Washington DC

We made it out to Dean's place and met all of the family, including the dog. It was great catching up, but it was an early night after the dramas of the flight and all.



Next day we drove into the centre of the city with Dean and Pat, and began our explorations about the same time as the rain began.

We started out at the Air and Space Smithsonian, and found a 3D IMAX movie about the Hubble telescope that was awesome. As I hadn't seen either a 3D or an IMAX movie before, and as the content was fascinating anyway, it was really great.

We managed to visit the American Indian museum and some of the art museum before heading up to meet Pat and Dean at the building where Pat works as legal council for the Senate. They took us to the senators' dining room for lunch.


I wasn't sure if I was allowed to take photos but I sneakily took one in the foyer,


and one of one of the hallways we walked along. It was really special to dine on the senators' navy bean soup that has been on the menu every day for more than a hundred years. Not that we recognized any of our fellow diners!

We had a personalized tour of the Capitol before heading back out into the rain. We resorted to buying an umbrella at the Natural History Smithsonian and then took some time, surrounded by hundreds of school children, to find our way back out again.


We eventually made it to the White House. As you can see the weather had improved by then - not! There is a lot more security around the White House than there was 30 years ago.

We found our way back to Dean and Pat's by train, and had a quiet night recovering and chatting with them. Heading off to Orlando tomorrow, hopefully the trains will be running!


;-) Ann-a-Gram