Maryland

Saturday, 6th March, 2010 Casey and I talked to girl scouts about studying abroad in Ireland. For the most part the parents were more interested than the girls but we had a few who were entertained. One of the girls asked if there was a pub called The Hog's Head. At first Casey and I didn't know what to say other than the fact that there wasn't, just The Brazen Head and Turk's Head. I then realized it was a Harry Potter reference which was beyond cute and hilarious. Another little girl said she knew the Irish word for girl...lassie. Overall it was a good experience and it was nice to talk about our experiences.

Afterwards we went back to her house to hang out for a bit until Patrick could acquire his father's car. After getting his non-existant voicemail, I texted him so we could make plans. He called and gave us directions to Hoffman's ice cream shop in between trying to kill things on a video game which was quite funny, eventually we got him to focus enough to get what we needed so we could meet him. Once in Casey's vehicle we put on Sondre Lerche and headed for Westminster. Patrick called us on our way to see if we wanted to have dinner before ice cream, so we met him at Applebee's. We had great fun catching up, talking about Dublin, and of course arguing a bit but it was all in good fun. I've missed them both a ton. Afterwards we ended up at Hoffman's. On the way there we put Patrick on speaker phone in case something failed in our following him there. He was blaring something ridiculous on the radio so we pumped I Gotta Feeling through our speakers and sang at the top of our lungs just to annoy him, it was grand.

We sat and talked in the parking lot of Hoffman's after getting our ice cream for about two hours before deciding we needed restrooms. McDonald's was our choice so we headed there. Afterwards we stumbled around Wal-mart where Patrick found a deal on a plaid shirt and then we sat in their parking lot for another two hours and talked even more. We reminisced about Ireland. Patrick pitched his plan for a two week trip across the States for this summer. If all goes according to plan it's going to involve friends we met in Dublin and it's going to be called The Rolling Reunion, which is quite fitting. He also talked about biking across Europe in a few years, I'd love to go but I think I'd prefer a train. (Please note that he is looking at something in the one picture. It was Wal-mart's sad excuse for a bike selection.) Soon it was time to part ways and Casey managed to somewhat document the proper goodbye between Patrick and me that we didn't get in Dublin.

Sunday Casey and Mrs. Wheltle took me to breakfast before dropping me off at the BWI Amtrak station. I got my ticket from the Quik-Trak machine and wandered out to sit on my platform for about 45 minutes. It was such a lovely day that I sat in the sun and read Notes From A Small Island by Bill Bryson. I thought about my future and the past weekend. I have made some pretty amazing friends who share the same ambitions I do and they understand me. I am extremely blessed. So even though they are an 1 1/2 hour car ride + 8 hour train ride away or just a plan 5 1/2 hour drive away, I thank God that they are in my life. Seeing and talking to them made me feel a bit more confident about what I want as they were able to validate last fall and give me hope for future expeditions. I hope to see them again soon. To quote Patrick on the topic of hope, "It's what we always have."

District of Columbia

Friday, 5th March, 2010 I woke up at 2:20 am in order to ready myself for a drive to the Amtrak station in Pittsburgh where I boarded a train headed for Washington, D.C. The train was supposed to depart at 5:20 am but was late in arriving so we pulled out at 6:05. I tried to sleep on the way there but I was just in and out for most of the trip. I made a playlist of The Script and The Swell Season to give the ride a soundtrack. Casey texted me around lunch time asking me if I wanted to go to a Sondre Lerche concert that night at the Rock & Roll Hotel in D.C. and I told her to go ahead and get tickets.

When the train finally arrived at Union Station I walked along the platform and up the stairs into the station. Once inside I started to grab my phone out of my pocket but Casey came forward out of the crowd and hugged me. Patrick was nowhere in sight so I called and texted him, turned out he couldn't get transport Friday so we'd be seeing him Saturday. We then went downstairs and she got a piece of pizza. I had eaten on the train so we reminisced about Dublin and commented on how surreal it was to be meeting up and hanging out in the States as we had met in Ireland.

We soon headed outside to walk around D.C. I snapped a few shots but not many as I had been there before. The weather was absolutely gorgeous so it was nice to be out and about. We spent a couple of hours in the National Museum of American History. I had been there before but I didn't remember everything and some of the exhibits were new. Long story short we saw Dorothy's ruby red slippers, Abe Lincoln's hat, and Julia Child's kitchen among other things. When the museum closed at 5:30 we set out on a search for a restaurant to eat dinner at. We found a place that was like a cross between Q-doba's and Panera.

Soon it was time to head to the concert so we went to the metro station in order to get to Union Station so we could catch a cab. We were quite glad we had as the roads were under construction and the area that the Rock & Roll Hotel was in was quite sketchy. The venue itself was completely fine which I was thankful for. I got to meet Casey's friend Evan and one of his friends from work. We stood toward the front for the concert. JBM opened and he was awesome. I've been on a singer/songwriter kick lately so this concert was perfect. Sondre was absolutely amazing. I had heard of him before but I didn't realize who he was exactly. He did the music for the Dan In Real Life soundtrack which is where I had recognized his name from. I had a great time but by the end of it I was quite tired. Evan gave us a ride home and by the time I crashed on Casey's couch I had been up for about 24 hours on three hours of sleep.