I can’t believe it’s already been almost a month since I’ve been back from Virginia!

Virginia was a very random and sudden trip. I had just started my job at CHLA and barely one month in, my boss asked if I wanted to attend a conference in Arlington. Having never gone to a work conference before, I jumped at the chance and said, “YES!”

For the first three days of my trip, I attended the conference during the day and ventured around town during the night with my boss. We walked around the National Mall, the White House, and Georgetown. I couldn’t get used to the fact that the hospital had paid for my airfare, hotel, and meals. I was getting used to not having to pay for anything and it felt awesome!

The night before the last day of the conference, Peter jumped on a plane and met me in Virginia. We didn’t really get to do anything until the next afternoon since I had to attend the last day of the conference. But in the next few days, we walked EVERYWHERE.. the Arlington Cemetery, Georgetown, and all over the National Mall. We visited the National Museum of Natural History, the Vietnam War Memorial, the White House, and the Jefferson Memorial.

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By far, the highlight of this trip for me was our visit to the Lincoln Memorial. I had been to the Lincoln Memorial twice before: once with my family when I was a little kid who didn’t care that Lincoln had a memorial and once earlier in this trip with my boss. When I visited with my boss, we went at night and the place was crawling with people. This time around, Peter and I timed our visit so that we could catch the sunrise.

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– the difference between 8PM and 5AM –

We left our AirB&B before 5am and arrived at the memorial to find the place completely deserted. The sky was dark, the air was chilly, and it was very quiet and peaceful. Peter and I strolled in and out of the memorial building which felt even more massive and impressive without all the people in it. I set up my GoPro to capture the sunrise and sat at the top of the steps to watch the sun slowly rise and light up the sky. Of course I screwed up again.. forgetting that the GoPro captures way too much light and had started recording when the sky was already bright. I made the same mistake at the Grand Canyon when trying to catch the sunset.. I stopped recording before the sky was completely dark. For the next hour, Peter and I sat watching the sunrise and watched as people slowly started to invade our quiet-time. I had to stop my GoPro when one man didn’t realize I was recording and walked straight towards my camera, forever recording the sun peaking through his hairy calves.

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– Lincoln Memorial overlooking Washington Monument and Reflecting Pool –

As more people came, Peter and I decided we had had enough of the Lincoln Memorial and walked along the Reflecting Pool, past the World War II Memorial, and over to the Washington Monument. We concluded our morning by having breakfast at the extremely popular restaurant, Founding Farmers.

- Lincoln Memorial from Washington Monument -
– Lincoln Memorial from Washington Monument –

I’m so glad we took advantage of this trip to Virginia and DC. Even though I was there for 6 days and Peter for 3, it was very fulfilling. With so much money going towards our house and wedding expenses, I really didn’t think we would’ve been able to travel after our New York trip back in May so I’m glad we got to squeeze this trip in.