Pushing the Limits

I would first like to say that I very much enjoyed reading these high-caliber blog posts! I've had some interesting adventures of my own recently, but I confess that I will have to relate them in a less lyrical fashion.

Like many of the P55 fellows, I've passed the "settling into a new city" stage and I'm now moving into the "what adventurous things can I do here" stage. Strangely enough, that has meant pushing the bounds of DC. This is geographically simple seeing as Maryland and Virginia are so close, but there are so many things to do in DC that you would never have to leave.

So the point of this is that I've had some really fun times in Virginia recently that are definitely enhancing my experience of DC. Lured by the promise of fresh air and wooden boats, I ventured down to Fishing Bay, VA to go sailing with a complete stranger a few weeks ago. I spent Monday and Tuesday deliberating after a co-worker presented me this opportunity and I was surprised to find myself thinking that I didn't want to miss out on all the fun stuff that was going on in DC that weekend. Still, I took the plunge and I couldn't be happier with the results because I met a whole group of DC people in Virginia. They gave me all sorts of recommendations about how to find other sailing opportunities closer to DC and it seems like I've tapped into a great resource.

In general, there are a lot of awesome things to do outside the city limits if you know someone with a car. My roommate and I plan to take some hiking trips to the mountains and my office is going on a tubing trip to Harper's Ferry, WV this Sunday. I'm looking forward to that so I can get to know EDF people better. The last two weeks of August have been slow because people are taking vacation, but it's a good chance to make friends with co-workers when things are less hectic!