Three Billy Goats Geek

Whenever we're at a playground with a bridge, Geek Girl likes to play Three Billy Goats Gruff. Lucky parent gets to be the troll and she's the Billy Goat trip-trapping across the bridge as the troll tries to catch her. Well, last Sunday, in an effort to burn off our Saturday night milkshakes, we decided to hike Billy Goat Trail A.

Now most people when they read a newspaper story about a newly-engaged woman having to be rescued after falling might make a joke about the proposal. Daddy Geek reads "rocky and rough" trail and decides that's where we should go for our Sunday hike. Earlier this year Daddy Geek and Girl Geek visited Great Falls Park on the Virginia side, but on Sunday, we visited the Maryland side.

We parked at the C&O Canal National Historic Park and started by walking along the towpath and going to the overlook to take a look at the falls.


Here's Geek Girl at the top of a "mini mountain" that she climbed.


We continued along the towpath and took the trail for Billy Goat Trail A. The trail started off pretty easy, but then became rockier and rockier and soon we were doing a lot of scrambling over tops of rocks. And then we came to the fun part. A rocky cliff.


We waited a little bit because we knew we might be slow, but there was enough traffic going up and down that we decided we had to go for it or we would never get up.

Here's a view of me starting the climb.


I kept going, but Daddy Geek and Little Geek pulled over and here's a picture looking down.


At the top we stopped for a snack and admired the Mather Gorge.


After this part of the trail near the 2nd trail marker there is an "emergency exit" trail that returns to the towpath. However we continued to the end. Here's Geek Girl leading the way.


The rocky part of Billy Goat Trail A is 1.7 miles and ends back at the towpath. Geek Girl was tired, so Daddy Geek took the towpath back towards the car and Geek Girl and I continued on the path towards the Old Angler's Inn where we would meet up with Daddy Geek. The restaurant reminded us a lot of the Swiss restaurants we would find on the hiking trails, with the matching Swiss prices. We decided to head back to Virginia for a late lunch.

Walking with dinosaurs and around the city

On Saturday, we had a fun day in the city. Metro was doing track maintenance again so we decided to drive in. Daddy Geek and Geek Girl had tickets to see Walking with Dinosaurs at the Verizon Center and while they were taken back in time I walked around D.C. I had never been east of Capitol Hill and wanted to check out the recently re-opened Eastern Market.

After the show we met on the steps of the National Portrait Gallery. Our first plan was to go to a Burmese restaurant that Daddy Geek had visited on a prior trip, but they weren't open yet. After some dawdling, menu looking, and internet consulting, we decided to try Full Kee for Chinese food. The pea sprouts were yummy, but the other two dishes were a little different than the West Coast versions we've had before. We thought about stopping for ice cream but we knew we had some in the freezer at home so we headed for the car.

As we were driving home I noticed parking spaces near the Washington Monument, so we decided to park and take a short walk. Here's Geek Girl giving the monument a hug.


We could also see the Jefferson Memorial in the distance and after being seated for a couple of hours, Geek Girl suggested walking over to see it. None of us had been before so it sounded like a good idea. Here's a view of it as we're walking around the tidal basin.


And here's a picture of it after the sun has set.


And then a view of the Washington Monument at night.


Now we were ready for ice cream. Well, it was a little cool, but it still sounded good. Earlier on my walk to Eastern Market I had passed Good Stuff Eatery and we decided to go back to try the milkshakes. This place was opened by a former contestant of Top Chef and has been visited by the First Lady and daughters. There was a line and they were handing out "shots" of milkshake for people as they waited. After ordering you were given a buzzer to let you know when your order was ready. Geek Girl had chocolate, Daddy Geek had a Black & White, and I had D-Lechable Leche. All were yummy and we knew to order the kid size. I don't know when we'll be back next but I think I'll have to try the Milky Way Malt.

Cousin pictures

The week before school started we had a fun week in California visiting family. Here are some pictures from the trip.

Geek Girl was looking forward to vising Nai Nai's cat and watching TV. Here she is with Katie cat.


Here's Geek Girl's newest cousin being fascinated by my nephew.


My oldest nephew is a sophomore in college! How did that happen? And his brother is a junior in high school. I remember when they were babies...


Being silly in front of Nai Nai's house.


Daddy Geek checks to see if newest cousin can do the "Look Ma, no hand" trick. Yep, it works.

A little mixed-up

This past weekend we were finally all here after four weekends of some or all of us being away. We had a busy two days and one of us will blog about it soon, but before I forget I wanted to mention my language confusion. On Saturday night we had dinner at a restaurant in Chinatown. I asked a question in Chinese and then proceeded to finish ordering in my special blend of Chinese and English. When I finished ordering I said danke instead of thank you. And according to Daddy Geek, I was saying und instead of and. I guess when my brain is required to speak foreign languages, it doesn't really pay attention to which foreign language I'm speaking.

Inflatables, Opera, and Failed Plans

Daddy Geek was off in Palm Springs working this weekend, so Geek Girl and I hung out close and far from home.

The first week of school was kind of cool and rainy and that trend continued on Saturday. We started off the day going to the community Fall Festival. There were a lot of "tastes" offered by the local restaurants, but we were there for the inflatables and ponies. After consulting the ticket prices, Geek Girl decided on the bounce house, the obstacle course, the Kid-a-pillar, and the Pony Ride. She really wanted cotton candy, but we managed to avoid the sugar high.

Later in the evening our plan was to go to the simulcast of the opera at the Nationals Ballpark. In preparation I had read Geek Girl the summary of Barber of Seville and we watched the Rabbit of Seville on You Tube. The gates were supposed to open at 5:30 pm and I thought leaving our apartment at 4:45 pm would have been fine. Oh, how much I missed reliable Zürich pubic transportation. It turns out they were doing track maintenance. Thus, a usually 40 minute ride took over an hour. We were waiting at security when they showed Rabbit of Seville on the big screen.

We met colleagues of Daddy Geek on the outfield about halfway between second base and where the center fielder hangs out. I left Geek Girl with popcorn and water and went in search of Chicken Tenders for her dinner (I had packed a sandwich for myself). After waiting 15 minutes in a line that was barely moving, I decided that I really didn't want to wait another 15 - 20 minutes longer and ended up buying her gelato. Yep, instead of buying her protein, I bought her dessert. At first she complained that she was too cold to eat ice cream, but after bundling her up in her hoodie and rain jacket, she managed to finish the chocolate gelato.

Here she is watching the opera.


And here's a view of the screen.


The sound and picture were really quite good and I was able to see a lot more than I normally can back in the cheap seats. We left at the intermission (the 7th inning aria) and hoped that the Metro ride home would not be as long as the ride there. However, we stopped for long times at each of the stations and it took us longer to get home. Oh well. Next weekend we have tickets for Walking with Dinosaurs and we might have to consider driving in if they plan to do track maintenance again.

Sunday the sun decided to shine again and my brilliant plan was to go to Potomac Overlook Park. However, I didn't count on a company picnic taking over the park (when cars are parking on street you know that's not a good sign). So we decided to go home to drop off the car and walked to our local cafe for a snack and then to the nearby elementary school to play.

Rainy first day of first grade

Summer has come to an abrupt end here in Virginia. We returned from California late Saturday night. Sunday was pleasant enough, but Labor Day was overcast and rainy.

Today was the first day of first grade. Geek Girl had trouble falling asleep last night because she was so excited about starting first grade, but she did eventually go to sleep and was ready to go this morning.

Here she is in one of her famous "Tigress" poses while waiting for the bus.


Now it's time to catch up on all of the stuff I didn't do over the summer.