Road Trip Part 3: Bringing it home

8.13.2008

We hit the road early- excited to actually GET THERE!!!

oh, I have to show a pic of our morning view on Day 3. Our HOJO was sitting atop a hill in Lexington, we hadn't noticed because we got in so late the night before.

It was beautiful:
We hit the road again- this time with only about 2 hours to go and we were anxious & ready to be there. Buddy on the other hand, was particularly grumpy: The next 2 hours flew by, I felt butterflies in my stomach- I couldnt believe we were actually doing it! We started seeing signs for Washington, and got pretty excited- We were close! To add to the excitement, Sie hit 40 miles per gallon. To quote Sie, BOO YA. :) way to go camry.

Here's video as we got really close.


We headed into DC (I wanna say via 495?) & came in through Georgetown, one of my very favorite parts of town.





Thanks to Judith (the lady who gives navigation in our car), who by the way has been a GOD send despite her love for roundabouts, we made it to our house with ease.

WE WERE FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is our street as you enter from Massachussetts:


Here's our house from the car:


and, drumroll- finally the pics of our house! Sans furniture which is appropriate since it stayed that way for the next 10 days. :) I apologize for taking a while to post, but I'm working on getting caught up. Sie plans to cameo occasionally too, and I have a feeling he would be a hilarious blogger (he DOES write for a living, unfair advantage!)

The front of our house, I'm in love with the grey one nextdoor with the red door. Its one of my favorites on our street.


Entry Way:


Front door:


Our Living room:




Den:


Hallway (with a very confused Buddy):


Our Bedroom:


Dining room with a view to the back patio (which i forgot to get a picture of!):
*Interesting fact- the embassy in our backyard is Albania* :)


Kitchen, I dont know why I didnt get a better picture. The kitchen is actually really nice b/c they just renovated it, so we're the first to use it. All new appliances, cabinets and granite counters.


Our bathroom on the other hand, needed some love. We have since bleached the grout on the floors and SCRUBBED the tiles & bath but it still needs work.


Us on our back patio- Let the adventure begin!


Just kidding, there's more. So the owner's realtor meets us at our house & tells us she's sending a locksmith over to fix the top lock but the bottom is working fine. Until then, we get our stuff in and decide to take the dogs for a walk around the neighborhood.

When we get back- we realized we had locked ourselves out (lets just say MIScommunication!). So within 2 hours of arrival, we were locked out of our new home in a new city- knowing no one, sitting on the front steps with bags of groceries. AWESOME! at that point, we honestly just had to laugh at ourselves as people walked by wondering what the hell these people were doing sitting on their steps with 2 dogs and 10 bags of groceries.




how ironic/crazy is it that a locksmith HAPPENED to be on his way!! after a little wait, he got there, let us back in & fixed our lock. Needless to say, now we're both SUPER aware of bringing our keys WITH us.

So far we're loving it here, even though we do miss our friends and family. We're continuing to try to branch out & get out of our comfort zone as far as trying new things and meeting new people.

On our first walk, we discovered the most beautiful park. It was like winning the lottery because we honestly had no CLUE what to do with our bathroom-impaired dog. (some of you know... Buddy's how you say, SHY about going on a leash in front of others!) Even though since then, we've been making him go on the leash and he HAS gotten the hang of it- the park is amazing, because he has lots more room (and PRIVACY) than he would have otherwise.

It is a very dog-oriented park so we've actually met a lot of people through just being dog-owners which has been so nice. Lots of people have offered up tips on where to go, happenings in the neighborhood, even the best routes for Sie's work. So 2-3 times per day, we visit the park with the dogs (and they're in heaven!)







I'm going to wrap up with some posts of the neighborhood. The area we live in is called "Embassy Row" and is filled with dozens of foreign embassies and ambassador's homes. Apparently, in the 1920's, embassies began purchasing old mansion homes in this area and gradually they dominated the area. It really is incredible the real estate some of these countries have!

So far, we both love the area and even though its right off dupont circle, which has tons of restaurants/shopping/nightlife, our immediate area has a safe, secluded feel.

not sure which one this is...

Chilean Embassy (which I only know because their flag may as well be the Texas flag- Sie had to point out the difference, but it is VERY subtle!)

Neat art installment (refurbished emergency phone) in front of the Thai Embassy

Describes a history of the area

Ireland embassy




we noticed this car on our street, it had stormed the week prior- OUCH.