day 213: Washington, District of Columbia
here we are, the last fully day of my trip. and it's actually quite late at night (don't look at the timestamp; it'll just scare you), so the day is long over. i fly back to portland tomorrow. i'm not sure what to make of it.
today i went to a site that i'm keeping mysterious cos i want to show chris the pictures first (he's gonna love this one). i'll try to remember to edit this with the details later. then i went to the natural history museum (dinosaurs, cool!), the national art gallery, and the nasa museum (er, the air & space museum). the last one was specifically to see the enola gay (if you don't know about my perverse sense of humor by now, you've got a long, long way to go before you'll understand me), but it turns out it hasn't been there for ten-plus years. i guess it was just there during the 50th anniversary of WW2...which means i was there for the 50th anniversary of WW2, back when i visited DC at age 15. i originally planned to see the national portrait gallery to close the day (it stays open until 7, and i was just trying to fill time until i met blooma and her boyfriend at 7 for dinner), but i scuttled that plan when i found ultimate players on the Mall. they said the game was open, so i joined in. i didn't play great, but better than i'd expected. i think i threw just one forehand, which is where i need the most work. but i had some other good throws, and one or two decent catches, and a few good defensive plays. it was really fun. the best part---and i can't even believe i'm saying this---is that i'm much more fit than i can remember being. i ran almost the whole time, but i barely got winded (only after a few sprints) and i felt great afterwards. i've never run that much and still felt good. maybe i used to do that ten years ago or something, but if so i can't remember it. i'm very pleasantly surprised (and impressed) with myself.
tonight i watched last night's Office online. i love that show. and they're evil bitches to have the teasers that they do. the more i think about it, the more impressed i am with the subtle development of dwight's character. rainn wilson is doing a really, really good job.
today is my 213th day on the road (and tomorrow exactly completes my seventh month). this beats my previous personal-best streak of 100 days (that wasn't travel, though, another activity), and is, funnily enough, the exact goal that i would have gone for if i'd decided to push past 100 for that other thing. but all things must pass, and i realize neither one could go on forever. (it's funny that i never though to compare the two streaks before. maybe i'll do that more in-depth later, but not now on the blog.) anyway, the point i wanted to make is that the length of this trip is obviously one that i can never forget, because of the 213 thing (er, 213+1, but it's better to ignore that). it's pretty damned cool that i managed to make it last exactly that long.
the best part of today was when i left the metro to meet blooma and paul. a girl was riding her bike through the tunnel, and we reached the stairs at the same time. i offered to carry her bike up for her (part of my installment plan to compensate for all the chauvinism), and we ended up chatting for a few minutes. turns out she went on an 18-month around-the-world trip that ended about a year ago. i asked her a few questions that i hope she hasn't gotten before, and she gave me some really good answers and advice about going back. it was really nice to know how she's dealt with some of the things i'm worried about, cos i honestly don't know how i'll handle a few things. i will, though, and i guess that's the real point. anyway, rachel gave me her email addy, so i hope we keep in touch.
i'm going hiking on sunday, don't know what time, probably in the gorge. i'd love for you to come with. email me or call me and we'll all figure out the details.
today i went to a site that i'm keeping mysterious cos i want to show chris the pictures first (he's gonna love this one). i'll try to remember to edit this with the details later. then i went to the natural history museum (dinosaurs, cool!), the national art gallery, and the nasa museum (er, the air & space museum). the last one was specifically to see the enola gay (if you don't know about my perverse sense of humor by now, you've got a long, long way to go before you'll understand me), but it turns out it hasn't been there for ten-plus years. i guess it was just there during the 50th anniversary of WW2...which means i was there for the 50th anniversary of WW2, back when i visited DC at age 15. i originally planned to see the national portrait gallery to close the day (it stays open until 7, and i was just trying to fill time until i met blooma and her boyfriend at 7 for dinner), but i scuttled that plan when i found ultimate players on the Mall. they said the game was open, so i joined in. i didn't play great, but better than i'd expected. i think i threw just one forehand, which is where i need the most work. but i had some other good throws, and one or two decent catches, and a few good defensive plays. it was really fun. the best part---and i can't even believe i'm saying this---is that i'm much more fit than i can remember being. i ran almost the whole time, but i barely got winded (only after a few sprints) and i felt great afterwards. i've never run that much and still felt good. maybe i used to do that ten years ago or something, but if so i can't remember it. i'm very pleasantly surprised (and impressed) with myself.
tonight i watched last night's Office online. i love that show. and they're evil bitches to have the teasers that they do. the more i think about it, the more impressed i am with the subtle development of dwight's character. rainn wilson is doing a really, really good job.
today is my 213th day on the road (and tomorrow exactly completes my seventh month). this beats my previous personal-best streak of 100 days (that wasn't travel, though, another activity), and is, funnily enough, the exact goal that i would have gone for if i'd decided to push past 100 for that other thing. but all things must pass, and i realize neither one could go on forever. (it's funny that i never though to compare the two streaks before. maybe i'll do that more in-depth later, but not now on the blog.) anyway, the point i wanted to make is that the length of this trip is obviously one that i can never forget, because of the 213 thing (er, 213+1, but it's better to ignore that). it's pretty damned cool that i managed to make it last exactly that long.
the best part of today was when i left the metro to meet blooma and paul. a girl was riding her bike through the tunnel, and we reached the stairs at the same time. i offered to carry her bike up for her (part of my installment plan to compensate for all the chauvinism), and we ended up chatting for a few minutes. turns out she went on an 18-month around-the-world trip that ended about a year ago. i asked her a few questions that i hope she hasn't gotten before, and she gave me some really good answers and advice about going back. it was really nice to know how she's dealt with some of the things i'm worried about, cos i honestly don't know how i'll handle a few things. i will, though, and i guess that's the real point. anyway, rachel gave me her email addy, so i hope we keep in touch.
i'm going hiking on sunday, don't know what time, probably in the gorge. i'd love for you to come with. email me or call me and we'll all figure out the details.