Tickets: Purchased

The Time: 1974

The People: Farmers

The Place: eastern suburbs of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China

The Reason: Drilling for a water well

Discovery: Massive, life sized Terra Cotta statues of strong warriors, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians

Post-Discovery: Estimates are that there are 3 pits containing over 2,000 soldiers, 100 chariots with 400 horses and 300 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried

(info taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army)

If you know me, you know that I get really excited about things, especially if that thing is a trip somewhere! I have this sort of love/hate relationship with travelling- I love to do it, but hate that I can't go as many places as often as I want....there are these hinderances I call work, money (or lack thereof) and....well, those are the big ones. If I had unlimited funds and didn't have to work, I would be "on the road" more often than not. I have always had this desire to travel, see the world, this country, this state even. Someday, I hope to see all and more of the places I've got on my list of things to do before I die. That list is long, really long (and getting longer all the time) SO I better live a long time, or start doing things in a hurry.

A friend of mine in college labeled my intense desire to explore the world as : wanderlust. So true! The thing about my wanderlust is: it is always simmering, so to speak, and then every once in I while I get these big flare-ups, or boil overs. The boil overs are usually associated with one of three things; a) I am getting ready for a trip or am on a trip; b) I know someone who is getting ready for a trip or is on a trip; or c) it's been too long since I last traveled and I NEED to go somewhere. Right at this exact moment I fall into ALL three of those categories. TROUBLE indeed!

Many of you know that in May my brother relocated from Savannah GA (a source of two of my wanderlust adventures) to the Washington DC area (a place on the aforementioned to-do list). Uh oh. That can only spell more trouble. How can I have my own flesh and blood in a part of this country and not visit. That would just be terrible...right? RIGHT?! So how could a sister help but to start planning a trip to see said flesh and blood (a.k.a. younger brother, Josh). COULD NOT happen. Trust me!

I contemplated visiting for his birthday in October--didn't think I could pull myself and my act together to do that, so after a friend confirmed that Cherry Blossom Festival time would be a sure bet, I requested 2 weeks off from work for this coming spring. Mind you this was all brewing in May of this year, and projecting to March/April of the coming year. WOW! I was so excited for something that may or my not happen. A lot can happen in that about of time. Since then I have debated a lot and been hot and cold about it.

Well, not anymore. I haven't yet bought a plane ticket, I did however, just only moments ago, purchase tickets to see an exhibit while I am in D.C. And this exhibit is what spurred my decision to go, regardless of whether or not I should, whether or not I can afford it, whether or not the weather is good...all those excuses I could come up with to bail on the trip that I had and have been so looking forward to.

I got word that the National Geographic Museum in D.C. is hosting an exhibit of the Terra Cotta Warriors from November (now) through March 31st. It just so happens that I was planning on flying out on the 31st. Solution: fly out a day earlier and see the exhibit on the last evening. I like this solution! Brother agreed to go with me, and then the planning began, again! I have a list, and a travel/map book and lots of internet sites book marked as "Favorites." And, the best part--I have an itinerary started. I know, I know. Nothing like being a little premature in planning, but in my defense: that will be the beginning of peak tourist season and if I am paying to travel to that side of the country I will, by golly, be seeing the things I want to see. And if that means ordering/reserving tickets now, then so be it. Being premature pays off at times, as this evening I discoved that the day we'd planned to go to the Washington Monument, yes : SOLD OUT = itinerary gets tweaked. So, the trip at this point is fluid, with the exception of the tickets I just purchased to see the largest collection of those lovely and amazing creations pictured above!

Can't wait!

By the way, if any of you have been to D.C. and have a recommendation of a place I should be sure to see, or even a place that I could pass on seeing feel free to let me know!!