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This weekend I did a ride-along in a police car, met some bloggers, rode the DC metro, and engaged in some Washington-area tourism. In reverse chronological order:

The Ride-Along

An officer friend asked if I’d like to do a ride-along with him, and—after making sure he was serious, because I didn’t think it was something random people like myself would normally do—I said it sounded like fun. He picked me up Sunday afternoon, and the first thing I thought when were walking out of my apartment and toward his cruiser was: I should have gotten him to handcuff me and put me in the backseat. Some of my neighbors were standing outside, and I could just see them thinking: “Where is he taking that poor, sweet-looking blond girl?”

When I told my friend Nadine about what I’d be doing that afternoon, I think she was more nervous about it than I was. She asked what I’d do if something dangerous happened, like a shootout. “I’d stay in the car and duck my head, of course,” I replied. Because, you know, there’s always the possibility of something unexpected happening. You have to sign a waiver saying that you won’t hold the police department responsible if anything happens to you.

At one point during the ride I sent a text message to my sister Elissa: “You’ll never guess what I’m doing right now. Riding in a police car.” Her response: “Cool! Tell him to drive fast and turn on the siren!”

There was no need to use the siren (unfortunately), and there were no fights or crazy altercations, but it was still interesting. He responded to two calls during the time I was with him, and each time I felt kind of powerful and important because I got to get out of the car and have an up-close look at the action (the first was a drunk guy who wouldn’t leave some other guy’s property, and the second was a three-car accident with an injury). It was a lot of fun. I’d definitely do it again.

101 Things, #77: Meet at least 2 new bloggers in person

Sunday morning I picked up Nadine, FreezeM, and Tim for a trip to the National Zoo. We had plans to meet Chris and Beth Cactus and their daughter Mia at 10am. After missing the turn for Connecticut Avenue, wasting a few minutes checking a map, and calling Chris Cactus for assistance (which, I might add, was unsuccessful…note to self: not a good person to ask for D.C. directions), we finally found where we needed to go and were only about half an hour late for our scheduled rendezvous. (A car was vacating the parking lot just as we were about to be turned away for it being full, so we were lucky.)

My impression: It was great meeting the Cactus family, the weather was gorgeous, and I honestly think we were with the two cutest kids in the entire Zoo.

And I have to mention Beth’s Treasure Trove Backpack. I kid you not, this was a backpack meant to satisfy a toddler’s many various food whims. We stopped several times for the kids to have a break and snack on something, and each time something different was produced. Goldfish, bananas, grapes (already sliced in half), apple chips. Just when I thought there couldn’t be anything else, out came the peanut butter crackers. It reminded me of Santa Claus’ bag o’ presents that replenishes itself every time he sticks his hand in.

Here is a photo of all of us, courtesy of Chris Cactus and his fancy camera with the remote control, balanced on a picnic table in the food area. (Speaking of which: since the refreshment stand gets so few orders for Boca burgers, they end up taking way longer to make than everything else that’s been sitting under heat lamps.)

From left to right (click photo to see a larger version): Beth, Mia, and Chris Cactus; FreezeM, Nadine, and Tim; me. (Anyone else notice the uneven pattern at work here? Wife, husband, young child. Wife, husband, young child. Single girl.)

(Here’s what Beth and Chris had to say about the Zoo trip yesterday.)

101 Things, #60: Ride the DC metro

After my unsuccessful attempt last month to ride the DC metro, I had to give it another shot. I went into the city on Saturday afternoon to hang out with my Dutch friends, and since I knew I’d be there for a while and didn’t want to deal with parking, I went to Pentagon City (thanks to Amy for the recommendation), parked in the garage, and took the blue line to McPherson Square. No problems.

We spent the afternoon at the Washington monument, the Mall, the Lincoln Memorial—all the required things that first-time visitors must see right away, if just to be able to say, “Yeah, I saw that.” The weather was great, and it was a lot of fun.

Mission: Pick Friends Up From Airport
I didn’t run anybody over or miss an exit (I did have to get some help reading the small road signs once we got into D.C., but other than that it was fine). I ended up having to wait longer than I thought, because international arrivals was taking forever and—having just endured a long, 8-hour flight—it took the poor Dutch an extra hour and a half to get through customs. What dangerous, dangerous people they are.