The drive down to Washington D.C. from Pittsburgh takes from 3 ½ hours to 4 ½ hours depending on traffic. We used to stop in Breezewood, the fast food capital of the world, and eat lunch. My weakness was always Arby’s but the last few trips we forget the lunch and just suck down some fruit and yogurt while we drive along. It turns out the heavy lunch at Arby’s would make us tired and sleepy. And we would almost fall asleep at the wheel. It was torture trying to stay awake at the wheel. This last trip Laura and I trying to see who could go the longest without eating. Finally we split a banana and it was surprising how filling a banana can be when your just sitting in a car. It makes sense that if you are just sitting in a car you should not need that much food. But all the advertising that you see along the road seems to keep you always hungry. Today however I think because we both worked out in the morning before our trip we both were. And the endorphin rush lasted well into the car ride. So the advertising did not effect us so much. However I did bitch when we passed Arby’s because I thought we might get a mocha milk shake. But we passed on that idea. After the banana we split a cup of vanilla yogurt and we were ¾ of the way to D.C. and since half of hunger is just thirst we kept drinking water. The drive was so much easier eating light because we did not have to fight sluggish sleep. Before we knew it we had arrived. The weather was great mid 80’s and sunny skies. We just kicked back and we played with the nieces and nephews in my brother and sister-in-law’s big yard. My brother built a tree house in the woods surrounding the property. When we walked to the tree house we passed a stream that had trees felled by beavers the way they do by gnawing around the base of the trees. And they had already started on the dam across the stream by dragging some other trees across the small stream. It was fascinating to see their handiwork up close. It was good to see that they were still surviving with so much human encroachment. The tree house was about 15 feet off the ground and built really well. Since my brother builds houses for a living, this tree house showed his expertise. I told him that if I get laid off from my job I would come down and live in the tree house. He had put shingles on the roof and used really good lumber. The kids love it. After we climbed up the ladder we checked out the woods from this vantage point. Soon we all fell asleep and took a nice nap in the woods. After we returned to my brother’s house, Laura and I took a walk around the neighborhood. Since he lives in horse country we ended up looking at the horses behind the big wooden fences. When we returned to the house we had grilled chicken and hamburgers off of the grill. Meat always tastes better off of the grill. Grilled meat and beer and salad. I think I was in heaven. Laura’s Mother was already staying at their house because her and Laura were going to baby-sit the kids while my brother and his wife went to Puerto Rico for a work vacation the following week. The next day we all went to a place called Burke Lake where we walked around the lake and canoed. It was a lot of fun. That night we went out to an Italian restaurant and had some good Italian food. I had some free range veal and Laura had the tilapia fish special. My nephew ordered the kids portion of spaghetti and meatballs. And Laura’s mother ordered the regular portion of spaghetti and meatballs and her and my nephew switched plates. And my brother and his wife had lasagna and can not remember what my niece ordered. Now I remember it was ravioli. On the way to the restaurant my brother’s SUV got a flat tire. And we all had to get out while he and I changed the tire. Boy did we look like a hoot and nanny on the side of the road while this was all going on. Somehow changing a tire on the side of the beltway kind of takes your dignity away. Laura and I always prided ourselves on being somewhat white trash so this fit well into our perspective. After the meal at the restaurant we finished off the carafe of wine and ordered a couple of cannolies to split with the kids. The next day was Sunday and Laura and I went down to D.C. to meet in front of the White House for our annual rollerblade through the city. We got together with about 25 other people and started criss crossing over the Potomac river. There were the usual protests going on at the White House along with all the tourists taking pictures. At one point we were right in the middle of the ghetto and people were pretty friendly. We passed through the central train station and the old baseball stadium. At one point we stopped at a house on the outskirts of Georgetown where the guy leading the skate showed us the row house he was buying. Next we bladed through a huge flea market in a part of town that I was not familiar with. It was a really hot day and at one point we all pawed into an Eckerd drugstore to buy Gatorade. There we recouped our energy and went on our way. We bladed almost two hours and I expended so much energy I had to buy big pretzel at one of those stands when we got back to the White House. After the blade Laura and I drove up to Adams Morgan where all the foreign restaurants from places like Ethiopia and Ghana are located. Laura and I roamed around taking in all the culture. Monday morning I drove to the airport with my brother and Donna where they were about to begin the Puerto Rican holiday. And I was going to fly back to Pittsburgh. On the way to the airport it was very early and still dark we saw a lot of deer jumping fences along the road.