July 22 - 24

July 22
DC day. Less imposing than NYC, but certainly no less to do and see. As with NYC, we knew we would have to be selective in our one day whirlwind through on of America's most iconic locations. We drove into town right along Pennsylvania avenue and it doesn't take long for the Washington Monument to pierce the horizon and, before you know it, poof, there's the White House on the left. It all seemed so strangely accessible.

We parked in a parking garage about 5 blocks from the mall and began our walk toward the heart of our nation's political history. Here again a summary list will have to suffice, as our day was rather prolific in terms of sites covered:

• National Gallery of Art: Packed with just as many powerhouse works as MoMA. A very nice impressionism wing and some spectacular Rembrandts!
• U.S. Capitol Building: Lots of "stuff"goes on in there--not all as graceful as it's external architecture.
• U.S. Botanic Gardens: Some fun carnivorous plant displays.
• American Indian Museum: Intriguing exhibition on the Native American's long history and relationship with the horse.
• Air & Space Museum: Wow, those early Apollo spacecrafts look like they were whipped up in some one's garage with cellophane, duct tape and aluminum foil.
• National Museum of Natural History: Special exhibit on the "Titaniboa," a newly discovered ancient and massive snake.
• Washington Monument: Wonder when they installed those red, flashing lights?
• WWII Memorial and Lincoln Memorial: The highlight was standing in the exact spot where MLK gave his infamous speech and taking in the view of perfect architectural symmetry along the sight line toward the Washington Monument and Capitol.
• Vietnam Veterans Memorial: The most somber of the mall's sites.
• The White House: Just a trot across the lawn. It's mostly hidden by trees. All those iconic photos must have been taken in fall/winter.

Maya poses with a large and famous Degas painting at the National Gallery.

Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap! Sorry, had that song in my head for some reason.

At the U.S. Botanic Gardens...

A meticulous horse mask from the American Indian Museum

OK, who wants to get in that thing and get hurled into the starry abyss?

Elephants became a theme for the trip. This one was at the Museum of Natural History

Funny--it wasn't as tall as it seems in the pictures.

Honest Abe.

"MLK" (Maya Lorraine Koch) at the spot of MLK's famous speech

July 23 - 24

Marathon drive home! We decided to drive straight through and pulled into the driveway in The Colony, Texas at about 8:45 am on July 24.