Susan Solo – Photographer | Traveler | Adventurer

Category: my life

  • Joint Service Air Show at Andrews Air Force Base

    Chris and I took the metro all the way out to the last stop on the green line today to see the Joint Service Open House Air Show at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. According to the Joint Service website, there would be a “convenient shuttle service to and from FedEx Field and Branch Ave Metro station” (the only way in and out of the show).

    The highlights of the show that Chris really wanted to see were scheduled between Noon and 3pm, and we also planned to have lunch there, figuring we’d arrive around 1pm. But we got to the Branch Ave station and the parking lot was an absolute zoo. There were so many people just standing in line in the lot, waiting to get on the busses to go to Andrews AFB. Here’s the line to get on the bus that continues on way into the back and snakes around the lot:

    One of the military personnel said that if we got in line, it would be about a one-and-a-half hour wait to get on a bus, and the last bus was running at 3pm so we might not even make it onto the last bus! So we ended up leaving. It’s ironic that the website also said, “It is our intent to accommodate everyone,” because tons of people were turning around and leaving once they saw how long they’d have to wait for the convenient shuttle service, which wasn’t even a guarantee to get to the show. So, two hours of commuting to get there and we didn’t see a thing.

    And because we had planned to eat at Andrews AFB, we were both starving and didn’t end up eating lunch until 3pm. It’s funny how good stuff tastes when you’re that hungry…almost as good as it feels to get out of soaking wet clothes and into dry ones after being out in a torrential rain for hours! (Thankfully it was a gorgeous day here today.) So, I’m sorry that I don’t have any really cool pictures of the F-22 and the Blue Angels to show you. Maybe next time! And I’m sorry my last two stories from my weekends were kind of abysmal! I’ll post some happy wedding pictures from last weekend soon – stay tuned.

  • Was It Something We Said?

    It’s official that my parents and my grandmother are moving to Colorado next month. My brother left to attend school in Scotland, and it doesn’t seem like he’s planning on coming back here. Chris’s sister might be moving to California soon. Everyone is leaving us! So Chris and I are wondering if it was something we said?

  • Radiohead at Nissan Pavilion (in the Rain)

    Chris’s all-time favorite band is Radiohead, and we went to see them last night at Nissan Pavilion. We had less-than lovely weather yesterday (torrential downpours, 50 degrees, flooding, road closures everywhere due to the flooding) and for anyone who is unfamiliar with Nissan Pavilion, it’s an outdoor venue. We actually had seats in the “covered” area of the pavilion, but because of the wind blowing the rain sideways, we kept getting rained on anyway. By the time we got to our seats it really didn’t matter if we were in a covered area or not, because we had already trudged through the huge parking lot-turned-swamp and we were totally soaked. For some reason their lot isn’t paved, it’s just a giant gravel/mud area, so it literally was swampy, with unavoidable ankle-deep puddles. Check out my genius shoe choice (I didn’t know it would be so puddley!):


    Even in the covered area, people wore ponchos and hooded raincoats (or even trashbags). We sat under an umbrella until the show started.

    We actually only ended up staying for six or seven songs. My feet were so cold I actually started to wonder what the symptoms of frostbite are. The rain just wouldn’t let up, and we were still getting pelted where we were sitting, so we made the decision to go. There were plenty of hard-core fans in the lawn section that stayed, even sans umbrella! The part of the show that we did get to see was really good. They had an awesome light show choreographed perfectly with the music.

    Both soaked from head-to-toe, wearing winter coats because it was around 50 degrees and windy, but still smiling!

  • Misheard Lyrics

    This might be one of those you-had-to-be-there things, but it cracked me up so I’ll try to explain it. Chris and I were on our evening walk around the neighborhood tonight, and I said something about how the same people were out as when we were on our walk last night. We’re creatures of habit and like to leave at the same time everyday. So Chris, in one of his silly moods, sang, “These are…the people that you meet…when you’re walking in the street.” And I laughed, and asked what that was from. He said it was a line from some song.

    It took me a few seconds, and then I got it. We were laughing once we realized the real lyrics. Do you know what 80s song he was trying to sing? Click here for the answer!

  • Honk If You’re Happy

    I was driving home from work today and passed alongside a minivan with a kid in the passenger seat holding a sign out the window with the words “honk if you’re happy” scribbled on it. So I honked enthusiastically a few times and he bounced up and down in the seat laughing. I drove on thinking about how my younger brother and I would do stuff like that on family road trips (we especially loved to wave or give people a simple thumbs-up sign) and it made me smile.

    That’s all, just a little bright spot in my day!