flotsam and jetsam

Some happenings over the past few days:

• We had a great week in Colorado. We'll be returning there for sure.

• I got to see an old friend whom I hadn't seen in almost a decade. It very quickly felt like old times, and I so enjoyed meeting his wife and holding his baby.

• I spent an hour with my high school English teacher. Mrs. Warren believed in my writing ability when I was just a nerdy, insecure teenager. (Yes. I really was a nerd. Still am.)

Random snippets from yesterday:

• I talked to a new friend on the phone for the first time ever. It felt...comfortable. Like snuggling on my couch with a blanket and a mug of lemon tea.

• A friend sent me a message: Africa misses you. That made my day.

• We spent 12 hours in the Denver airport because our flight got canceled. We finally arrived in California at midnight.

• I kept my laptop company while Niel napped during our lock-in at the airport.

Oh---and...uhhh... Have you seen what's going on over at The Anti-Blogger?! Please leave some more puppy love on my site.

shower curtain

Our friends have the craziest shower curtain in their guest bathroom. I couldn't help but laugh every time I was in there.

This is the view from inside the shower:

visiting virginia

Our last two nights in Virginia were spent with some friends. We stayed up late talking on our first evening there. As we regaled them with funny stories from our travels so far, they suggested we write a book about it all. They figured that people would pay to hear the sometimes-bizarre happenings in our lives. The next day, they flew out of town.

Niel and I spent our unexpected free night on a date. We ate at a Mexican restaurant, and shared some tasty fajitas and sopapias. (Since we were going to miss our annual staff Cinco de Mayo party, we had our very own Uno de Mayo party.)

We got back to our friends' house around 10:00 and decided to throw in a load of laundry while we watched a movie. They had mentioned that something is wrong with their dryer and that it takes longer than normal to dry the clothes. We figured we could easily run the dryer twice and it should still finish up before the end of our movie.

Two dryer cycles later and our clothes were still just as wet as when we first put them in!

I worked hard to keep from going into panic mode, considering it was 12:30 at night and we had a mound of sopping wet clothes. We draped them over every chair, table, and surface we could find and hoped for the best. We figured---worst case scenario---if it was all still wet, we'd put them into plastic garbage bags before packing them into our suitcase, and figure out a Plan B when we arrived in Colorado.

The living room, dining room, and kitchen were a sight to behold, with our pants, shirts, and unmentionables covering everything in sight. I wish I'd taken a picture.

Niel got up early in the morning and flipped all our still-damp clothes. I tried not to think about it as I showered, spent time making my hair look messy, and finished the rest of the packing.

Thankfully when we went to check the clothes again, everything was dry. Phew!

We laughed as we recalled our friends' suggestion that we write a book about our crazy experiences while traveling. Little did they know that they'd win themselves their very own chapter!

our "vacation"

We've slept in 10 different places in the past 20 days. That's a lot of packing and repacking. And it gets old pretty fast. The other night we had dinner with someone we'd never met before.

"So where all have you been and where else are you going on this trip?"

"Well, we've already been in New York, Detroit, Orlando, Tampa, Virginia, and now here. After this, we're headed to Maryland, Denver, California, Seattle, and back to New York."

"Oh wow," she replied with a huge smile. "So exciting that you can take such an extensive vacation and just tour through the States!"

Our eyes got wide and we stifled a laugh as we very quickly explained that what we are doing is the farthest thing from a vacation.

"So you're traveling to raise funds and raise awareness about what you're doing?"

"Yes!"

"Oh... That's nice," she said curtly as she stood up. "I'll be right back."

Some people don't get it.

And that's ok.

hangin with the boys

We saw the Big Man when we were in Washington, DC. It would be awesome if "Big Man" referred to the President or anyone actually alive, but really it's just Niel's endearing term for the Lincoln Memorial. That is my all-time favorite memorial in DC, and I think it's just glorious all lit-up at night.

So at 10:00, after we spoke at an evening meeting, some friends took us downtown DC to see the Big Man. Awe-inspiring, to say the least.

And we took some fantastic pictures.

We also visited Albert Einstein, which was a first for both of us. I really liked the wrinkly old guy.

We ended the night at our friends' local hang-out spot, just talking and lovin' Jesus together.