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Well, we are on our way home. In many regards it is hard to believe we have been on the road for 10 full days, and in some regards it is hard to believe that it has only been 10 days. Before I do a recap of the trip, let me fill you in on what we did today.

We woke up around 8:00, packed our bags, ate some breakfast, and got out of the hotel by 9:30. The only thing on the agenda today was to go to New Jersey? Why, because it is there and neither Ellie or I had been there before. Jersey is a little over 100 miles from where we were staying in D.C., and along the way we would drive through about 10 miles of Delaware.

The trip there was uneventful, but expensive. We had to pay 3 tolls on the way to New Jersey totaling $11.00. Granted this isn’t a ton of cash, but I have already spent way too much on this trip, especially for a guy who has no job. ☺ Not to mention I had $3.80 in cash, when we crossed the Delaware Bridge into New Jersey, and I assumed I would have to pay another toll and I was worried it would cost more than I had. However, we didn’t have to pay the toll to get on the New Jersey Turnpike as I got off at the first exit! However, I needed to find an ATM machine, so I could pay to get back to D.C. and the airport.

Anyway, we got there around 11:30ish and stopped at a McDonalds for lunch. Ellie got to play at the McDonalds playground, where we used the restroom, and 2 minutes later on the playground she had a “stinky accident.” Hopefully that is the only one of the day, but we are 15 minutes into a 5-hour flight, so I am keeping my fingers crossed. So back to McDonalds, we spend another 10 minutes or so, then we got into the car to find a place with an ATM. We struck out at our first stop, which was a Hampton Inn, but they directed me to a gas station that did have one. So we drove to the gas station, I had them fill up the gas (Side note – New Jersey is one of those states were it is illegal to pump your own gas), and get some cash. Then it was back to D.C.

The drive back to D.C. wasn’t anything special. However, I talked to Erin Thomas for about 20 minutes on the drive back, and the tolls were cheaper though. I think I only paid $8.00 to get back. Since we had some time, I figured we might as well swing by the University of Maryland. I have a thing for university campuses and gray P.E.-type t-shirts. Once we got there we immediately learned that it was bloody hot. I am not sure what that means, but it sounds good. We got a couple shirts and postcards, and then we took some pictures around campus. Maryland’s mascot is a terrapin, and somewhere on campus they have a huge statue of a turtle that I wanted to get a picture of, but it was too hot to search too much. So we got a few pictures, got in the car and headed for our final destination of the after the Dulles Airport.


We hit a little bit of traffic on the way back in, but the highlight of the drive was finally seeing the Washington D.C. temple from the freeway. It is amazing, when you are heading south on I-495. You go up a hill, and as you get to the top, all of the sudden the temple is there. It is absolutely breathtaking. I can only imagine what it is like to see it at night. So we got to the rental car place, returned the rental, and they actually took us to the terminal in our rental car, which was great because that meant I didn’t have to lug Ellie around the rental car place. Although the guy who took me there kind of stood there until I gave him a tip. I must admit, it was probably the best $2.00 I spent on the trip.


We were able to check in quickly and easily, and get to the gate. Ellie had a fit at security but we survived that. Unfortunately our flight was delayed 15 minutes, so we had some time to kill. I was feeling snacky so we walked to the opposite end of the terminal and got some Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. Suffice it say, Ellie enjoyed her ice cream, although for some reason she is against anyone actually eating the cone portion of an ice cream cone.

Now we are sitting in seats 1A and 1B of American Flight 75 to Los Angeles. Yes, we are in first class. I figured we suffered through a 5-hour red-eye; let’s make the flight home more enjoyable. We have already had bottled water, a can of Dr. Pepper, warm nuts, and a hot towel. I can’t wait for dinner! As for Ellie, she has already used the restroom once, which was an adventure because we are in airplane, but it was made more challenging as we are currently experiencing some turbulence.

This trip was an amazing trip for me. I was able to spend 10 days and nights with the light of my life. Granted some nights were difficult for me with all of the other uncertainty going on in my life, but there is little if anything I would change about the trip as a whole. Here are some of the things that Ellie and I were able to do-


• Drive 4,144 miles in a white Hyundai Sonata
• See my favorite next door neighbors of all-time
• See one of my best friends from college
• Go to dinner with Erin Thomas, who for all intents and purposes was my sister through high school.
• Travel through 20 states plus Washington D.C. – (11 of which were new states for me. Ellie has now been to 27 states and I have been to 41)
• See 12 temples (Ellie is now tied with my mother at 38. I am in the lead with 41)
• Hang out with my cousins from my Mom’s side of the family that I haven’t seen in 20 years. Dinner that night was so much fun, and I plan on seeing them more than once in the next 20 years
• Spend 70+ hours in a car. I forgot to see what the exact number was as our rental actually kept track
• Remember how much humidity sucks
• Go through a whole case of Costco water on my own
• Eat salmon willingly for the first time
• Eat shrimp and think it was not too bad (I just did that on the plane)
• Watch Toy Story about 27 time, and Sleeping Beauty about 14 times
• Walk all over our nation’s capital
• Be told several times that “Ms. Prima says today is Saturday” not to mention here several sentences that start out “Mommy says…” For example, “Mommy says my seat belt is too tight.”
• Visit 6 different universities. I actually think it would be really cool to go to school back East. There is such a different vibe there, than the one in the West.
• Learn that you can have an Auburn University decal on your Georgia license plates.

We have spent 5 nights in hotels, 3 nights with friends, 1 night in my aunt’s house and 1 very long night on an airplane. I am grateful for having the opportunity to experience this, despite the circumstances that allowed this to happen. The great thing? Ellie and I get to do something similar next month, when we go to Illinois with my mom. We are flying out of Salt Lake City with Mom, but Ellie and I are driving to Salt Lake City via Portland. The plan is to see 10 temples, which would put Ellie at 48 and me at 49. Mom will still be at 41 – Ha! So until our next big adventure, I bid you all adieu…

P.S. The flight home went well. At least it went well until we landed. The gate we were supposed to go to was being used by the plane that was supposed to leave as we were pulling in. So that meant there was no place for us to pull-in. We ended up being stuck on the runway for about half an hour. Ellie was not happy. She knew that when we were on the ground that we were supposed to get off the plane. We were finally able to get off the plane and my good friend picked us up, and 90 minutes later we were home. You have to love L.A. traffic at 10:00 at night.