The day to head north has finally arrived and we actually have a place to stay! Twenty-four hours ago, we weren’t as confident about that due to inept social workers and other hassles. But Jamie over at the DC Ronald McDonald House was an angel and got us a room at the Northern Virginia Ronald McDonald House as she was completely full and we were third on the list. We may still move over there as space permits but we were honestly quite thankful to have anything that was better than $200/night in Washington on a holiday weekend.
The first stop was Zebulon to drop off Nicholas so he could stay with Grammy whilst we’re up in Washington taking care of Alexander. I can’t tell you how much of a load that takes off our shoulders…the last time he was up here for most of the stay and it really threw his world for a loop. One breakfast (from McDonald’s, ironically enough) later, we were on the road north. Traffic was pretty good until I-95 Exit 163 and then it was stacked all the way to the I-495 Beltway mixing bowl. We decided to give up on trying to get on the Beltway and went in closer to Washington. We ended up taking the scenic route round Arlington National Cemetery (don’t get me wrong, it’s very scenic and hallowed ground but we were so ready to be off the road). It got even more scenic when the signs for US-50 west direct you to the left but you should really go right. But hey, we went over the Memorial Bridge to Abe’s Place and did a very scenic U-turn on 23rd Street NW… 🙂
Finding Ronald McDonald House was also kind of interesting…there is no sign for the House and to make matters worse, the address is off Gallows Road but the House itself is tucked way behind the hospital that *IS* on Gallows Road. (BTW, interesting name for a road and even more interesting place to put a hospital). Nicholas would be in heaven up here…Inova Fairfax Hospital is apparently a major trauma center and we saw a couple of helicopters coming in for a landing at the pad. Fortunately, a cell phone does wonders for putting us on the right track. The house itself is actually quite nice and obviously a lot newer than the DC location (but we’d still prefer to be in DC as it’s much closer to Children’s). And it has wireless internet access…but I’m sure I can find a place in the most wired place on Earth to camp out! 🙂
But it’s our home away from home for the next two or three weeks.