Clap, clap, clap-clap-clap, DC UNITED

Saturday night we watched DC United play Chicago Fire. I've never followed MLS but I think I could be a United fan pretty quickly. Although the game was scoreless there was plenty of excitment and the fans were the best. A packed stadium, rabid fans with flags, drums, cow-bells, smoke-bombs, and organized chants. I thought I was back at a World Cup game. It was great! I didn't realize there were such soccer fans in the US. For the next game I'm painting my face - or at least wearing DC black.

Trees, Orchids, and Dog Bites

Molly got attacked by a German Shepherd while running with Eric on a trail this weekend. The result was a visit to the emergency vet but luckily no stitches were necessary. She's doing fine - I think the worst part for her is having to wear an old t-shirt of mine to cover the wound. She's so embarrassed but I keep telling her it is better than a funnel collar.
Monday we went to the National Arboritum with the McArthurs (who just happened to move to DC a few weeks after us). 450 acres of every kind of tree you could imagine. Eric likes to stick his head in Banana trees for some reason. I loved the bonsai collection - they had a white pine bonsai that has been in training since 1625. The arboritum had an orchid exhibit and there were vendors from all over selling amazing orchids. We picked up a couple to add some color and oxygen to our apartment.

Spies Among US


Last weekend we went on a walking tour titled "Spies in Georgetown." It was led by an ex-military intelligence officer. We forgot our camera but didn't see any espionage in action so is wasn't too great a loss. Mostly the guide pointed out homes that CIA directors and interesting spies lived in. We also walked past homes of John Kerry, Madeline Albright, JFK, and others I can't remember right now. I think next week we are going to try a walking tour of Lincoln's assination. As long as it cools down! This humidity is killing me. We walked past the FBI building a couple of weeks ago - it is pretty ugly and not visitor friendly. Too bad.

Art from an Engineers View
I'm not an artist and I have a really hard time coordinating Eric's ties and suits but I love art museums. Last week we went to the National Gallary of Art a couple of times and for the first time went into the east wing - modern art - area. The bookstore/gift shop was amazing and we bought a few prints. In Paris, Eric found he really likes 16th century Dutch art, specifically Vermeer. I find my favorites with the French masters. Monet, Degas, Seurat, Renior, etc. So the question is: which prints should we put in our bedroom and which in the guest room. Would you as our guest rather wake up to Mrs. Monet

or Lady with a Pearl Earing?

Visitors Help us Have Fun
Last weekend we had 2 sets of friends from Corvallis visit. Robert and Jessica came out for an international motorcross race and Candice and Courtney came out for their grandmother's funeral. It was fun to see some sights with all of them and Eric was awesome for putting up with an apartment full of women on Sunday morning - 4 talkative ladies and 2 of the sweetest babies.

Wednesday I met a friend from childhood, Jess, and her inlaws at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. I especially liked the dolphin show and the poison dart frogs. So much to see and do! Come visit us!

Urban Life in the Woods
We are lucky to live only 1.5 blocks from a trail that takes us into Rock Creek Park. Rock Creek Park is a National Park that is twice the size of Central Park (NY) and connects to other parks in surrounding states. We can take a trail through the park from the National Zoo into West Virginia! Today in the park I felt like I was back in Oregon except with different trees and a few urban forest noises - landmower, airplane, slight hum from traffic. Then we met a high school track team. So much for solitude! I don't think Molly minded - she was happy chasing squirrels.

Urban Life

This is a picture of our building. Our apartment includes all of the windows on the second floor on the right. It is taking some time to get used to sharing walls with neighbors again. I think our upstairs neighbor was awake and walking around all night.
We had a pleasant trip across the country and were able to see family and friends along the way. The drama came when we were moving furniture into the apartment. We garage-saled most of our furniture in Corvallis and the only piece that came with us that I really cared about was the couch. Well, the movers tried and tried but couldn't get it through our apartment door. Eric was ready to pull the upholstery off and cut up the couch to get it in but the movers suggested taking it through a window. And that is what they did! The window on the right just above the building front door worked great. It was very exciting and I thought about documenting it with pictures but decided against it in case something went wrong (what evidence?). I guess urban movers deal with this kind of thing all the time but it was one for the memory book for me!

We're Famous

Eric's dad sent us a news clipping from their local paper in Salmon, Idaho (written by grandpa Bob). Besides being pretty cool, it pretty much sums up our lives so I thought I'd share.