The Scenic Way Home - Arriving & Leaving

Arriving in Washington I was so full of emotions, we had finally reached our last stop...the end of a 32 week working and travelling adventure. I felt ready to cry at any moment.  But not out of complete sadness, I also felt happy and overjoyed for what we had achieved, the wonderful places we had seen and the journey we had gone through together. 

A beautiful row of houses, just over the road
from the White House!

With four nights in this city we were going to make the most out of these last few days :)  From start to end this short stay was intense, I think that is one of the best ways to describe it.  The Government, the military and the endless war history all seem to dominate this city in quite an intimidating and aggressive way but beneath this there is a clean, impressive city to be explored. Dodging the uniformed figures and security checks we found some great drinking holes and eateries and even managed to squeeze in a day out to Baltimore :) 

Sketching in absolute peace :)

Many hours were spent exploring the vast museums, soaking up the artwork and artefacts.  My favourite moment was when I discovered the quiet courtyard set in the middle of the Arthur M. Sackler gallery. It was so peaceful and a great escape from the over admitted museums along the Mall.  In this moment I sat and thought and sketched and it was wonderful.

With our flight date fast approaching it was hard to imagine that within a few days we would be back on English soil! But that day did arrive...and wow it was an amazing feeling.  Seeing England for the first day after 8 months was unbelievable.

Peering out to the land below, I was crying tears of joy, relief, excitement to see my family and friends and anticipation of what will come next.

Things to be surely missed - all those delightfully blue skies, the laid back lifestyle of Australia, New Zealand and Big Island, the delicious flavours of Fiji, the longboards of Waikiki, the humid wall of heat that hits you leaving bars at 3am, running along the beach at sunset, sitting on the rocks at Coolangatta watching the world go by...

Things to look forward to - ahhhh home sweet home, hills - big rolling green ones :), living without the fear of snakes or sharks, woolly winter coats, my studio den and most importantly this next chapter in my life.....