Great to be in DC (actually Bethesda) with old friends Jocelyn & Tom and daughter M. So so fun.

Yesterday we got up and ate breakfast and put things in the car and headed to Toccoa, where we parked at the train station. It was around 8 and there was no one there. After a bit, Elizabeth arrived in her green Prius, just a year younger than ours, absolutely identical except no GPS. She drove for a while, until we stopped at a McDonald's for coffee and the bathroom, near Kannapolis, NC.

Soon after Ray started driving, we hit a major slowdown and were stuck for about 30 minutes. Turned out there was an RV on its side in the median, and one lane in each direction was blocked. After that, all went relatively well for the rest of the day. We had lost some time, so we ate lunch quickly at Wendy's and got back on the road. Elizabeth was happy to have Ray do the driving and he preferred it to being a passenger. He went pretty fast, but not any faster than the traffic flow. We were in Richmond just before 5 and it was a little slow, but we got out the other side just in time. Coming into DC was pretty backed up, but we have seen it worse. Elizabeth left us at the Smithsonian Metro stop and they headed on to Baltimore, where they are staying with her niece. Jocelyn and I had communicated by phone and we knew to take the blue line to Metro Center. A gentleman generously helped us with the ticket machine and showed us where to go, just missing his train. One guy asked Ray for money. We waited quite a while, but eventually a blue line train appeared and we got on. I even got a seat. At Metro Center, Jocelyn was waiting at the top of the escalator. She gave us big hugs, we were so glad to see each other.

We walked to the house with our things--so great to see their house again. Their little girl is now a senior in HS and thinking about college. They have added a guest room in the basement, so we have some privacy. We went to a Thai restaurant not far away and had a lovely time, telling them all about our lives and our children, and vice versa.

And in bed by 10:30.