Day 11 - Highs and Lows in Washington DC

No-one was up early today as both Mark and I had sleep to try and catch up on. The weather was looking distinctly damp which was not making the planned ride along the canal look good. However Kate was keen to be out and about and was able to convince us that the worst that could happen is that we could geT drenched in a downpour! As it turned out the only time it rained while we were out we were able to take shelter under a bridge. We rode down to the start of 33rd Street on the Potomac and passed the place from which Laura, Sam & I had hired kayaks when we were in town back in 2002. There is an excellent cycleway which follows the Potomac Canal, which actually goes as far as a

Mark and Kate

 waterfall about 25 kms upstream. However we had no ambitions of going that far today, going only to the second gate keeper’s cottage at about the 6 km mark. It was my first time on a bicycle since my run-in with a car back on 13th April, and the shoulder seemed to handle it OK, though I did avoid putting any strain on it.


Once we had finished the ride our clothes needed a wash, as did we, because of the mud and grit thrown up from riding the wet gravel paths. Later when getting my clothes out of the washing machine I realized that I had created a huge problem for myself – as out fell my now very clean but thoroughly soaked passport. A few thought sprang to mind, none of them really suitable for recording here. My biggest concern was what it meant for my Russian Visa that was in the passport. With Mark’s assistance I was able to separate all the pages and start the drying process. My Russian Visa looked intact, but the passport itself was looking decidedly frayed.

Some guy posing in front of the Capitol

Leaving the passport to dry Mark and I went to visit the Newseum, which covers the history of the press, and (incidentally) offers a great view of the Capitol Building from the top floor balcony. The big attractions for me were the exhibition of the Press Photos of the Year and the permanent exhibition of all the Pulitzer Prize winners for photography. The extensive exhibition of the press’s coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was also very interesting.

Thereafter it was home for a bit of downtime during which I managed to re-connect to Facebook again. This time I deleted my mobile number from the account settings so it can’t send login codes to it back in Sydney when it decides to lock me out. Hopefully it will now just ask me security questions to start with if it really insists on trying to lock me out again. When I rang Laura a little before 6:00pm my time I could hear some beeps at one stage – which later turned out to be Sam (who has been virtually incommunicado for the last two and a half months) choosing that time to try and call me. What are the odds?

A little after 7:00pm Mark, Kate and I walked the few blocks to the Blues Alley jazz club for dinner and to listen to a jazz band. The band were very good and played a set that went for about an hour and a half. Though I still think the bass player looked like Scotty from Star Trek!

Later in the evening I was finally able to chat with Sam on Facebook and found out that he is going to Philadelphia tomorrow which is where I am due to be. We arranged to meet on Tuesday morning, at a time and place to be determined.

(NB: Edited and uploaded using Greyhounds onboard Wi-Fi while enroute from DC to Philly - ain't technology wonderful!)