We just returned from our family vacation trip to Washington, DC to see my sister Amy. Amy visits us in Charlotte at least every year but we hadn't traveled to see her in DC in three years. We drove the 420 miles from Charlotte to Washington on Thursday, taking the slightly longer but much more scenic route through the Shenandoah Valley of western Virginia. After seven and a half hours of driving we didn't feel like going out so we rented the 3rd Harry Potter movie (Prisoner of Azkaban). Maegan's been into Harry Potter recently and it was a good thing that we saw it with my sister, since she actually read the book and was able to explain things to us when we became confused.

The next day we went to the National Zoo (including a ride on the Metro for Maegan) and got to see the rare Giant Pandas. Patty didn't want to over-exert herself so in the afternoon Maegan, Amy, and I went to the National Museum of Natural History while Patty rested at the apartment. There we saw full-size dinosaur fossils, as well as the famed Hope Diamond. After another full day we decided to rent the 4th Harry Potter movie (Goblet of Fire), and my sister once again explained all the details that were missing from the book.

So far it had been a nice family vacation. The next day we planned on driving to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Then suddenly at one o'clock in the morning those plans ended as Patty and I were awaken by Maegan "getting sick". Then a few hours later I joined Maegan in "getting sick". Maegan and I continued to "get sick" repeatedly all night long. I soon developed a fever, severe chills, and aching muscles, but thankfully Maegan never showed those symptoms. Poor Patty and Amy stayed up all night with the two of us, as well as the entire next day. In total, I didn't move from that one bedroom apartment for over 40 hours, until it was time to leave to come home on New Years Eve. So we ended up taking several of our vacation days traveling a total of 15 hours and 840 miles by car just to spend 3/4 of a day sightseeing followed by 2 days of feeling like hell and exposing Patty and Amy to whatever Maegan and I had.

Labels: family, Maegan, Patty, vacation, Washington_DC