The big vacation starts in three weeks, and the mini-vacation starts in mere days… I’m excited!
August 1, 2008, 11:17 PM
Yes, August is going to be fun, since I’m spending about a week and a half of it away from the office, recharging my batteries.
First of all, I will be on a “mini-vacation” for three days next week plus the weekend. I’m spending half of it up here with Katie, who’s coming up to see me. We’re going to be running around DC one day, cooling off at Splashdown Waterpark the next, and then wandering around Potomac Mills on the third day before we head down to Stuarts Draft. I’ll be returning Katie home, and then going to see my parents, whom I’ve not seen in Stuarts Draft since May (they have come up to DC on a few occasions since then).
However, seeing my parents in Stuarts Draft is kind of a mixed blessing for me. On one hand, I love seeing my parents, and enjoy spending time with them. Our relationship has improved greatly now that we don’t share a house anymore. We have a blast together. On the other hand, there is nothing to do in Stuarts Draft and vicinity. There is this plethora of new shopping in Staunton and Waynesboro… but I can get all of it two or three times over in Montgomery County, Maryland, where I live, with the most important places for me within five miles of my house. But yeah, aside from maybe cow tipping, there’s not much to do in Stuarts Draft. Why do you think I was always going up to Washington DC every chance I got while I was living in Stuarts Draft?
And then my big vacation starts at 5:00 PM on August 22, and lasts through Labor Day. I just hope I don’t get sick again this Labor Day weekend like I did last year. That would really suck. Still, on Sunday, August 24, I head for the beach, and I’m there until Friday. I’m still working out the details for what I’m going to do for those five days, but I do plan to take Duckie out in the water and see what kind of shots I can get, and I plan on getting a sunrise with the Kodak. I’m also toying with the idea of going parasailing, and taking Duckie up with me for some cool aerial images. I’ve never been parasailing before, and on one hand, it seems like it would be very exciting, going up as high as the top of the Empire State Building. On the other hand, the whole concept of holy crap, that’s a long way down also comes to mind. After all, you are just kinda dangling there from a few strings as high up as the Empire State Building. Hope everything holds.
Whatever I do, though, this ought to be a fun vacation. And no need to go to the public library this time around to write in my Journal – I’ll have the Lappy in tow, and the hotel I’m staying in (the same hotel as in 2005) has high-speed Internet. I also plan on getting out a little more than I did last time. Most I strayed from the beach area last time was to get supplies at Wal-Mart and to go to the library to do the Journal. This time, I hope to go a little further out and about, and experience some local flavor.
And then I hope to spend some time in Richmond on the way back. Anything so as not to return to DC during rush hour, don’t you know.
So if all goes well, I won’t have to reload my SmarTrip again until I get my September SmartBenefits…
Web site: My most recent trip to the beach, back in 2005...
Song: Tech-No, featuring techno music on the mandolin.
Quote: So yeah, I shall enjoy...
Categories: Travel