Rhian Wilkinson's Official Website

RHIAN'S SOCCER JOURNALS:

WET WASHINGTON 9th May 2008

Last night a huge thunderstorm hit the DC area. It was amazing to watch as the rain poured down and the lightning flashes lit up the hotel room through the curtains. One flash was so incredibly bright that it woke me up from a semi sleep, not the thunder, but the flash of light!!!

We had meant to go on a team tour of D.C this morning, but when most people saw the rain they choose a longer sleep instead. As a result, only Martina, D and I boarded the tour bus with six members of the staff at 10:00 am. I am glad I went though as this is a beautiful and impressive capital city and I would have been sorry to have missed the opportunity to see it.

Unfortunately, our bus driver was even more confused than we were about the itinerary for the day. This was rather disconcerting for a second, before we figured out what this meant for us ... total control. The day ended up working out just fine. Basically, we just yelled out where we wanted to go and there we went. Perfect! Even though the rain was tipping down for most of the tour it was all very worth it.

I really enjoyed the whole event. We actually got off the bus at the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials, as well as the White House, but we also drove by the Arlington cemetery, the world War II memorial, the Smithsonian, the Mint, Congress- and a ton more that I had trouble identifying. I felt a little disappointed with the Whitehouse. It is not as big nor as white as I thought it was, but the rest of the city definitely exceeded my expectations.

On the soccer front, we headed out for training at 4:00 pm, and the rain had still not slackened. We are usually on the game field the day before a game, but not here. I think we might have gone on if it weren’t raining so much, but as it is, the field needs as much time without cleated feet running all over it as possible. There was an MLS game played on it last night and from the TV shots of the field, the pitch is definitely flooking a little the worse for wear.

Training went well for us, and the rain soon cleared up completely. It was a lighter session than usual, although it still lasted a good ninety minutes. We worked on some formations, shooting and some defending. Nothing all that drastically new. The weather ended up being way nicer than anyone could have expected from the rainy morning we suffered. By the end of training it felt like my tour of D.C. had taken place on another day altogether.

We rushed through our showers to get down to supper as soon as possible. Some of the squad even went straight to the meal, as we were all so very hungry by this point. Again, the food did not disappoint and we all ate until we were fit to burst ... actually that might just have been me, but it sounds better when I write we!

Game time is 7pm tomorrow night and we are ready for it.