quite late.
Our cat did just fine being home alone for 4 days.
I did lose my cell phone at the airport. TSA found it and so I'll get it back sometime in the future.
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