Walk Away

Walk Away : Train Station : Manassas, Virginia

Returning to our wanderings through Old Town Manassas, here is the train station that provides commuter service between Washington and Manassas via Amtrak and the Virginia Railway Express (VRE.) These two photos stood out among all of the ones I took. The one above, I'm calling Walk Away.

Washington via Manassas

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 01/09

DCA

Washington National Airport: The departure level.
(Click on image to enlarge.)

Washington, D.C., is accessible via air from three airports: Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD) in Loundon County, Virginia; Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in Arlington, Virginia; and Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport (BWI) near Baltimore, Maryland. The closest of the three is National Airport, just across the Potomac River and about six miles from downtown. The other two are each nearly 30 miles from Washington. Today's photos are from DCA.

L: View of DCA's air traffic control tower from the arrivals deck. R: Heading into the clouds.
(Click on images to enlarge.)

Opened in June 1941, DCA is home to 12 carriers providing service to 74 domestic destinations and connections to several international airports within the U.S. There are no direct international flights from DCA. In 2007, 18.7 million passengers traveled through DCA. It is the third busiest airport in the D.C. Metropolitan area.

View of Runway 19 looking south from Gravelly Point.

After Sept. 11, DCA was the last airport in the nation to reopen and for a time there was some discussion that it might never reopen given its proximity to the capital city. Fortunately, reason prevailed in the former of senators and congressional representatives who use the airport for its convenience and easy access. Located at the north end of the airport is a park called Gravelly Point. It is here that you can find people parking their cars or unloading a picnic basket and enjoying the sights and sounds of planes taking off and landing.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 6/08

Flying Lessons?

Flying lessons? Or are seagulls plane-spotting enthusiasts?

A week or so ago, I was in East Potomac Park taking pictures of bicyclists and blossoming chestnut trees and sailboats and planes landing on the other side of the river at Washington National Airport and the like. Eventually, I got in my car to go take pictures of the U.S. Capitol when I drove past all of these seagulls lined up on the fence at the river's edge. It was too good not to photograph!

Seagulls at sunset, planes on approach, and the U.S. Air Force Memorial in the background:
A perfect scenario for flight all around!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 5/08

Two Things Challenge: Mother / Land

Pictures of my mom and her three sisters and their mother.

This week's Two Things Challenge was Mother / Land. I put together a rough collage of pictures of my mom, her three sisters, and their mother. Their mom passed away 22 years ago and yet, I dare say, there isn't a day goes by where each of these girls don't miss her. They're dad died two years ago and they miss him, too. My mother and her sisters grew up in Green River, Wyoming. If you're taking I-80 eastbound, just before you go through the tunnels under Castle Rock, you can look straight down the embankment to your right and see the home they grew up in.

Top left: My mother is the third of four. She's the one in the black dress. This picture was taken around 1955; middle left: The same four sisters, but more than 50 years later. Bottom middle and bottom right: My mom and her youngest sister. They've remained good friends through the years and they share a lot of laughs and mischief, even to this day. They're always cooking up some kind of scheme or prank together. Top right and middle right: My grandmother--the four girls' mother. The top picture was taken in 1942, the year my grandmother got married. The center picture was taken in 1986 just a few weeks before she died. Top center: My mom at the age of 6; middle center: my mom on her wedding day. She was 18; and bottom left: my mom today.

Mom's a lovely person with a wicked, wicked sense of humor and fun. She's also fiercely devoted to her family and can go from zero to Mother Hen faster than atoms collide. My brother, sister, and I have a lot of fun with Mom. We laugh. A lot. She always tells us we're good people and she loves us. We think she's good people, too, and we sure love her. Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Airplane on approach to Washington National Airport

This is my photo for Land. Of course, as many of you have come to expect, I'm a total smartass! (See above mention of Mother, aka Mom. I get it from her.) What better interpretation of land than a plane on approach to land at the airport!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 5/08

Metro

Chinatown/Gallery Place Station

Washington, D.C., is home to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA), or Metro. A system of five subway lines, numerous bus routes, and transfer stations, Metro is the most loved and reviled transit system in the area. Known as often for its accidents, breakdowns, overcrowding, and stupid riders (read: clueless tourists) as it is for its ability to transport hundreds of thousands of commuters every day, Metro is also under utilized as evidenced by gridlocks on the highways, freeways, and byways in the larger Washington metropolitan area.

This photo is inside the Chinatown/Gallery Place station on the Red, Green, and Yellow lines.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 11/07