Great Lengths

Hope:
Today was a feat of great lengths. We encountered several and I shall share them with you now.

Our first great length was when we got off the stop at Woodley Heights/National Zoo. We ascended the escalators to get back to the earth's crust. However, that set of stairs was not the only one as is normally the case. We exited the turnstiles and rounded the corner to find the most enormous set of escalator stairs we've ever seen. They serously looked like the were ascending into the heavens. They were so long. We estimate that there were more than 50 and less than 75 yards of stairs taking us back up to civilization. We were glad that they were moving because we probably wouldn't have made it in good time otherwise.

We then headed to the National Zoo. Nate and I had a great time miandering in and out of animal houses, walking through mist-ers, and taking in the sights. The zoo was crawling more with adolescents than with animals, so we were pleased to find our way to a less trafficed area of the park. It's too bad for the other patrons who did not find this cove, becuase the Amizonica site was a favorite of both of ours. We saw stingrays with the neatest designs on their backs and an at least 9 foot under acquarium's fiew of some pretty cool fish. One of the specimens brings us to our next example of a great length. We estimate this fish to be something like 5 feet long. It was not beautiful by most means, but impressive none the less. We were awed by its length!

The last great length does not seem as noteworthy as I am typing it, but it was part of the construction of this blog in my head earlier. I was constructing it whilst waiting...for one of the greatest lenghts of the day. When I say the length of time in a bit, it will seem minute, but let me assure you that it was by no means the case when I was (we were) endouring it. Nate and I called for a shuttle to pick us up at the Metro at 4:00. They said it would be there in 10-15 minutes. So, we headed over to the stop and waited...with the sun blazing down. I felt like an ant under a microscope. We were practically melting. 15 minutes came and went, still sweltering. Nate did a good job of trying to keep my mind off of it by asking me what I thought and hoped we got in our wedding gifts. It was a valient effort, but I was still getting crankier by the minute. Thomas finally showed at 33 minutes in and all is well now, but it was not a nice half hour of my life.

*Disclaimer* Yesterday Nate noted to me that it was funny that I would scoff at a diamond the size of an Oreo. When you put in in that perspective it does seem a bit brash. However, in my perspective, it's not. My perspective was relative to the size of a trash can lid on a poster. Doesn't that seem minute...an Oreo vs. a trash can lid? So, there. ;o) Thanks for reading.

Nate:

Yeah, I don't have a whole bunch to add. The zoo was neat, but it was basically just a zoo. Strange fact: the National Zoo is downhill as you go further in, and so its a real pain to actually get out once you have seen your share of animals being boring. Seriously though, it was a good time. It was not the sort of zoo that will change the world (nowhere near as good as Colombus, for example), but it was certainly capable, and benefited from a lot of lush greenery. A nice way to spend a few hours, definitely.

This afternoon we got cleaned up and took the hotel shuttle to a little local walking mall that is around there; I believe its called the Washingtonian Waterfront. It wasn't half bad either. We ate at a sandwich place called Potbelly. It was decent (they had a really good hot pepper relish that may have been just a little too hot for me), but it certainly wasn't the best sandwich in DC, as the sign boasted. They didn't have much in the way of variety (your basic turkey/ham/italian selection), and what we got was fine in terms of portion, but seemed a little overpriced compared with other sandwich places I've been to. We milled around for a while before coming back to the hotel. We stopped by a Lindt store that was really cool. Did you know you can buy chile-flavored chocolate from Lindt? Well, you can.

Tomorrow we go to the White House. After that we are somewhat undecided, although our activities will likely include the Library of Congress.

As a personal note, one of my fondest memories of DC was that there was a giant bronze dinosaur in front of the Natural History Museum. You can imagine my dismay when I found yesterday that it had been moved, apparently recently. That's why it was cool today to walk through the zoo and see my old buddy the bronze triceratops (evidently named "Uncle Beasley") sitting in a little enclave along the main walk. We used our last picture on our disposable camera for a shot of me and my buddy. Good times.