D.C. Day 4

On our way to Union Station

Thursday morning started off with a bike ride.  Well, of course, after taking the metro to Union Station. Amber and I got a bite to eat at Au Bon Pain and then rented out bikes for the day.  We were so baller. It was so hot.  There was a lot of really unattractive sweating.  Amber drank all of our water.  It was a great time.  I'm just kidding.  Well, everything is 100% true, except the sarcasm.  It really was a great time!

My sweet ride.

We biked around to the various monuments that aren't right on the National Mall.

Jefferson Memorial

I'm really bummed that my other Instagram photos from that day didn't save to my phone.  I wish Instagram would allow me to download the photos, but with the Android version it is not an option.

Jefferson Memorial - sweaty ladies.

At the Jefferson Memorial, getting a nice
shot with the Washington Monument.

Luckily Amber took pictures, too, so we have some sort of photo documentation of our crazy day.

I had never been to the F.D.R. Memorial before, and I loved it.  It's definitely competing with the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum for my #3 top favorite thing to see in D.C.  Since I don't have the photos from that part of our day, here are the quotes from the photos I put on Instagram:

"In these days of difficulty, we Americans everywhere must and shall choose the path of social justice...  The path of faith, the path of hope, and the path of love toward our fellow man." - F.D.R.

"We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all citizens, whatever their background.  We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization." - F.D.R.

"Unless the peace that follows recognizes that the whole world is one neighborhood and does justice to the whole human race, the germs of another world war will remain as a constant threat to mankind." - F.D.R.

"The structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man, or one party, or one nation...  It must be a peace which rests on the cooperative effort of the whole world." - Eleanor Roosevelt, First United States Delegate to the United Nations

At the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial we had our next bout of adventure.  For some reason, Amber had the brilliant idea to try to jump the curb (going up) as she crossed the street.  The curb on this road was not only higher than normal, it was also very pointed (very rectangular) instead of rounded.  POP.  Yup.  She busted her tire.  Luckily, the rental company had given us a spare tube.  I knew how to replace the tire (thanks to my amazing husband), but a national park service staff member came over and started assisting us with the process.  He was very helpful, except none of us could figure out how to use the pump they gave us.  Some other service workers came over to try to figure it out.  We finally got the right nozzle put on it, but it still wouldn't fill the tire.  That's when the first guy decided he would just take our tire to the national park service maintenance place down the street.  So away went Amber's tire and we sat down on the ground outside the visitor's center.  Like the rest of our time in D.C., it was hot outside.  The guy came back and reassembled the bike with a pumped tire and reminded us not to try jumping any more curbs.  :)

Me + National Park Service dude + Amber's busted tire.

Amber, Jasmin, & MLK Jr.

The MLK Memorial as pretty cool, lots of great MLK quotes.  I really like that we biked that day.  It was definitely walkable, but it was too hot.  Oh, a quick note about when we first got the bikes: we were trying to figure out the best way to get to the Jefferson Memorial and I didn't want to go on the National Mall because it would be crowded (and unpleasant to try to weave in and out of people).  A woman came up to us and told us to go a certain way because otherwise we would have to bike up the Hill (Capitol Hill).  We thanked her and then started out.  Then I decided to completely ignore what she told us because we were already on the Hill.  Her advice was good for on the way back, but seriously...I have no idea what she was thinking.  We were already up.

After the MLK Memorial, we met up with the group again at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.  I love that place.  I kept thinking about how awesome it would be someday when Kyle and I come with our kids.  Kyle hasn't actually been there since he was a kid, so I think we'll probably visit sometime in the next several years before any wee ones are around.  We watched a really cool 3D IMAX movie on the Hubble Space Telescope.  Funniest moment at the Air & Space Museum: seeing a video of Scott Hamilton ice skating through the universe.  Yes, you read that right.  Scariest moment at the Air & Space Museum: my cousin McCain cut his leg open on the escalator.  It wasn't scary at the time, but he ended up getting stitches!

I love the National Air & Space Museum;
you can tell by the look on my face...

Our sweet glasses for the 3D IMAX movie.

Amber and I returned our bikes at Union Station and then somehow met up with mom.  I don't know why, but I can't remember anything besides the bus ride after returning the bikes.  Basically: the crew took our car back to Maryland while my mom, Amber, and I took the metro West towards the airport.  We then hopped on a bus to take us the rest of the way.  Before hopping on said bus, we needed a bathroom and food break at the McDonald's across the street.  After making two separate purchases there, we realize we needed exact change for the bus.  $18 for the three of us.  We were low on cash, but I had a $50 bill that my mom had given me as reimbursement for a previous purchase.  I walked back into the McDonald's to try to exchange the bill for smaller denominations; they told me that I had to buy something.  Seriously?!  I just bought two separate orders!  They told me that I had to use that bill to buy something in order to get change.  I'm sorry, but that just means I have to buy something...that's not called exchanging money.  Luckily, mom and Amber came in saying that they came up with enough change between the two of them.  Hmph.

We made the long journey via bus to the Hertz rental place while eating Chicken McNuggets and french fries.  Delicious.  I was really impressed by the kiosks at Hertz!  They had a real live person there via video!  I can't imagine what America is going to be like in 10 years...this had me completely in awe of technology...and it was something as simple as a video call.

Hertz Kiosk

And now for the scariest night of our entire trip: Jasmin driving rental car in torrential downpour.  It started pouring buckets right as we needed to leave the Hertz office for the rental car.  Amber and I ran, and mom followed.  But when we got to the car, mom was not there.  We could not see her.  It was very wet.  We were soaked.  I determined she must have wanted us to pull around and get her.  So I did so.  Unfortunately, I didn't think to switch places with her.  For some reason I thought she didn't follow because she didn't want to drive.  Apparently she didn't come because she didn't want to get soaked and she was perfectly fine with driving.  Our drive back went something like this:

1. Can't see out the windshield because the rain is coming down so hard.
2. Merge onto freeway; two seconds later, the lane I am in is gone and I'm caught on the shoulder between a car and the barrier.  Luckily, it was a large shoulder.
3. More white out.  Can't see the road.
4. People are pulled over under bridges.  Amber and I see a sign that says "Silver Alert".  Not being from the area, we wonder if that's some sort of weather alert telling people to pull over.  We ignore it and keep going.  [We later looked it up: missing old person.]
5. An entrance ramp on my left brings in several cars.  Right as the entrance merges onto the freeway, there is a giant, deep puddle.  I barely have time to hit the brakes before a giant wave comes up over the car as the cars next to me enter the freeway.  Terrifying.

It was terrifying.  Probably my scariest driving experience ever.  I'd driven in a white out before, but it was very brief.  This was like the last time...except for 30-45 minutes.  Not a fan.