Home is Where I am Bound

Sunday night and we are now at the airport, more than a little earlier due to timing the Metro stops right (strictly accidental), no line at the ticket kiosk, and no line in security.  Security bogged down a bit when two people, left their phones in their back pocket.  Yes, it was me and DH-sorry those that jumped in behind us-brain freeze for a bit.We had a whirlwind five days of travel and now heading for home.  You name an attraction in Washington DC and there is a high probability we did it.  We found ourselves a bit envious of the families and friends that appeared to be day trippers experiencing the museums and the monuments.  While I love to get away, there is wonderful feeling after a busy day to home to my own house, a simple wholesome supper waiting in the crock pot or to be pulled together in short order, a hot shower, getting into pajamas and sleeping in my own bed. We will be day trippers for quite a while now, and I am OK with that. 

What I love about traveling though beyond the sites and break from norm, is seeing another part of the world, country, or even my state.  I love seeing how everyday life unfolds.  In hind sight, I wish we had booked accommodations in a lesser traveler focused area.  I picked one near the Capital with easy access to Union Station, but the only people we really saw walking around our area were business people and other families. We did get off the beaten path on Saturday night and had a good walk many blocks away from the Mall area, on the backside of the Smithsonian, and found interesting restaurants, shops, and street musicians. DD#2 loved that the best. We had really uneventful metro rides-not missing any transfers, easily getting to where we wanted to go.  We only had one real agenda day that required us to reach a destination by a certain time. That was Friday when we booked a boat ride to Mount Vernon, home of George and Martha Washington.  Every other day, we just went where the mood and our feet and metro Smart Trip card took us. 

We enjoyed a random act of kindness when a fellow traveler passed off a paper metro ticket with $7.00 still on it.  We tried to pay it forward when we left by passing on our cards, since they have to be purchased for $2.00 then loaded with more money, but everyone we offered them to had cards of their own. Our wait for the plane ride home was calm, then very loud as a group of over 100 middle schoolers descending on our gate, all bound for Minneapolis.  They were quiet on the plane, so nothing you wouldn't expect from 13-14 year olds who have been bus bound for three straight days. 

I am back in my weekly rhythm.  Fall is winding down and we are actually going to get some cool days next week.  The lovely fall continues here, and I am happy to be back to my home to enjoy it.