Day 12 - DC to Philadelphia

Sorry dear readers (if there are any of you left) but there are always going to be some days in a trip of this length which are just not that interesting, and I am afraid that today was one of those days.

One passport - clean but wrinkled & frayed

The day started by travelling to work with Mark to see the passport officer about the outcome of yesterday's little fufu. Although all the important bits were still legible the recommendation, as I expected, was that it be replaced. I didn't really fancy the sort of scrutiny that the swollen pages and frayed edges might have elicited from various immigration officials to whom I will be obliged to present it in the coming weeks, especially in Eastern Europe. Would hate to get all the way to St Petersburg and have them say "Nyet!". So I had to troop out to get some new passport photos and part with the necessary fee for a priority replacement. The new passport - which will be looked after ever so carefully! - will be ready on Wednesday morning.

Once these formalities were completed I walked back to Darby Manor (which only took about 40 minutes) to prepare for departure to Philadelphia. I decided it would be easier to go DC-Philly-DC-NYC-Cape Cod than DC-Philly-NYC-DC-Cape Cod, so I booked an online Greyhound ticket (only $14), stuffed enough things in my day pack for an overnight stay in Philadelphia and set off for the Greyhound bus station. Since it is on the other side of the city from Georgetown I decided to catch the bus there, rather than hoof it! I had over an hour to wait for my bus so I used it catching up on yesterday's blog.

As a result of heavy traffic and driving rain we were running 25 minutes late at Baltimore but we had caught up a little bit by the time we arrived in Philadelphia. The bus was decidedly more comfortable than the one I took from Eugene to Portland, and included free Wi-Fi that enabled me to upload yesterday's blog entry. Once disembarked it was a pleasant early evening stroll the few blocks to the hostel, passing some of the historic landmarks I will explore more fully tomorrow.

The only highlight of an otherwise quiet evening was getting a phone call about 9pm from my "long lost" son to arrange meeting for lunch tomorrow.