Visiting Washington

Aug
30
Submitted by XL-Network on Tue, 2011-08-30 17:02

Last night a RV with a German family pulled into our space. Well, our space... Apparently we were in their space because when we arrived there was another tent in ours. Not a problem at all, because they would only stay for one night and they had plenty of space.

When we woke up this morning they were already having breakfast and a moment later the left, so... problem solved. We bought tickets for the Metro and got on the bus (you pay 1.70 dollar per ride). After a short hour we arrived at the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum and we looked at a lot of planes, spacecrafts, telescopes, exhibits and did a lot of tests. I even went into a flight simulator, which was funny, the thing could go all the way upside down. At the exhibit 'How Things Fly?' there were a number of tests which showed how air behaves. If you blow air between two balls they come closer instead of further apart (what you would expect). Also they had a tube of air blowing down and a plate that you press onto it. It would just stick. This happens because fast moving air creates a lower pressure thus creating lift. The most funny photo I took today you will see below (check out the bottom left one).

Washington - streamlined

After that we went to the next museum, the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History. A lot of stuffed animals, exhibits, gems, bones et cetera. On many subjects I'm like, yeah... whatever. For instance I wanted to know how they determine the age of a certain layer of earth. But nobody was there in the evening to give me more explanation. Other things like minerals and the Hope Diamond were also pretty to see.

Washington - mineral rainbow

Omdat je van al dat lopen door een museum toch wel honger krijgt hebben we een restaurantje opgezocht. En omdat we vlak bij het Washington Monument en The White House waren zijn we daar langs gelopen. Dit leverde hele mooie plaatjes op zoals je hieronder kan zien.

Washington - sunset

Washington - Ellie at The White House
PS. Turns out that this isn't the White House, but another building. So we have to go back to do it right...

After a long search in Chinatown we found Ruby Tuesday, a nice and cozy restaurant which had a delicious ribeye. We couldn't stay long because the last bus would leave at 10:04 PM. A quick walk to the Metro and then the last bus to College Park. At 10:30 PM we arrived at the campground again. Sleep...