An East Coasty Thanksgiving. You're in for a long one I've got 4 hours..

I figured the best time to reflect on my time in the east coast would be on the five hour flight home. Thanks Google and Virgin America for teaming up and providing free wifi on the plane. Now all the businessmen and women can continue to consistently keep up with their e-mails and very important work and I can keep my facebook status up to date and most importantly I can blog.

The last time I was in our nation's capital I was in the eighth grade. It was the official "east coast" trip that most junior high schools work into their program. I'm pretty sure it was over spring break but I can't really remember. It's funny because the things that I DO remember about visiting the most historic part of our country is all of the 14 year old teenage drama that came with having almost forty prepubescent teens on their first trip without their mommies and daddies. Sure, we visited all of the sights: Mt. Vernon, the White House, Lincoln Memorial, The Smithsonian...



But as I reflected on my time in the eighth grade I couldn't REALLY remember what I had learned on that trip, if anything. I'm pretty sure I didn't learn anything new about our judicial system or history than what I was already taught by my text books and I'm positive that I wasn't too excited to see some of the sights. I didn't even come out of the trip with myself in front of any of the monuments. However, I did manage to take some very good snap shots of random trees and Washington D.C. squirrels which for some reason my fourteen year old self thought was more important than making sure that I had a picture of myself in front of America's most iconic buildings.

What I DO remember discovering however was that doing things without my parents was a pretty fantastic feeling and I made plans to make sure I did it more often and most importantly I learned that I had a lot more power and persuasion over boys than I could possibly imagine.

Now almost ten years later I made my way back to the other coast to visit my good friend D. This reunion was expected to be epic considering we spent most of our senior year adventures together. I was excited to get out of L.A. for a little while and of course I hoped that I would be able to rediscover some of the sights that I so obviously didn't appreciate in my previous visit.

Seven days later on my plane ride home I STILL don't think I've learned anything more than what I could learn in a text book. What I have discovered though sort of runs along the same lines as the previous. First, I am completely ready to be moved out of my parents' home. For one, it was unfortunate that I had to move back in the first place. Not that I don't love my parents and appreciate them more than I will ever be able to express. But, I am SO ready to do things without them. And second, I have a lot more power and persuasion over boys than I could possibly imagine.

And I think this just generally applies to all women. No matter what age a man is or how successful and independent his business is he will always be a sucker when it comes to the ladies.

With that said my trip was perfect and I couldn't have asked for a better Thanksgiving holiday weekend. After arriving in D.C. we decided to rent a car and drive to Boston. My cousin has been stationed in Hudson, MA recently so we figured we'd spend Thanksgiving with people who could actually cook a turkey. The alternative option would have probably been hot pockets and a bottle of wine.

Mistake #1 of deciding to take a road trip through about 6 states on the other unfamiliar side of the country: believing that all highways run at the same speed limit as the freeways in L.A.

East coast drivers are SO slow. It's especially concerning when a "minimum speed limit of 45" has to be posted on a HIGHWAY. They have to be reminded to drive faster... This is a very foreign concept considering that I may average 75 at home.

Mistake #2 of deciding to take a road trip through 6 states: Not having a map.

Yes, GPS on your blackberry works just fine but what are you supposed to do when your blackberry runs out of battery? You're supposed to get lost for two hours in New Jersey.

Mistake #3 of deciding to take a road trip on the east coast: Getting on the road the day before thanksgiving thinking that there wouldn't be any traffic.

It will take almost an hour to drive through Delaware which was only supposed to take about 25 minutes.

Mistake #4 of deciding to make a six hour trip to Boston the day before you leave: Jumping on the road with no cash and not knowing ANYTHING about Toll Roads!

Okay, so the east coast states have these funny things called Toll Roads. Yes I did notice that the roads were a lot nicer and yes, I did notice that the rest stops were like mini malls and very clean but, I find it very bizarre that you are charging people to drive on a road. And it came to my attention that the system isn't very user friendly. It was very confusing if you aren't familiar with the area/system of toll road highways. And it added about $40 to the trip. Not to mention I think I may have gotten a ticket because I got stuck in the wrong lane.

Overall, we made lots of mistakes in our (non)planning of this trip. But we literally drove all day and made it to Hudson in 11 hours. Our lack of preparation turned our six hour drive into an 11 hour one... but thats okay! It was worth it.



We had a lovely Thanksgiving with a beautiful army family. We watched Polar Express and conversed over a few beers. It was small and quaint but nothing less than perfect. We were able to spend two full days which made our eleven hour trek completely worth it and we even had time to explore Boston for a few hours before heading home.

This time we were equipped with a map, directions, and cash.

After returning to D.C. I got a chance to explore a little. I was able to learn the Metro system pretty quickly which was a good thing because I noticed that people aren't exactly jumping at the opportunity to help out a fellow commuter. It was very strange to have so much silence when you're surrounded by so many people. Maybe on the west coast we are all just too loud. It felt like everywhere I went there was this unwritten rule of no talking.

I was sort of waiting to get a kicked off or cited by the police because we were being too loud on the metro: public disruption.

Overall, I had an amazing seven days. Now it's back to reality: Job hunting and coaching.



At least I got to get away and play tourist for a bit, next time I visit though I really hope I learn something historical... after all isn't that what D.C. is supposed to be about?

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