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Day 24 - 5/14

I made an early start at 12 pm... and got a ride down to the Air and Space Museum from Martha. It looked like the Air and Space Museum was really big, but I was suprised that I walked through it in about an hour. I would have hung around longer, but there were gazillions of screaming middle schoolers packing the place and it was making me a little irritated. Ahh, the Hirschoner Modern Art Museum. Peace and quiet, no screaming brats, and some really bizarre yet cool art. Next I meandered through a little garden next to the American Arts and Industries Museum, then across the grassy area of the mall to the Natural History Museum which had all the rocks and dinosaurs and animals in it. More screaming kids, so I just took a quick gander at the Hope Diamond, all 45.9 carats of it, and left the mall via the Metro under the Environmental Protection Agency headquarters. The Smithsonian museums are pretty neat and the best part is that they're free, or at least paid for by our taxes. I was a little peeved at all the so-called security at each of the museums. What a nuisance. It wasn't like they had x-ray machines or anything, but they did have metal detectors and all bags had to be opened so that the guards could rummage through them. The annoying part is that these guys just had a flashlight or wooden stick thing and would either just peer in at the top layer of stuff in my bag, or slip the stick into the bag and say "Okay, you can go" without even looking in the other two pockets of my back pack or actually searching through my stuff. What the hell is the point of security if no attempt is being made to be secure? Argh.

The D.C. Metro is the nicest subway I've been on. Clean, fast, smooth, quiet, and not that hot stinky environment so pervasive in subway systems. Really nice, and affordable too.

Back at the house I cleaned up a little bit and went to dinner with Brian, Martha, and a few of the their friends. Later that evening on the way home, Brian and Martha dropped me off at a billiards parlor near their house where I met up with their daughter Rachel and one of her friends. I was hoping that Rachel's FBI girlfriend was going to be there as I was sure I could have gotten some more great D.C. dirt out of her. And how often do I meet girls from the FBI? But to no avail, oh well.

Tomorrow morning I'm riding up to see my friend Ron Haverkamp in Methuen, Massachussets north of Boston on the New Hampshire border.

All in all I had a great time in D.C. with the Donnegan's. More extremely gracious and fun to be around Meloy family friends. My dad sure knows how to pick 'em! Unfortunately, the Donnegan's and Scott's are vicious backgammon players and trounced me to the tune of $5. I'm positive it was just a bad run with the dice on my part and the next time we meet the odds will be in my favor.

Spending time in D.C. has made it clear to me why our government has such a distorted view of the world and has given me some insight as to what the hell planet our politicians are living on. With stories of embezzlement, adultery, murder, political foul play, and environmental concerns I am overwhelmed with an extreme sense of irony and the hypocritical nature of our government. God Bless the U.S.A. Right?!

Total Mileage for Day: 0
Mileage on Odometer: 23,283