I officially leave with my mom in less than one week on our trip across the country. Time is flying! My goal (aside from packing and seeing loved ones) is to finish blogging about George and my trip before I leave with Mom on our excursion. Now that I’m home in New Hampshire and have had some time to myself, I’ve finally been able to sit down and reflect on the first road trip.
What an amazing time! George and I decided to take a southern route so as to avoid snow. It backfired on us at first, but in the end everything turned out wonderfully. We began our trip by leaving from George’s house in New Jersey and going to Manassas, VA to visit our good friend Shannon. Naturally the day we left we hit a huge snow storm! We still wanted to see some sights, so Shannon braved the weather to take us to the Bull Run Civil War battlefield:
This is Shannon. Isn’t she radiant?
Shannon and her family are so kind and heartwarming. They even woke up with George and I super early the next morning to see us off! We really wanted to go to Washington, DC, but the snow initially prevented us from doing so the first day. We decided to double back to go into the city. As luck would have it, one of our awesome roommates in LA, Rebecca, just happened to be home in Virginia for a day before jetsetting off to London! She took us on a quick sightseeing adventure. Here are George and Becca with their current state of residence (and soon to be mine!). Please note the beloved Dunkin’ Donuts cup in Becca’s hand…mmmmm.
Prior to going to Emerson College, I attended George Washington University for a year. GW’s campus is directly up the street from the Lincoln Memorial, and I used to love coming here to sit and reflect.
George is currently reading Abraham Lincoln’s biography, so he was especially looking forward to visiting.
The Vietnam Memorial is so poignant and affecting.
George has a skill for walking in front of me and creating a great composition.
No trip to DC is complete without a photo in front of the White House!
After our fast trip into the nation’s capital with Becca, it was time to hit the road again for Tennessee. The drive through the Virginia countryside was gorgeous. My brother went to college at James Madison University, so it brought back fond memories of visiting him in the Shenandoah Valley. George and I attempted to take a detour up Skyline Drive, but it was closed for the season! Foiled! The security guard let us park the car and walk as much as we wanted, so we took it as an opportunity for more photos.
I was amazed by how the cloud’s lines mimicked the shape of the tree!
We’ve vowed to come back during seasonal hours to do the whole drive!
Nightfall comes so quickly during the winter months. We drove onward to Nashville and enjoyed an early December sunset. We played Fleet Foxes‘ self titled album as we made our way through the Blue Ridge Mountains – it was the perfect soundtrack.
George and I made it to Nashville late that night. We didn’t have much time for sightseeing since we had to make it to Oklahoma that evening, so we decided to skip the Grand Ole Opry (blasphemy, I know) and visit the Parthenon replica. It was pretty empty aside from a couple of runners – apparently nobody else wanted to visit at 7:30am in the drizzle! Ah well…welcome to Greece!
Oh the ways we entertain ourselves!
We went to the Loveless Cafe on our way out of Nashville. Best. Biscuits. EVER. George and I pretty much adhered to this motto for our whole trip…ohhh how we love food!
Great sign!
On our way to Oklahoma we stopped in Arkansas for gas. The view behind the station was beautiful!
Next stop: Texas!
by Mary
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