Washington, DC I must have booked the worst possible hotel in Washington. I had been driving all night from Buffalo the night before, and didn’t check in until after 2AM. I was so tired I pretty much just went to sleep. Not noticing that the clocks in my room still had not been changed. Daylight Savings was only HOW long ago?! Anyway, I started getting a barrage of angry phone calls saying that it was past check out and that they’ll charge me if I don’t leave. Apparently, they don’t inform other employees once they make the first call. Great customer service that. I’ve never had a hotel do that before. They also didn’t seem to care that they never bothered to change the clocks in the room either. Two thumbs down for this dump.

The worst part about being woken up prematurely was that I was facing a very long drive that night. My masterplan was to drive from the Verizon Center all the way to Dallas after the Caps/Sens game. I knew it was going to be a challenge especially considering that I have barely slept for the last week on account of this very long road trip. Anyway, I managed to put myself together before the game. I actually did my hair and posted my Day 5 entry from the bathroom of the hotel lobby! Yes, I am very resillient on the road!

The drive to the rink was amazing. I had never actually been in DC before. I’ve pretty much just had layovers there. So, it was really nice to see the monuments and the Pentagon, etc. I wish I had more time to ejoy them. I have to say the Capitals win in the Best Location category for all NHL rinks I have visited thus far. By the way, the Verizon Center is my twentieth current NHL rink! Two thirds of the way there!

A lot of people asked me if I had any “enoucnters” that night, so you are probably wondering the same. All I can say is that all the Caps fans that I met that night were pleasant – surprisingly. Mind you, I was sitting up in a suite, so the anti-fans were probably obsessively looking for me sitting behind the glass and stealing looks from THEIR boys. That’s too bad, it was a great game – I hope they didn’t miss TOO much of it by stalking me.

As for the game, this may have been the first time in my entire life that I have ever cheered for the Sens! I really wanted to see them clinch their playoff spot that night, which they did in OT! Gotta have as many Canadian teams as possible in the post season! I think most Canadian fans will agree with this. Even when we absolutely hate one of our fellow Canadian rivals, we still want to see them make the playoffs!

Anyway, as promised, I did embark upon my epic journey to Dallas immediately following the game. I documented the experience 24 style! Stay tuned for the pics! All I can say is that Tennessee ran my life that day.

Roll the credits…

Most memorable road track: Nashville (Predators) 2006-07!