Random Thread ~Usagi-Chan ☮ Tūsurī~

[TotallyUncool]

I can't even imagine how cold the East and Midwest must be!

[boinsie]

Happy birthday, Amped!

[TotallyUncool]

Happy Birthday, Amped!!!

[esm]

Happy Birthday, Amped!

---

DC is pretty awesome. Almost the entire city is beautiful. There are many colorful buildings everywhere, and many shops have a unique storefront, plus there aren't a lot of high rises, so ironically it feels a bit more like a European city.

I was at a Japanese grocery store today, since I was exploring close by anyway, and it was cool, except it was so tiny and I was constantly in someone's way so I didn't stay too long. I've also tried out some really tiny casual Japanese places (a ramen place and a donburi places), since Chicago has mostly Japanese places that are either fancy or mediocre.

I had work to do, so I jumped from coffee shop to coffee shop in different neighborhoods, but I'm going to the National Mall tomorrow.

[Moh]

Happy birthday, amped!

[TotallyUncool]

I was in Sonoma County last weekend, for the first time in decades. I was there for about two days to see relatives, and met a bunch that I'd never seen before, or at least not in a long time. (My family goes back to the 1840s in that area - something which is easy for me to forget. But even spending a little time there was a good reminder of the roots that I do have in the Santa Rosa area. )

And more than anything, I was (as always) struck by how green Central and Northern California are - coming from Southern California, I felt like a visitor from Arrakis to a water planet (They are so rich in water! I cannot imagine living in this kind of luxury!). The mini-Holiday Inn where I stayed on Old Redwood Highway in Windsor was next to a house with a herd of goats in the back lot - which is pretty typical for that area. But I also found a good hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant in a shopping center a few blocks away (next to a supermarket that sold fresh chile rellenos at the deli).

On the way back, I took Highway 101, which is all pretty much home territory for me, all the way down the coast. I blew a rear tire south of Salinas, but it only took me about an hour and a half to get towed to a place where I got four new tires (something I should have done before I started out ). I pulled into Pismo Beach around 6:00 PM, with Ebichu's Summer Deja Vu loud and on repeat on my car stereo, and got an order of fish and chips and a bowl of clam chowder (an absolute necessity when you're in Pismo), took a little time to cruise through Santa Maria (where I grew up to the degree that I've ever grown up), and headed back down toward Southern California in light traffic.

This trip reminded me of how much I actually do like to travel, when I do get the chance - that's another one of those things that it's all too easy to forget.

[Amped]

Thanks everyone. I had dinner with family tonight. I'm cutting down on sweets but I got some tasty donuts just this one time instead of a birthday cake. I love donuts. *donut emoji*

[erilaz]

DC is pretty awesome. Almost the entire city is beautiful.

I've been there twice. The two visits were 24 years apart, and both were far too short to do the city justice.

[Zunu]

Happy belated, Amped. Sorry I missed out on those donuts!!

[esm]

I like looking up good donut places when I travel because even a nice-ish donut and a cup of coffee tend to be a pretty cheap breakfast. I found a good place here that was on the way to where I had to be anyway.

I went to the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of American History yesterday. I really liked both, but I wish I had the time to stroll through each one more slowly and also more time to see more museums. I walked around the entire National Mall to see the monuments and war memorials, so that took up time and energy (ended up walking 22k steps yesterday, including to leave the area to find something to eat). There are electric scooters in DC, but there was a point where I just wanted to see how much I would end up walking.

Heading back to Chicago today. It’s insane how it’s like 40 degrees there now, considering how cold it was just half a week ago.