The snow and ice have melted enough to allow me to cycle in for the first time. There were a few dodgy patches and I took my time, but it was worth it not just for the exercise, but for the gorgeous views of the sun shining on the Potomac. The Mount Vernon Trail was very quiet with only a few runners and cyclists and was very pleasant until I had to tackle the back roads of Alexandria. It wasn't too cold either, although I was well wrapped up.

We had a small house warming last night with the guys from work and their families. It was very different with the house full of people, at least upstairs, but did it ever feel empty when everyone left!

Helen flies home tonight so I'll be all on my own until Kitty flies out for Easter. I should be pretty busy though; putting up curtain rails, getting the imported stuff into the house and buying loads of furniture. The house should be in good shape and possibly the pool open and hopefully not all the healthy food or beer drunk!

Hopefully you can see and use the house calendar opposite. We will fill it out to show when people are staying. As we have a spare double, twin and single room there shouldn't be many occasions when we are toppers. There's also plenty of room to camp in the garden or sleep in the lounge if push comes to shove. So come on everybody, grab a cheap flight to Dulles and come and see us! Preference given to boarders, and OK, skiers during the winter;o)

Entente
Originally uploaded by d_j_critchley.

Well, most of the snow has melted, but more is on it's way tonight! We've just got back from watching the rugby which has got us a bit down, but at least we're going boarding again tomorrow.

We've made a lot of progress in the last week as we have got a washer and dryer installed, TV and broadband, but most significantly we managed to register the car and get new plates.

We're having a house warming on Tuesday and then Helen flies back to the UK on Wednesday evening leaving me to fend for myself for a few months. At least I got out on the bike today, now most of the ice has gone, so it shouldn't be too much of a shock when I bike in on Monday.

Winter at home

Winter at home
Originally uploaded by d_j_critchley.

Not only did we have bagels and streaky strips, yes Lawrie real streaky strips, for our first breakfast in our new house; but we woke up to find that the world had gone white overnight.

After clearing the drive and path like a citizens we ventured out to do our first big food shop and then to buy pots, pans, cutlery and stuff. I had fun playing in the snowy car parks with our little car and watching the big SUVs struggling to get around.

Unfortunately the plumber installed the dishwasher incorrectly and water streams into sink each time we use it and the gas has not been turned on to the cooker so we are being inventive with our food in the microwave. Don't worry this will be sorted out shortly.

Our phone is now connected (703-619-0041), but don't forget we are five hours behind the UK The TV should be sorted on Monday and we should be (legally) online on the 28th.

A busy weekend!

Dave at Wintergreen
Originally uploaded by d_j_critchley.

As a break from all our running around we drove three hours to Wintergreen, a local slope. There are closer ones, but this looked the best at the moment; odd considering most of the rest of the east coast seems to be buried in snow! It's not a massive resort, but there was enough to occupy us for a day and a half; it would have been better with more snow, but hey a lot better than the resorts near Longwell Green.

Back to running around we're getting ready to move into the new house on Tuesday, unless the wintry weather prevents the funrniture pack from being delivered. Then on Wednesday it is off to Ikea at Potomac Mills!!!

Snow in Crystal City
Originally uploaded by d_j_critchley.

As you can see we've had a slight sprinkling of snow, like the UK but not as much, although it hasn't got much above zero even without the wind chill.

We went house hunting on Tuesday; eight houses, ranging from the truly awful to the quite amazing. The house we chose is a spacious modernized split level house near Mount Vernon, if everything goes smoothly we should be moving in on Tuesday. The address is 2202 Yardley Court, Alexandria, Virginia 22308, you can find it on Google maps (http://maps.google.com/) by typing in the address, (or lat 38 43 21.71 Lon 77 04 9.48 on Google earth) it's the one with the huge pool.

On the way back from the realtor we did see an amazing sign which we just had to share with you.

The British are here. We landed at Dulles during a snow shower and it's been extremely cold! As you can see we've been checking out the sights of Washington, unfortunately Dubya wasn't willing to make us a warming cuppa.

The buildings around the National Mall are very impressive and the view from the top of the Washington Monument is quite incredible.

Lucky for us we found a pub to watch the rugby, not sure about the standard of the referee in the Wales Ireland match, but Ellis should have been the man of the match on Saturday! Just because Jonny scored the most points; he's the kicker!

Were going to check out the Superbowl today and a local fondue retaurant this evening. Unfortunately the Embassy hasn't found a house for us yet so we'll be moving into an apartment on Monday.