The White House crew

We spent a few days in Washington DC with our friends Skip and Phyl. Skip and I had spent a week there after we retired some years ago. Now that our brides have retired they wanted to see it also. Had a great time and perfect weather except for 1 day. Our hotel was within a couple of blocks of the Metro. That is clearly the best and fastest way to get around. 19 minutes we were downtown and no parking worries.

We saw all the monuments, major Smithsonian museums, Arlington, Holocaust museum, Capitol, White House, and major federal buildings. Many many miles of walking every day. We noticed the security was much higher compared to when we had been out there in 1998. Bags were checked going into just about every building. About 4 or 5 days is all you can absorb at a time - info overload. Holocaust was very sobering. I would still highly recommend seeing it. At Arlington with the help of the staff was able to locate a friend's grandfather's grave and take pictures. The changing of the guard was awesome. Just before the changing of the guard someone lost a pop can and it rolled near where the soldier was doing his hourly stint. A man ducked under a chain to get it. Not something you ever want to do. The soldier immediately stepped off his waking line and yelled two times quickly for the man to get back. Scared him so much he immediately responded. Security did not even go retrieve it. Another soldier retrieved it. The White House is much smaller then what it appears on tv. Still very beautiful grounds. Got to see the garden that Mrs. Obama planted earlier this year. It seemed to be flourishing.

All in all a great trip. Sheila and I were talking over coffee yesterday about being out of town a lot this year. Decided to count up the days we were gone overnight (not counting just day trips) and came up with over a third of the year. Think we will stay home for a while.