Our Honeymoon was nearing and we started going over some details a couple weeks before we were scheduled to leave.  We had planned this months ago, but as usual, we are professional procrastinators.  Life just gets ahead of us with our multiple jobs and parenting duties so we lose track of time with the thought that we'll have plenty more of it after we get just one more task done beforehand.

The first thing we noticed when we finally settled down to plan our trip was now the tickets were much more expensive than we initially viewed some time before.  Then came time to book places to stay.  It was overwhelming with so many different location options and choices in amenities.  Last was to figure out how to coordinate the check-ins and check-outs with all of our flights.  I'm the type of guy who just goes and figures things out on the way or when I get to my destination.  I'm pretty sure my wife wanted to stab me in the neck multiple times with how unhelpful I was with the process.

Nicole decided to get her nails done several days before take off.  She rarely treats herself to such things so it seemed like an exciting moment for her.  She came back from Luxury Nails nearly in tears with how horrid her nails turned out (just as I was afraid they would).  They looked as if they had been hit by a bout of elephantiasis...as if they slaughtered a pack of ducks and glued their bills to her knuckles...as if they glued bricks onto her fingertips and spit shined them.

...the Luxury duck bill nails...

Okay they weren't THAT bad but they certainly weren't near to what she wanted nor even asked for.  Luckily, after a full night of stress -- I mean rest, she was able to go back the next day and get it fixed.

...my wife's beautiful tips...

Friday, September 7th: We spent the night before doing some last minute packing and discovered every bag we had was overweight.  Not by just a smidge, by a lot. So the time we had reserved for resting and driving up to Northern Virginia was spent on trimming out extra pounds and repacking.  My carry on camera gear already hit max weight of 26 lbs, so I couldn't even pack my emergency underwear.  Nicole's mermaid tail was already 35 lbs so not much more could go into that check-in.  The 10 lbs of snacks were obviously priority above anything else.  This meant we had to leave a lot of clothes and gear that we were looking forward to bringing along with us. We were off to a grand start.

Saturday, September 8th: We drove up to Culpeper, VA early in the morning.  It was Marc’s birthday weekend so Nicole wanted to spend a little time with her big brother before we had to hit the airport.  We were greeted by their new rather large puppy, Rose, which they believe is a Pit and Bulldog mix. Rose is deaf and requires a buzz colar to communicate when you’re not seen.  She couldn’t be called away when she rushed at me as I exited the restroom.  I'd like to blame it on my irresistable aroma of manliness eminating whence I came.

“Great attack dog we have,” Marc chuckled as he commented on how the pup neither barked nor bit the stranger in their home. Pups just know I'm a super duper awesomely sweet guy <3.

We had a late lunch at El Pino Mexican Restaurant.  The service was sub-par and the food was mediocre.  I wasn’t certain this was a good idea before having to sit in a plane for 8 hours.  

We got through checkin and customs much quicker than we had expected at the Washington Dulles International Airport, so we had a bit more time to lounge about before boarding.

Dulles tram ride to our terminal...

 Trying to avoid fast foods and the bars, we sat in Carabbas (yeah we know it's still a chain, but the selection of restaurants is pretty sparse here) and charged our laptop and phones.

...our night at Carrabba's... 

As we were boarding, one of the attendants decided to rush back through the aisles against traffic.  I attempted to step out of his way. Forgetting how low the ceilings were, I smacked my left temple onto an open overhead storage cabinet.  The attendant apologized profusely as he passed, but what else can one do now. In a slight daze, I made my way to my window seat as I glared at the old guy sitting behind me giggling and smirking at my misfortune.  I already planned on leaning my chair back as far as I could for the entire flight.  This is a great start.

I quickly noticed the headsets, pillow, and blanket as I sat down and was excited to see we had a television on the back of every headrest.  My bag was shoved under the seat in front of me and I buckled myself in so I can start tapping away at the touch screen in front of me.  I scrolled to the very end of the Recent Releases category and started playing SOLO: A Star Wars Story. I got my space nerd on until we were served dinner and I managed to fall asleep.

crazy euro outlet...

Let's Go on to Day 02 - Paris!