Mount Vernon

During our visit to Virginia, Ken and I did a tour of Mount Vernon with Ken's Dad. We missed the crowds by going on a cold-rainy weekday. It was "Christmas at Mount Vernon", which meant that they opened the rarely-seen third floor of the Mansion. The Mansion and the grounds were amazing; I took a lot of pictures and picked out a few that I thought turned out the best. Enjoy!

Ken and Dennis at the Ford Orientation Center.

The Mansion.

Washington's Tomb.

Remains of Washington on the right and his wife Martha on the left.

The Wharf on the Potomac River.

Pioneer Farmer Site.

Ken with Aladdin the camel.
George Washington had a camel on the grounds during Christmas 1787.

We watched historical chocolate-making demonstrations.
YUM - I love chocolate!

The Sykes' Virginia Christmas Tree

Dennis, Chris, and I picked-up and trimmed a Christmas Tree before Ken arrived in Virginia. To delay the decorating of the tree, I explained to Chris that Ken had shipped a package that would arrive on Wednesday (12-17-2008), which involved decorating of the tree. [To clue some people in... Ken's family was unaware that he was flying in on Wednesday.] On Wednesday evening the "FedEx" man arrived... Ken's arrival shocked both his Mom and Dad and it was a great surprise. That night we finished decorating the Christmas Tree, ate homemade fudge, listened to Christmas music, and played games.

Bull Run Festival of Lights

Dennis, Chris, and I went to see the lights at Bull Run Regional Park. The light display is almost two and a half miles long! I tried taking some photographs; however, they do not do the displays justice. It took us an hour to drive to the park (which, was well worth it) and only twelve minutes to drive back home (oh, the joys of no traffic).

Washington, D.C.

The following are a few photographs that I've taken during this trip back East.

Chinatown's "Friendship Archway".
The archway is located a block away from the Verizon Center, where I watched my first-live NHL game.

Boston Bruins at Washington Capitals.

The Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

The White House.

The National Christmas Tree (located on the Ellipse, just south of the White House).

Cake - Cards - Crafts - Cooking

The Mrs. Sykes' had a fun weekend together full of:

• Cooking-up yummy spaghetti on my two-burner-hotel stove;
• Making holiday crafts from Crayola Model Magic modeling material;
• Playing some old and new card games;
  
• Eating chocolate cake; and
• Watching movies!
  

Makin' turkeys...

Finished pumpkins...

Molded roses...

Gold & pink-glitter cake from Fancy Cakes by Leslie.

With December bearing down upon us I figured it was time to get the decorative pumpkins off of the porch. What better way to do this than take them out to the desert and fill them full of bullet holes. I met up at high noon with Bryan, Rich, Bryon, Larry, Scott and Ray out on the flats just past Five Mile Pass on the side of the road to Faust. We brought pistols, .22 rifles, and shotguns. As people were rolling in we did some target shooting with the pistols and rifles. Larry was a big fan of sharp shooting with the .22.

Once most of the guys had arrived the shotguns came out. Bryon brought his mechanical thrower, and Rich brought two hand throwers. We spent most of the time playing Annie Oakley. This is where you get in a line and the first guy calls the pull, if he misses his shot the next guy in line shoots at the clay, if the second guy misses the third guy takes the shoot, and so on. If you miss your shoot and the guy after you makes it, then you are out. You keep this up until it is down to the last man standing. It was great fun!

It became apparent that Bryon was the guy to beat, he won the most rounds of Annie Oakley. We went through four cases of pigeons and I think everyone who left by the end of the afternoon had a sore shoulder. Oh by the way we did end up putting a few holes in some pumpkins too...


It was a great way to spend a December afternoon, with temperatures in the 50's it was hard to believe that this is supposed to be winter. Thanks to everyone who came out for some fun!

Great View - MD

It's hit or miss when it comes to hotel room views on work travel. The majority of the time I have a view of an adjacent building's roof or wall; however, this time I have a view of the street-life and nearby buildings. It's actually a great view during the night.

Maryland

It's day number two in Maryland and all is going well. I am here for a two week training course for work and then a week of fun with my In-Laws.

Yesterday I flew into BWI (Baltimore/Washington International Airport) and then I had a great evening with Chris and Dennis. We ate an amazing dinner at The Irish Inn at Glen Echo. We laughed over finding the restaurant under the "American" food-search option in the GPS and the fact that I told them I would eat just about anything, except for grits, which was recommended by our waiter. Dennis had their White Bean Stew, Chris had their Pork Chop, and I had their Lollipop Lamb Chops - Y-U-M-! The restaurant's atmosphere was inviting and the decor was charming. One particular painting had a great saying; tonight, I did an internet search and found out that it is an Irish Blessing. I'm not one for spiritual quotes, but I've taken a liking to this one:

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields and,
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Tonight my co-worker, Brent, and I ate at Jaleo, an authentic Spanish tapas restaurant in Bethesda. We spent a little bit of per diem and these are a few of the tapas we ate:

Codorniz con salsa de romero y alioli con miel
[Grilled quail with rosemary sauce and honey alioli];

Pollo al ajillo con salsa verde
[Grilled marinated chicken served with a parsley purée and garlic sauce];

Tortilla de patatas
[Spanish omelet with potatoes and onions]; and

Manzanas con hinojo y queso Manchego
[Sliced apples and fennel with Manchego cheese, walnuts and sherry dressing].

Stay tuned for more...