Miss Rebecca goes to Washington/Maryland

I finally made it to Maryland!  After all the waiting and preparation, I am finally here. 

The first adventure began with my early flight.  Major snow in Spokane led to bad roads and two de-icing sessions before taking off an hour late.  How was I going to make my connecting flight in Denver? 

 

Pulling into the terminal in Denver... Did the pilot just say that they were going to hold the flight from Denver to Dulles?

I hit the terminal running.  Thoughts raced through my mind. . . 

Running, running, running, running. . .

 

There's the lady on the airport intercom: "Blah, flight, blah-blah terminal, blah, REBECCA SHEPHERD, blah plane, blah, leaving."

Wait, what?

Um, that's ME!  

Running faster, running faster, running faster...

I can see the end of the terminal!

 There has been a walking escalator next to me the whole time. 

Nice. 

Ignoring laughter of people watching me. 

Good thing I remembered my deodorant.

Hand the guy the ticket.

Don't trip going down the tunnel.

Sitting down.

Whew.

In three minutes worth of time, I drained one month's worth of adrenaline.  I was definitely hoping for a flight in this fight-or-flight response. 

 The University of Colorado has a lovely description of the event. 

The next evening, I had another adventure getting to my EFY interview in Virginia. 

More details later.  

Important lessons learned about the area so far:

1.  If you plan on driving in D.C., you will not survive unless you have a GPS.

2.  If you miss a turn, you cannot get back to the same spot by just going around the block.

3.  There are one-way streets that are one-way streets FOR ONLY CERTAIN TIMES DURING THE DAY. 

4.  Honking is a natural part of life. 
5.  If you go to the Panera bakery and ask for one of the yummy-looking muffin tops, the cashier will look at you like you just asked for the moon.  They are muffies. 

I'm getting used to the area and liking the people I've met.  It's different, but not as different as I thought it would be.  Despite the stress and anxiety, I still feel excited, a little like this:

 By the way, if you haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend it. 

I'll leave you with pictures from the grocery store trip today:

I'm not the only one from Idaho!

Your guess is as good as mine.