Date: 2010-08-23
From: My Parents' House in Berlin, MD

To: DC to Plymouth, NH
Miles today: 0.0

Day 130-132: Whirlwind Wedding WeekendGreat night of sleep. Strata and fruit for breakfast #1, then over for a quick trip to the beach to dip my feet in the Atlantic. This will be the first summer in a WHILE to not include a swim in the ocean... Onto Walmart, then breakfast #2 at home with cereal and more fruit.Boss and I packed our stuff up and got on the road by 1pm to drive to DC. We got caught in a bit of traffic, and it took over 4 hours to make it to DC. Ugh. After stopping by to say hi to Leah at the store and to pick up Boss' box of "normal" clothes, we hung out at my brother's apartment and then went out to dinner with a few friends. Delicious Ethiopian food (though Boss had slightly different opinions), then drinks and dancing, then late-night Ben's Chili Bowl. It was a great night, but it was WAY past hiker bedtime. Sunday morning, I had breakfast on the Hill with Leah then grabbed Boss and Dan and drove out to REI. We saw Chris (Half Elvis) again and chatted with him about the last month of the trail. He is friends with a girl currently on the trail named Turtle, who is from Atlanta and knows and used to work with NH Amy - small world!On the way back home, I stopped and got a new pair of shoes (my big feet have gotten larger!), and Boss got a dress shirt. Then I headed over to my haircut. Amy (DC Amy) came by to catch up with me while I got my locks trimmed and then we ran back to the apartment to throw on my dress and run out the door. She drove me and Boss to the wedding, and we got there 5 minutes before it began. Phewph!It was a gorgeous setting at the Oxen Hill Manor, but VERY hot and swampy. I felt bad for all the guys in suits since I was sweating up a storm in a sun dress. Kayanne looked STUNNING and Adam was beaming. It was a beautiful ceremony. Short and sweet, and Imry (their 3-year-old) did a fabulous job as the ring bearer. So cute!It was great to see my DC friends, and we all had a great night. The reception was [air-conditioned and] lots of fun, and I didn't want it to end. Once again, I ended up staying up way too late. Made it back to my brother's apartment and passed out with delight. Sleeeeeeep. Monday morning included a nice sleep-in. I was exhausted from running around all weekend, and needed a few extra hours. I finally got rolling and packed up and we hit the road after a quick lunch at Good Stuff Eatery. Road trip! (I decided to drive my car back up to New England so I'll have it for the ride back to DC at the end...) We passed through states a lot quicker than we had while hiking, and made great time... until the NYC area. We hit it at rush hour and sat in bumper to bumper traffic for a while. Just before 10pm, we rolled up to NH Amy's house. She allowed us to leave a few pieces of not-carry-on safe gear with her. We picked it up and stopped for a cup of coffee. Quick turnaround (too quick!) and we were off to Plymouth, NH. One of my old lacrosse teammates from Syracuse lives in Plymouth, and she invited us to stay the night before taking us back to the trail the next day. She won't be there (she's up in Maine), but her husband, Tyler, would be. We didn't arrive until midnight, but Tyler was up to let us in. (thank you Tyler!!) We said a quick hello before we all crashed into bed. Long trip. Lots of driving miles. Back to the trail (and walking) tomorrow!!