Advertisement
Published: September 27th 2006
Edit Blog Post
I’m packed, I’m ready to go but there’s one thing I’m missing and that’s the business card from Mr Cab Driver when he drove me to the hostel from the airport. He told me he’d take me to the airport for $25. Today’s fare with some random cabbie cost $40. What is up with that!
I’m not sure if I’ve made note of this yet, but seeing that it’s the 7th time I’m about to do this, it’s about time it got a mention. I’m referring to the rigorous security checks that are performed in each of the airports. The strictest yet so far has been in Sydney, but at every airport here in the USA, the alert is Orange and they’re all keeping an eye out for anything out of the norm. Shoes need to be taken off, everything out of pockets, jackets off and if you’re lucky, you get a special swap check on everything you have for traces of explosives. Since there’s not that many people here this morning at the time I check in, I get the full workover.
I pass the time waiting for my plane with a supersize Coke watching the news,
Kaz at the Airport
...with a supersized cola! or sportsnews. One of the high profile footballers is in the news for overdosing on sleeping pills overnight. NFL/football culture is huge here, that players are on par with movie stars when it comes to attention in the media. Terrell Owens is a very high profile player so it’s going to be big news. There’s a whole 30 minute special dedicated to reporting this story.
There’s hardly anyone on today’s flight to Washington, D.C. It only takes just over two hours by plane but some ridiculous amount by road or rail. At least you get to travel through the South; today we’re flying over the Atlantic Ocean, before coming over Virginia.
I was told that Washington D.C. is a 24-hour city, in the sense that there was no need to stay here for any longer than 24 hours. But I had to wait until I got my CC back before I could continue the rest of the journey. I’ll be staying in Washington (Maclean, Virginia to be exact) with Stephanie’s Aunt Lenka and Uncle Dave. Lenka is in heaps of meetings today (that happens when you’re the Vice President of commercial banking with the Bank of America), but
has enough time to pick me up from West Falls Church station and take me back to their place and give me a brief tour before she has to go back to another meeting.
I was sitting on the front porch by myself as there place is soooo huge and it sure felt empty with me in there by myself. Lenka tells me they’ve made extensions to their house, being the extra living room area. I sat with Panther, the family cat when a white, 80s model sedan pulled up. It is Arthur (Stephanie’s cousin) and his friend Luke. Arthur is a senior at high school and he now hopes he can make it into college like his older brother.
Arthur tells me about his school life and how things are. He tells me that not every high school here has metal detectors or violence, although there are times like that at his school. I’d say Arthur is probably too smart to get caught up in all of that. Most people there don’t really have a clue, he says.
Later on, he shows me a vast selection of TV shows saved on his computer. Tonight, we’re watching
Surface, a sci-fi show. I’m sure this show will never make it to Australia. From watching Grey’s Anatomy in KC, Country and Western Films in Portland or The Family Guy in Nashville, I’ve just realised that I am heavily addicted to American TV. Not to mention the sports channels!
Arthur gets the munchies pretty quickly so he pulled me into the spacious kitchen and we made casadias. To be honest, he made a good one and the one I tried to make was reduced to rubble as soon as I picked it up. Nonetheless, it’s a real tasty snack for the afternoon.
Arthur says that his parents work long hours and it’s the same sentiment echoed by both his parents. After all, they’ve got this huge extension to their house; they’ve worked for it! Afterwards, Dave and Lenka sit down with me to talk about the sights to see tomorrow. They’ve warned me that there are huge distances between everything I want to see and do tomorrow. My trainers are up for it.
Summary
Fort Lauderdale - Washington, D.C.: 901 miles
American Miles: 8549 miles
Total Miles: 15969 miles
Advertisement
Tot: 0.233s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 57; dbt: 0.0795s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb