It has been 2 weeks since my last post here. We were so busy in our stay in Virginia and everyday we made sure that it will all be fun.
First stop for us was the visit of POPE BENEDICT XVI to DC. I don’t know if it was his first time here, but for us it is an opportunity that we should not miss. Even if we still have jet log coming from west coast to east coast (+3hours difference) we just dropped our bags in Lolo Ben & Lola Josie’s house take a quick breakfast and we’re off to DC.
We arrived in Pennsylvania Avenue, D.C. around 10am took our spot in front of THE WORLD BANK (thanks to Tita Minda) while people were starting to pile up along the sidewalk waiting for the arrival of the HOLY FATHER. After 2 hours of waiting, the POPE finally in his POPE MOBILE, passed in front of us. At first, I was shooting the video but the moment I saw him, I didn’t know if I should look on the LCD of my videocam or just look at him straight & never mind if I’m capturing it right. Maybe it was just a 30-second encounter, but for us, it’s like eternity seeing him personally.
If you happen to hear Washington DC, the first thing that comes to mind is The White House, The Capitol, Lincoln Memorial & Washington Monument. Even us thought the same thing, but what we didn’t know is that they have great nature parks here.
We had the opportunity to visit two of them: LURAY CAVERNS and GREAT FALLS
When inside the cave, you will be in awe on how they were able to build & maintain the great sculptures made on soil and rocks. It is located about 1,000ft. below ground level. The hardest part here is climbing back to top. So make sure that you are in great condition when you visit the largest & the most popular caverns in Eastern America. Thanks to Joey Regino for bringing us to LURAY CAVERNS.
Next stop, the The Great Falls! famous for kayaking, rafting & rock climbing. Here you would have a nice time relaxing & bonding with your family.
We had a nice picnic with the Del Mundos & the kids enjoyed answering the booklets to become a junior park ranger.
Final stop was on DC. Of course we would not let our trip here to finish without visiting the famous landmarks.
Every time we would go inside the famous buildings, it feels like we’re part of the history of America.
The White House
Washington Monument
The Capitol
Library of Congress
National Archives
Our heartfelt thanks to the Del Mundo Family for their warm reception which made us feel at home, not to mention the generosity of Lolo Ben & Lola Josie . Our stay was even so much fun specially hearing lolo and lola have conversation (never a dull moment!), it seems that they can talk for years and would never run out of topics to discuss and argue about but not fighting at all (they were so cute!).
Avie & I wish that we can be like them when we grow older. Their kids also finds time for us to make our stay in Virginia & DC surely a memorable one.
Kuya Raymond and Ate Lerma for Driving us around DC with their 3 lovely kids (Lervin, Laurence & Raylin).
Joy & Joey for bringing us to Luray Caverns, treating us to a great vietnamese resto and for teaching me how to play golf like Tiger Woods.
Shella & Erwin for always finding time inspite their busy schedules and bringing us to the Great Falls. I also had a great time playing billards with Erwin.
We would also like to thank the hospitality of Tito Jim & Tita Aida Velilia, also their 3 sweet boys (Marson, Nathaniel & Jed). We had a wonderful time in Jojo’s Ice Cream.
Tita Minda & Grace for embracing us in their home & for the once in a lifetime experience in seeing the POPE.
Our two weeks stay in Virginia is over, but we are already looking forward for our next trip back here, maybe 3 years from now. Because here, it’s like HOME AWAY FROM HOME!
