The Chang sisters are big on good food, and this place does not disappoint...
Friday, Feb 22nd, 8:20pm, Washington D.C. Dulles Airport
Alarm sounds at the pre-wee morning time of 2:10am at my house in Fort Collins. We had everything packed already as much as possible last night, so just need to shower, dress, grab a small bite (hard to be hungry at 2:30 in the morning though), and we are out the door at 3:15am. Our 6:15am flight is on schedule, though there is 1/4th inch of ice forecast in D.C. today, and a big storm system on the east coast. Been crossing my fingers past couple days for no delays getting into or out of D.C for our flight, and Christine's later in the day.
Drive to airport is smooth, park at Pike's Peak lot, check heavy backpacks, get through security quickly, and wait for our 6:15 flight, which departs on time. I brought 2 pieces of pizza, 2 apples, an orange, and the remains of some homemade bread for snacks throughout the next 2 days of travel.
The flight arrives on-time at 11:30am into cloudy Dulles airport with scattered wet puddles along the taxi-way. Our flight to Buenos Aires isn't until 9:45pm, which gives us several hours to head into the city and meet up with Wendy's sister for lunch and visiting the zoo (if the weather holds). A look at the departure/arrival screens show that all flights from Newark, NYC, and Boston are cancelled. The storm looks to be having mercy on D.C. for the moment though.
As we reach the main terminal, we get a call from Christine, who has a 2pm flight from Denver. She says that our flight tonight to Buenos Aires is CANCELLED!!! We are distressed, and are frantically trying to figure out who to call and what to do! We walk to a terminal attendent, and find that the flight is still on, and it was the preceding flight with the same number from NYC to Dulles that was cancelled. Phew... New life!
We take a 12:00 bus to a Metro station, and sub into Dupont Circle where we meet Betsy at 1:00 at a bookstore cafe called Kramer's for lunch. It's chilly and semi-drizzly out, but no ice. I put on some more legging and sleeve layers.
The Chang sisters are big on good food, and this place does not disappoint...
Afterwards, we decide to head to the zoo, despite the cold and humid weather, to watch the panda bears (one of Betsy's favorite pastimes). We take the metro, and walk a few block to the zoo, where we pretty much have the place to ourselves (just a few other brave souls in the cold this Friday afternoon). We watch the pandas proficiently eat lots of bamboo, and hang out for a good 90 minutes.
We spent all our time at the zoo watching the pandas. They walked back and forth, outside and inside...
The pandas spent most of their inside time eating bambo...
They would collect the leaves and small twigs in their mouth, and then munch it all at once. For the bamboo stem, they would shuck the outer hard layer with their teeth, and then eat the innner layer...
Then it's back to Dupont Circle for an early dinner (just 3 hours after lunch) at an Asian restaurant, where I get the yellow curry soup, recommended by Betsy (very good). I manage to finish off the large bowl, and at 5:30 with heavy stomachs, we say good bye to Betsy, and are off to meet Victor (a D.C. local) at a Metro station to catch a ride with him to the airport.
We're grateful for the ride to the airport by Diane, who had traveled to Peru 1.5 years ago with Victor, Christine, and Wendy. Security is quick, and we meet Christine at our gate at 7:15pm. The Fellowship is complete, with no delays or cancellations! We sit down together for the first time and discuss how much US cash to bring, itinerary details, and how exciting it is to be starting out our adventure.
Wendy and I look at the panda pictures on our cameras from earlier in the day while waiting for the flight. Victor gets some stretching in before the 10hr 40min flight to Buenos Aires...
The flight to Buenos Aires is now scheduled for 10pm, a 15 minute delay. I'm so glad the weather played nice in D.C. The northeast is still under a blanket of cancellations...