A Very Basic Blog

 July was a pretty busy month activity and travel wise, so I'm going to break it up into two parts. The month kicked off with Laura obtaining her learners permit. She was eligible to apply as of 17 June (15y 6m) but we had a couple of false starts with the paperwork the Department of Motor Vehicles required. The first time we didn't have sufficient evidence of our residence. The second time we didn't have sufficient evidence that Laura could apply for the learners permit given the type of visa we're travelling on (they probably could have told us that the first visit, but anyway...!). By the third visit Laura was resigned to us never being able to satisfy their requirements, so she was surprised when the clerk told her to smile for her permit photo before she had even taken the test! Laura had studied hard and passed, so she is now going for drives around the streets with Russ and will also participate in driver education at school. I have to say, learning to drive here

June was the month for getting settled and sorted.  When we first arrived in DC (Arlington, Virginia actually) we were provided temporary accommodation for up to four weeks in an area called Crystal City, in the Sur Apartments. The apartment was beautiful and in a wonderful complex, but with only two bedrooms was somewhat challenging for Laura and Ben! We were blown away by the number of dogs who also lived in the complex - big and small. The largest we saw was a Burmese Mountain Dog, happily riding the elevator with their owner. The complex even had a dog grooming room. There was also a beautiful terrace on the twelfth floor which overlooked the train line and Ronald Reagan National Airport which made for some entertaining viewing whilst having an evening beverage. Surprisingly, we hardly heard the planes as the runway was parallel to our apartment so there was no overhead action. The terrace Ronald Reagan National Airport We were fortunate enough to get a hire car for two weeks on ar