[Back] [Just the pix...]
It was a pleasure to visit our Nation's Capitol. And imagine my delight finding handy illustrations right on the back of the money in my wallet! It would appear that the tree on the right of the White House has grown a bit.
Well worth the $6/day in entertainment value if not functionality, this nifty little talking GPS gadget, was like having HAL in your car giving directions. Or I should qualify this to say, like HAL after Dave began yanking boards off his backplane.
Pictured here, Dana attempts to reconcile the NeverLost's advice with Hertz's poorly drawn written map.
Favorite quote from the NeverLost, "make first legal U-turn".
The color LCD display did a decent job of indicating what road you were on and how far away from your next turn you were. It did occasionally get confused and indicate that the car was apparently driving through rivers, across on-ramps and other oddities.
Don't throw out your paper maps just yet...
Time didn't allow any museum visits, but a quick jaunt around the Capitol mall was entertaining.
Sights worth photographing included:
Completion of the second spire for the Washington Monument.
The somewhat unkept World War (as in WWI) monument.
The Jefferson Memorial was quite picturesque with the Tidal Pool in front.
The Lincoln Memorial looked just like on
the penny! Abe looks
on while crack teams of rangers 
deal
with the hordes. The Gettysburg
address is carved into one side of the wall and the
Emancipation Proclamation is carved in the other. Looking
from the Lincoln Memorial affords a nice view of the
Washington Monument in the reflecting pool.
Just a few minutes from the Lincoln Memorial is the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. On the way one passes several MIA souvenir/protest stands. After passing these stands one comes across a statue and several glass encased directories. It was sombering to see the names of so many young people killed. There were no Jeff Meyers in the directory (my name), there was a James Meyer from Wisconsin, whose name I paused by.
Walking past the Washingon monument, one
comes across the Smithsonian Museums, and the castle
which houses the Institution itself.
If you ever arrive at the Air
and Space Museum after closing, use the premise that you are
there to see the Imax movie. This stays open an hour later than
the museum itself, but is housed in with everything else.
Also in this area is the I.M. Pei designed National Gallery of
Art (East Bldg.). Aside from the large glass enclosed main entry
way (which was unfortunately closed), the sharp
angular side of the building is its most prominent feature.
During the tour a helicopter flew overhead and landed on the South Lawn of the White House. Never found out if Bubba was aboard.
