| It was unavoidable, seven weeks of training
myself to arise early to get on the road hit this morning, and I arose
before 6:00 am. Worked on the website, then went in search of a real
breakfast, but none was to be found, at least not by me. I was headed back
to the food court where last nights Italian restaurant was located,
remembering a coffee shop there, when I received a phone call from
Catherine, who had found the Starbucks just a block away. I met her and
David there, had a latté, and was invited to join them and their family in a
trip to the National Zoo. We stopped by the hotel to gather the rest of the
group, and then headed off to the Metro station. The group was made up of
myself, Catherine and David, Catherine's cousin Jackie and her husband
Steve, Jackie's daughter Linda, and Linda's 10 year old daughter Whitney.
After some confusion with the Metro ticket machine, we traveled to the zoo
and spent several hours walking around and looking at the animals in this
beautiful facility. The trip to the zoo
was followed by lunch (I actually ate breakfast), and then another Metro
ride to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. This was a fascinating place,
and I wish Liam had been there to share it with me as it's just the kind of
thing he likes. At closing time (5:30 pm) we walked to the Mall, took
pictures of the Capitol Building, then walked down toward the Lincoln
Memorial. We passed the Washington Monument (taking pictures all the way),
passed through the dramatic World War II Memorial, then walked next to the
Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial. On the way back to the hotel we
visited the Vietnam Memorials, both the original and the women's.
I was invited back to
Jackie/Steve/Linda/Whitney's room for some snacks and wine, then we all
headed out to a nearby Thai restaurant for dinner. By the time we were done
it was 10:00 pm, later than I've stayed up for most of the past 7 weeks, and
again I crawled into bed upon getting back to the room. This was a really
fun day, and I appreciate Catherine and David's willingness to share their
family with me today. |
