Monday 8 July
We returned on the shuttle bus to DC today, and joined a trolley bus tour at Union Station to take us down the mall with informative commentary. It enabled us to hop on and off at different stops, so we alighted at the Jefferson Memorial, and walked from there to the FDR and Martin Luther King Jr memorials. This country has had some impressive orators and leaders.
We then walked past the Korean War memorial towards the Lincoln Memorial to catch a bus out to Arlington Cemetery. I had hoped to show the kids the changing of the guard and JFK’s burial site, but to tour the cemetery was an extra cost, and as it was 12.30pm by then I didn’t think they would be keen!
The bus took us around to the White House stop, and as we wandered down the street towards it, it started to pour. We ducked into McDonalds for lunch, which meant I could finally access wifi to check emails and upload several days’ diary entries – yay! However, it also meant I saw the latest news, like the plane crash at San Francisco …
After that we walked down and finally showed Sam Obama’s house. Not satisfied with that, he wants to go inside! We hopped back on the trolley bus there which took us to Union Station. That had been recommended to us as a good location for food and souvenirs. Unfortunately, we had seen better souvenirs at a shop near McDonalds, and decided not to purchase there because of the recommendation about Union Station. So sadly we have come away without any mementos, but Ross is cheering at the money saved 😉
We had some time before our shuttle bus returned to explore the visitors centre at Capitol Hill although we did just miss the last tour of the day. The airconditioned KOA bus with free bottles of water was a welcome sight just before 5pm, and we returned for another swim in the pool before a “scratch around” dinner to finish off our pantry supplies before we return the RV the day after tomorrow. As I sit by the pool writing this while the kids swim (Ross is in the RV reading a novel – shock, horror, he finally gets to rest and read six weeks in!!), the weirdest thing has happened. The lifeguard blew a whistle and ordered everyone out of the pool for a ten minute break! In some states they have had a rope across the middle of their pool, and when someone has stepped on it or pushed it under water, we have all been warned the pool will have to close if the rope falls down!?!
Tonight’s plan is a campfire (our first one!) amongst the fireflies. Tomorrow is Pennsylvania and packing to say goodbye to motorhome life!… 😦 … 😉