Tuesday was a recovery day, but included a very nice dinner at P.F.Chang's with Peter and his Dad while Daniele did her weekly commute to NYC for voice lessons.

On Wednesday I was ready for some serious exercise so took Daniele's advice and hiked along the Billy Goat Trail in Great Falls National Park which is on the Maryland/Virginia border. It turned out to be a bit of a challenge for me - but well worth the effort. I didn't get a photo of the hardest part which the locals called the "traverse" but I call it a cliff. Here's a photo of it from Wikipedia. On Thursday the 13th I took the train to DC. It was quite an adventure, beginning with my stupidity about how to use Daniele's Metro card. Also, I forgot to take my camera. And, it rained most of the day so I didn't get to do much outdoors. But: the Smithsonian Museums were incredible. I watched a Civil Rights video in the African American Museum that took me back to being in the 4th grade and not really understanding what was happening in my home state of Alabama. I spent much more time than I expected to in the Hirshhorn Museum. I particulary enjoyed some large installations like: a big light-filled room that made me happy when I stood inside of it; two walls covered with mathematical calculations (one by hand; one printed or typed) having to do with permutations - on which I found three mathematical errors; large white stones laid on the floor in a nearly perfect rectangle, although the stones were not straight edged; a lens-shaped solid with lights shining through it so as to cast perfect circles on the surrounding walls. The Air and Space Museum and Museum of the American Indian got quick looks, but I did spend some time in the "first flight" room and with the drawers of arrow heads.

By then the rain had subsided so I did some walking around the Capitol building and did quick walk through the National Botanical Gardens, which was being decorated for Christmas. I had about an hour to spend in the East Building of the National Gallery of Art before it closed, then walked toward the American Art Museum which stayed open later. As I was walking, a convoy of policemen on motorcycles and in cars escorted some black SUVs from the Capitol toward the White House, along Pennsylvania Avenue. I wondered if it was the new President... but no one else seemed even curious, which pegged me as a tourist for sure :-)

The Reynolds Center had an exhibit of Georgia O'Keefe and Ansel Adams, comparing and contrasting their work and discussing their friendship and collaboration. Very interesting. And I absolutely loved the Kogod Courtyard and framed lots of photos that I couldn't take without a camera :-)

I found the subway easily and headed home around 7 PM, managing to get a bit "car" sick since I tried to work an acrostic puzzle, and planned to return for a second day... but that didn't happen. Maybe in 2009...