Back to .......

Now that we are home my blog is returning to keeping you up to date with what I am doing. From a work perspective I have set up a company called "your housekeeper". I am going to be working with my brother. We will cover things to do with home, life and garden such as my house cleaning, ironing, property maintenance, garden and balcony maintenance, party organising and lots of other things...watch this space for more updates and when we get our website launched.

home again

On Monday 14 February we arrived home so here are some stats:

we were away for 145 days

we visited 5 counties

we drove approx 7,628 miles

we flew 24,774 miles

we slept in 49 different beds

met up with 19 different friends and family

used planes, trains, bikes, kayaks, cars, flying foxes, cable cars, trams, boats and our feet to make this journey.

The last day of our travels....

so we have finally got to the last full day of our travels round the world....the sun is shining, there is a biting wind but we head out for more walking around town. We are joined by Matthew's friend and have a guided tour of the capital taking in more sites and views and doing lots and lots of walking. We finally decide its time for a warming drink and find a great little bar to have some red wine and hang out. We then head over to Georgetown, passing the house where JFK lived when he was elected president. We have a few more warming drinks and then end up at Martin's Tavern and get a booth and order some food. The booth next to where we are sitting is where JFK proposed to Jackie and the one next to that was favoured by Nixon. It is a great bar/restaurant and highly recommended if you find yourself in Georgetown - maybe book a table if its the weekend though as it gets pretty busy.

We have a lovely evening and enjoy some great steaks with mash and broccoli - washed down with more red wine and raise our glasses to the last night of our trip.

Monuments and more walking

We spend Friday morning visiting Arlington Cemetery and seeing JFK's grave and the eternal flame. We walk back to the Lincoln Memorial - unfortunately the reflection pool had been emptied for renovation so we had to imagine that bit. We look at the Washington Memorial and then on to the Capital building. We then manage to squeeze in a visit to the International Spy Museum which was really interesting and well worth a visit - we just needed a bit longer there as we had to rush off to our next appointment.....at The White House!!

Matthew's friend's wife works at The White House so we are very lucky to be able to join her for a private tour of the West Wing and we get to see the Oval Office and the other rooms there. It is amazing to stand at the doorway to the Oval office and see such a famous office with its desk and sofas that have been in so many photos and on television.

We have a great time on our tour and finish the evening off with a burger and beer.

Museums and walking

We start off our stay with the Air and Space Museum which is huge! there is lots to see and read so we crack on with our education!

We see lots of planes and learn lots about the history of planes and flight. We get to see a moon landing craft which is the actual one that would have gone to the moon next if the one that did land had not been successful - it was very interesting to see it up close and it is covered with a material that looks like gold tin foil - incredible that it would protect the astronauts up on the moon and out in space!

You could easily spend a day here there is just so much to see. We finally head out back into the cold and sunshine and carry on our walking. Later that evening we meet up with a friend of Matthew's, who is living in Washington DC, and we do some more exploring with him. We end up at Ben's Chilli Bowl for some chilli dogs with chilli cheese fries. This place is a Washington institution and no visit here is complete without a chilli dog. I try not to think about the cholesterol content and just enjoy how nice it all tastes!

Washington DC

and finally....the last destination on our round the world trip....Washington DC. We fly from LA and as we come in to land we can see a light dusting of snow over the fields and it is looking cold!

We land and get our transfer into town, and yes it is cold and starts to sleet as we arrive at our hotel. Talk about a shock to the system!

Our hotel is lovely (got a bargain via priceline.com) mainly because there is currently a picket line outside the front door! So we brave the chanting of "scabs" as we cross the line and seek sanctuary in the plush reception/lounge area.

We head out shortly after for some food and stumble across a great thai restaurant and have some tasty food before braving the cold on our walk back.

The next day the sun is shining so we head to Macy's and I buy some gloves and sunglasses (having lost mine in Fiji) and we start our exploration.

Leaving the West Coast

After our days in San Jose we make the drive back to LA along the Pacific Highway which hugs the coast from many miles and is windy and undulating and it takes us a long time to get to Santa Barbara where we stay the night before the final journey back to LA. Along the route we pass a beach which is home to the Elephant Seals so we make a quick stop and get to watch these HUGE seals lying around on the beach with the males chasing each other around on the sand.

We are then back in LA and get our next flight which will now take us to Washington DC and our final destination of our travels.