Life is a Highway

 

You know me, I'm always using song lyrics as post titles.  These things just pop into my head when I'm thinking up what to call a particular post.

Yesterday, Mr. Tide and I headed up to Washington, D.C. for a doctor's appointment.  It was a beautiful sunny day and so we had the windows down, the radio on, and camera in hand...well my hand anyway since he was driving.

I realized two very important things yesterday.  One, that I am really lousy at taking photos from a moving vehicle, and two, that there is nothing quite like coming home after a long drive on a sunny spring day.  In our busy day to day lives we sometimes are rushing around so much that we forget to slow up the pace and really converse with one another.  So I love it when Mr. Tide, or my kids and I are held captive in a car for a few hours so that we can really talk and get caught up on life.

We saw this handsome statue in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia as we headed down the GW Parkway.  I love the green patina on the beautiful bronze.

Old Town Alexandria is an eclectic area, steeped in history but full of wonderful shops and restaurants that range from traditional to hip and funky.  To see much more of Old Town Alexandria's wonderful architecture and a whole series of great photos of D.C. and Old Town, head over to Punctuation Mark's wonderful blog!

My appointment was actually on the northwest side of D.C. so we skirted the city and had a few glimpses of the monuments as we passed by.  These shots were all taken while Mr. Tide navigated the traffic.  If you've never driven in D.C. at rush hour...well you really haven't lived, because it will get your adrenalin flowing!

I loved how these stones looked at one of the many overpasses you travel under on the GW Parkway.

You can see the Jefferson Memorial above, and the cherry blossoms which are just starting to show some color!

D.C. has some beautiful architecture including the Arlington Memorial Bridge which spans the Potomac River and connects D.C. and Virginia.  You can also see the Lincoln Memorial in the distance.

I sometimes forget that the same river the flows between the District and northern Virginia is what separates Maryland and Virginia down in my neck of the woods.  Up north, the river is a calm relatively narrow river where rocks provide a place for birds to sunbathe.  Down my way, the river is five miles wide from shore to shore and churns with the same strength as an ocean with waves and beautiful white caps depending on the weather and wind direction.

After spending the day "up town" as we like to call it, I was happy to leave the hustle and bustle of city life to come back downstream to the quiet of the country.

Although I could imagine myself owning a city apartment somewhere in the world where I could go for visits, I know that I'm a country girl at heart.

I need fresh air, wide open spaces, and plenty of crickets chirping.  So I'm happy that life is a highway and I get to experience the best of both worlds with only a few hours of travel.  Where has life's highway taken you lately?

I also want to thank the very talented Chania from Razmataz who recently gave me a wonderful Sunshine Award!  Thank you Chania, your blog is truly an inspiration and ray of sunshine in my life!

And for those of you who just love it when I mention a song as my post title, here ya go!...