Not the big one I've been predicting but...

Yay - it finally snowed a decent amount in DC! Okay, so 5" isn't really a lot, but I'll take it. View from my apt:Can't see the National Cathedral today:
The most snow my car has ever seen...partially b/c it spent the first 3 years of its life in Phoenix:
The advantage of not working on Mondays, or having class...means I got to go walk around in the snow. Kids sledding near Calvert Street in Rock Creek Park:
Double wipeout:
Pretty Rock Creek:

Very confused robin:
Start of the C&O Canal in Georgetown:
Geese on the Potomac:

Deepest snow drifts I could find, by the Kennedy Center:
With all the seagulls, looks like the beach:
Sun starting to set on the Mall:
Sunset over the Potomac:
Sunset at the Lincoln Memorial:

Growing 'Shrooms

The theme for my family's holiday prez xchange was "Things that live in the dark." I got a mushroom growing kit.

I started the kit on January 23rd. On top of the kitchen cabinets is the only place I could put it to keep it away from the cats:Here's what it looked like:The first little 'shrooms started appearing a few days later:You can see one now:Dilly is very interested in what's in the box:They've grown significantly in just a few days:Ready to pick the first one on Feb 12th:
For size reference...that's a dime:Only got three this round, but the 2nd round is already starting to pop through the surface.

I said I'd never run another 1/2 marathon again...

...until last week when I signed up for the Suntrust National 1/2 Marathon in March! Been training with friends in the DC Capital Striders running club. Here's the almost 10 mile loop my friend Heather and I ran on Saturday. Thx David for letting us borrow your cool GPS watch:)

Great Falls

Went hiking at Great Falls, VA last Sunday since it was so B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L out! Highs in the 50's (it had been 25 the day before). Even though I grew up in nearby Maryland, I had never been to the Virginia side of the falls!You can see the people at the overlook on the MD side:Dam for the Washington Aqueduct intake (where DC gets its drinking water):Yup, that's a picnic table in the tree...remnants of the last flood?(in the background, you can see how much of the river was frozen over)

If you live in DC - please read

http://findmydogalli.blogspot.com

DC from an insiders perspective

Here's how DC has transformed over the past few days...port-a-potties everywhere!
near the White House:
by the Washington Monument:
by the Old Post Office:
even way up in Adams Morgan:

Rose Bowl Trip Conti

Here are photos from the rest of my trip...

We arrived in LA on New Years Eve, and went to lunch in Pasadena. People camping out for the Rose Parade...24 hours in advance! (notice the blue tape marking off someone's territory):
Then we walked around Chinatown:
And Union Station:
And downtown LA. My fav was the DWP building, with the moat around it, and the museum about Mulholland inside:
New Years Day...off to the Rose Bowl!
Here we are (first time the 5 of us have been together in YEARS):
Nittany Lion warming up the crowd:
B2 that flew over during the opening ceremonies (pilot was a PSU grad):
It was a white out for sure at the other end of the stadium:
We had really good seats, most touchdowns were scored at our endzone:
My brother winning a $100 bet...
Celebration...for USC:
We hit the road on Saturday. Sad snowman outside hotel in Williams, AZ:
Car grill covered in ice...you can't even read the license plate:
Little Rock capitol (check another one off the list!):
4" thick Tiffany brass doors:
'Little Rock Nine' Monument:

After 5,377 miles, we returned home from a very memorable trip after 10 days on the road!

Wide Awake at 3AM (d'oh, knew I shouldn't have taken the cold medicine)

Happy 2009!
Well, someone always gets sick on a Rose Bowl trip...and this year, the lucky winner is, first timer, me! At least the Rose Bowl plane mishap this year put my two brothers in first class for one leg of their journey to LA today.

So since I'm wide awake, thought I'd catch on my trip blog...starting with some photos from the first day. Lovely visitors center in West Virginia:
Check off another state capitol building: Charleston, WV
Stayed the first night just over the border in Indiana:
Didn't take long to get to Missouri the next morning:
St. Louis Arch/Mississippi River from the car window:
Who knew there was a Churchill Museum in the middle of Missouri? My Dad remembered that he gave his famous 'iron curtain' speech at some small school and we just happened to stumble upon it. It was Westminster College in Fulton, MO. Very nice museum, I recommend it if you're ever in that neck of the woods. (there was even a whole room/display dedicated to his insults)
It was housed in the basement of a Christopher Wren church moved from London:
There was also a large section of the Berlin Wall there:
Then on to another state capitol building - Jefferson City, MO:
Also the site of the Lewis and Clark landing:
On to Kansas...that's when I started to not fell well.
We stayed in Burlington, CO on night 2. The next day I slept thru most of the Rockies. It was a weird weather day - 60's in Denver, over the snow covered mountains (and lots of traffic) and then just hours later, 15 degrees in Utah. There was snow on the ground through the entire state. This was the welcome center for Utah on I-70, boy was the bathroom cold!:
Night 3 we started looking for a place to stay after Las Vegas...and ended up all the way in Barstow, CA. Only 2 hours away from my brother's place in LA, but it was getting too late to push on.

Spent the day today walking around downtown LA...pics later.

We Are...Penn State! (that's tomorrow...or, um, later today now really)

Rose Bowl Bound!

Stayed the night last night in Dale, Indiana after about 10 hours of driving (or only 9 if you add in the time change, we're right on the border - it's 7 am, no it's 8 am, no now 7am, the cell phone changes in the hotel). We covered 4 states, and saw two others. ~630 miles (1/4 of the way there!) More later...