expedition56

West Virginia – Wednesday, April 17

It rained most of the night, but looked like things were clearing up as I headed out. I drove to the outskirts of town where I had noticed a rail trail yesterday as I came into Elkins. So I walked about 4 1/2 miles to get the day started. There’s an awful lot of trees and branches down, and I’ve noticed this all over West Virginia. Someone told me it’s because of the hard winter, and all the freezing and thawing simply became too much for some of the trees. Some heavy equipment came through working on clearing away some of the debris. Then I had to find a State Farm insurance office to take care of my van insurance payment. I pay as usual to my State Farm agent back home, but then they have to fax the proof of insurance paper to a State Farm agent. But it works – we did this 6 months ago, and again today, and I’ll be home before it’s due again. It’s just one of the details to take care of while I’m out on the road! Before I left town, I stopped by the KFC place where I’d gotten my dinner last night. Most of the chicken was so dried out (they had been getting ready to close apparently) that I couldn’t eat some of it, and although I’m not a big complainer about food, that was worth complaining about! They were very nice, and not only refunded what I paid last night, but gave me the exact same meal again on the house. So now I’ve had enough chicken for a while!

From there, I started heading west. We stopped in the little town of Buckhannon and walked another mile, and then I called the West Virginia Veteran’s Home in Barboursville and talked with Patti, their recreation/activities director. She said they would love to get a donation – she would like to put it toward some of the outings she arranges for the veterans. She would be there until 4:00, but said she would wait if it took me a little longer to get there, considering I still had a ways to drive. I made good time til I got to Charleston, and then there was an accident of some sort that slowed things down for a good 45 minutes. But Patti waited, and I met up with her once I finally got there. She showed me the room with all their supplies for a variety of projects, and told me what sorts of activities are offered. She also like to take groups of them on outings, and I thought she meant to the movies or bowling or something, but when she can, she likes to take them fishing and camping. Patti’s heart is with these veterans and she really seems to consider then “her” people – she came by this job unexpectedly and has now been there for a very long time. She says even after she retires, she’ll come back as a volunteer!

Tula and I walked nearly 3 more miles all around Barbourville, and finished up for the day.

West Virginia – Tuesday, April 16

I packed up and headed to the nearby Wal-Mart to shop for the Heart and Hand House that will be my donation-of-the-day today. Then I drove just a little ways and made a stop in Clarksburg first for a little walking. Clarksburg’s claim to fame is being the birthplace of General Stonewall Jackson – one of the heroes of the Confederacy. I see some amusing signs along some of the roads – a sign advertising the Pinchgut Hollow Distillery is one of them! Then we drove up and down a lot of mountains until we came to Philippi, which is where the Heart and Hand House is located. I had looked at their website to see what items they needed, and ended up getting them cereal, peanut butter, pasta, muffin mixes, soup and some healthy snacks. The lady working there was busy on the phone at first, but by the time we got the groceries in, she was free to chat a bit, and she’s been working there a long time so it was really interesting to listen to some of the town history. Heart and Hand House currently helps 1,157 families and the numbers have been going up. They added 108 new families last year, and already have 38 new families this year. Lots of the economic problems for Philippa, and a couple neighboring towns, started back in 1994 when President Bill Clinton signed the NAFTA law (North American Free Trade Agreement.) I don’t pretend to understand what that’s all about, but the lady told me that this area was a big clothing factory area – one town manufactured shirts, one town made pants, and the third made uniforms. Within 6 months of NAFTA going into effect, the factories were gone (to Mexico I think) and the towns were full of unemployed workers, and they continue to struggle to this day. It’s hard to hear stories like that. Hearts and Hands doesn’t just supply food to those who need it – they also run a thrift store, and in the summers they have teams come in from various churches and other organizations to work on 25-35 home repair projects every summer. It’s a busy place!

After my visit there, Tula and I did almost 2 1/2 miles of walking throughout town. Philippi was the sight of the first planned Civil War battle, and the covered bridge that was built before the Civil War still stands – it survived the war (with both Union and Confederate troops using it) and survived a fire in the 1980s. Charred wood is still visible inside the bridge. Then I headed south along more mountain roads – I passed a sign that pointed out a Civil War battlefield park, and I thought there might be a trail or something there. But it looks like it’s private property now. Another sign said there were spectacular views at the top of the mountain, so as long as I was partway up, I continued driving. But the road got narrower and rockier, and I figured the van wasn’t the best vehicle to be climbing that mountain. So I managed to turn around, and found a pull-out spot and got out and walked a bit anyway – admiring the view from the mountainside.

Then we headed for Elkins, which turned out to be a fun town to walk around. Tula and I covered a couple miles, and she made friends with a fire station dalmation, who wanted to follow us, so I had to go get one of the firemen to keep her from coming along! I also saw some fire escape ladder-things, and either I haven’t been noticing them, or there aren’t many still in use. They’re sort of interesting, but I can’t imagine having the presence of mind to figure out how they work during an emergency! Since I’m still trying to let Tula rest a bit, I put her back in the car and finished off the last mile or so that I needed for today. I was going to head west a bit before stopping for the night (it seems like I had gone farther than I had, but all the curvy mountain roads add a lot of miles!), but bad weather was coming in, and I didn’t want to be caught driving in the mountains in the dark and rain. So we found a pet-friendly place, brought in some KFC, and called it a day. I got unloaded just in time – then it started to pour.

West Virginia – Monday, April 15

I put the finishing touches on my state tax return, and was almost done with the federal return. I wanted to head out to make copies of everything, and to take care of my donation for today. I had discovered there was a soup kitchen in Fairmont called Soup Opera, and they provide lunch 7 days a week to anyone who needs it. I had called before stopping by to see if they would like me to bring in food or drop off a check. They preferred a check so they can shop for things they need. I stopped by during a relatively quiet moment before the meal actually started, and dropped off my donation and talked with the volunteers for a while. There was a line of people waiting for a meal – they average a little over 100 people a day, which works out to about 36,000 meals a year. Impressive. Soup opera also has a clothing and household items room that’s open every other day, and patrons can take a shower during those times.

After my visit to Soup Opera, Tula and I walked a couple miles on a bike path on the other side of town. Fairmont is a hilly city and the river divides it in two. It was actually 2 separate cities until the bridge was built and then they incorporated it into one city. From there I headed back to the motel and finalized my federal tax return. I also talked with a local vet clinic about Tula’s eyes and made an appointment to take her in.

I found the post office and mailed in the tax returns – a couple hours before the 5:00 deadline – yay!! Then we went to the vet and waited a while to get in. The vet said Tula’s eyes look good despite the goop – there’s no outwardly signs of any infection or anything. She’s thinking it is indeed allergy related. So she gave me some eye drops for her, and suggested I get some Zyrtec allergy meds for her to try for 7-10 days. If she continues to show some signs of low energy after trying some allergy meds, I might need to check for Lyme disease. She actually had a mild case of Lyme disease last spring (despite being in flea and tick meds) and it could pop up again.

Wen we were done at the vet, I headed north out of town for another visit to Pricketts Fort State Park. On the way, my mom called me to tell me about the Boston Marathon explosions, and not much was known right then. It’s so sad that people do these sorts of things – Boston’s such a nice town and I had just been walking all around it 2 weeks ago. And I thought of my brother who went to school out there and has run the Boston Marathon several times in years gone by. It’s senseless.

Once I was back in the state park, Tula and I headed out for the rail trail and got a good 4 miles in. We walked through a train tunnel that was nearly 1/4 mile long – it looked like a train would barely fit through, but it’s not like they needed a lot of additional clearance! After that, I let Tula stay in the car and I went out along the river again to finish up my miles for the day. I just heated up some soup for dinner and watched Dancing with the Stars and a lot of the news, and tried to catch up with some other stuff. It’s a relief to have the taxes done!

West Virginia – Sunday, April 14

My plan today was to get my walking done – hopefully somewhere kind of nearby – and then go back and work on taxes. I have a donation possibility that I noticed yesterday, but I’m going to hold off on that one, and see if something I like better pops up later in the week. So I headed north, and decided to skip the town of Fairmont for the time being. My destination was Pricketts Fort State Park – I had read there were some trails there, and I thought I’d start with those.

This part of West Virginia is also very hilly and rugged – it had to have been tough land to settle back in the 1700s and 1800s. I found Pricketts Fort State Park, and the first thing that caught my eye was a replica of the fort that was built here in 1774 as a place for settlers to come during Indian attacks. It wasn’t open inside since it’s still early in the season. After checking things out, I discovered there’s both a river trail and a rail trail, and both were tempting, and I didn’t know which one to start on! I got Tula out of the car, and then noticed someone else with a dog had just set off on the rail trail, and I didn’t want to be following them, so I headed for the river trail, and it was absolutely beautiful. The river we followed is the Monongahela River, which means “river with the crumbling or falling banks.” Locals simply call it The Mon. It was a pretty day, and the trail stayed right by the river nearly the whole time. West Virginia had a hard winter, and the faintest of green is now settling over the land on all the trees and bushes as the buds begin to pop out – spring really is here! There were a lot of people out on small boats fishing along the banks, and a few high speed boats zipping along the middle of the river – seeming to barely skim the surface. There were bluffs on the opposite bank, and houses and trailers scattered here and there along my side. Some of the trailers had things like a little deck or a better foundation or stairs added for a sense of permanency, and I have seen a lot of people living in trailers in West Virginia. But these people all had the big outdoors and the river right outside their door, and that no doubt is a big draw!

Tula and I walked a little over 6 miles and she did pretty well, although I don’t want to push it. Her eyes are still goopy and I think we’re going to go to the vet tomorrow. I want to try to sort out if she’s dealing with allergies or something. To finish off my walking for the day, I started a short part of the rail trail, and definitely want to return to walk on more of that. The old railroad ran along the side of the mountains up a little way, so the views were down into valleys and it was pretty. But today wasn’t a day to be doing extra walking, so I just did 2 more so that I had my 8 for the day.

I stopped for a late lunch on the way back to the motel, and then I was fortified to spend the rest of the day working on the taxes. They were kind of confusing this year and maybe I should have had some help, but I waded through all the charts and worksheets and statements and tables. One worksheet in particular was giving me unexpected results so I had to make a couple phone calls to my dad for some help with that one, although he agreed my results were correct. So it was late by the time I was almost done – I was going to sleep on it, and then fill out the final form in the morning. I was happy to at least be in a room with big desk space!

West Virginia – Saturday, April 13

As long as I was in the little panhandle of West Virginia, I decided to wander through some of the other towns in the area. We started with Shepherdstown, which is the oldest town in the state, founded in 1762. The first successful steamboat exhibition also took place on the river outside of town. It was a fun area to walk through – lots of interesting old buildings in town to look at, including a skinny old building that is now currently the library. There were cherry blossom petals all over the place on the ground. Once I had walked around as much of the town as I could, I found a big park with a long walking trail, so altogether I covered nearly 4 miles in Shepherdstown.

Then I headed toward Charles Town – not to be confused with Charleston, West Virginia’s capital. On the way, I passed the Charles Town race track, and since I’ve been to race tracks in New York, California and Kentucky, I decided to visit this one too, and add West Virginia to that list. I was hoping there would be races this afternoon since it was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, but post time wasn’t until 7:30 in the evening, although the track was open for all the people who like to go into the clubhouse to watch all the TVs broadcasting races from tracks all over the country. It was very noisy and smoky in there! Back outside, the track was being groomed for this evening’s races, and the winner’s circle was being hosed down.

Then I continued into Charles Town, which was laid out by George Washington’s brother Charles. Charles named the streets after family members and government names. I hear so much about George Washington that I don’t stop to think about the rest of his family – he had 3 brothers, 2 half-brothers and 2 sisters, and they were a pretty wealthy land-owning family in general. Charles lived in Charles Town at a place he called Happy Retreat, and George visited often, and not only is the home still standing, but it’s for sale. It looks funny to see a historic property with a normal “for sale” sign by it! Tula had taken a break while I was walking in the park back in Shepherdstown, but she came with me for about 2 1/2 miles around Charles Town. Along the way, I ran across another unexpected donation opportunity. I was walking by an area of churches and yards, and there was a big stand with a notice on it about free Saturday lunches, and phone numbers to call to make arrangements for donations or to drive meals to shut-ins. I took a picture of the sign and called one of the ladies when I got back to the van. She told me they would certainly appreciate a donation – a lot of people turn out for the free monthly lunches (on the last Saturday of the month when money begins to run out). She gave me the address of the church so I could mail in my donation, so I’m happy to have found a donation opportunity while just walking around town.

By now it was late afternoon, and time to head west into the main part of the state. West Virginia is very mountainous, and there was really only one way to go – back and forth along curvy roads up and down mountains. It was pretty in the twilight hours, and occasionally I would see old painted advertisements for Mail Pouch Tobacco on the sides of barns. I got to the town of Romney, and Tula and I took a break from the car and walked the last mile and a half for the day around town in the last of the daylight – another one nearly as old as Shepherdstown. My book says the town of Romney changed hands 56(!) times during the Civil War – how confusing for everyone! After Romney, I continued to head west for a few more hours – often not going much more than 30mph because of the mountains – and ended up in Fairmont, where I got a place for 2 nights so I can finalize those pesky taxes!

West Virginia – Friday, April 12

Hello West Virginia! I woke up to a very rainy morning, and it had rained most of the night also, so I was glad I had finished everything I wanted to do in Washington DC. I was in no hurry to load up in the rain, and waited until it had let up a little. And then I was ready to head to West Virginia – State #29! I had to drive through part of Maryland, and then we entered West Virginia at the east end of its panhandle.

After just a couple miles, we came to the Harpers Ferry National Historic Site, so I stopped by to see what all was there. Harpers Ferry is located at the junction of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, and played a big part in the Civil War. Tula and I started off with a 2 1/4 mile walk back to the site of one of the major battlefields. Then I decided we would walk down to the “lower town” – the national park provides a frequent shuttle bus back and forth since it’s a mile and a half away with a 300 foot drop, but there was also a trail for those who wanted to walk. And Tula seemed to be more her usual self, so we set off for the lower town, which was sort of a step back in time with wonderful old historic buildings. With 2 rivers and lots of current, this town operated cotton mills and pulp mills back in the 1800s, and several foundations were still there. But, there were also numerous bad floods due to the town’s location right on the banks of 2 rivers, and eventually the town was abandoned. Now there are gift shops, a small museum, restaurants and ice cream places. Tula and I walked up and down the main streets, and walked out by the Shenandoah River where she took a short swim, and crossed a bridge to an island and walked around that. Then we began the walk back. By the time we returned, we had covered all 8 miles for the day, counting our walk out to the battlefield.

I had to find an office supply store to see if someone could help me print off some additional tax forms from my computer, and I found a Staples with a very helpful copy person. I had intended to have my taxes finished by now, but on Tuesday I discovered I had left my tax folder at Tara’s house when I had been in Ohio. So she sent the folder to me in Washington, and I only got it last night, so now I have to scramble to get everything done, because I really don’t want it hanging over my head by filing for an extension. Once I had all the necessary copies, I discovered there was a nail salon right next door to Staples, and my poor feet needed a pedicure. I do try to take care of them since I’m being very hard on them and walking so much! I still deal with the occasional blister (however, I’m not complaining – I have seen too many dancers’ feet and they’re the ones who should complain, but rarely do!). And from there, just when I was thinking I needed a salad for dinner, I saw a Panera. And that led me to today’s donation! After I had ordered my salad, I noticed a big display about autistic children and some of the resources that are available locally. The autism awareness chapter here is called E.P.I.C. which stands for Eastern Panhandle Indigo Children (indigo refers to the color of bracelets that people can buy to show their support of autistic children) and April is Autism Awareness month. Panera was also donating the proceeds from some of their sales. I talked to 2 of the workers, and they confirmed that this is a West Virginia chapter, and one of them also had their business card with an address and phone number. So I figured that would be a good donation for today – it’s kind of fun when an unexpected donation opportunity just sort of pops up – especially late in the day! I drove just a little farther and stayed in the town of Martinsburg for the night. This little “panhandle” section of West Virginia is kind of a funny piece of land sticking into Maryland – it looks like it should just be part of Maryland, but I’m sure there’s a reason why it’s tacked onto West Virginia – borders are an important thing!

Washington DC – Thursday, April 11

I was ready to head back downtown again today after my break yesterday. This will be my last day here, and there are still a few things I want to see. Once again, it took some time to find a parking space, and before it got too hot, I set off on a 3 mile walk up and down the mall while Tula stayed put in the car. I sort of wanted to get all the way down to the Lincoln Memorial to actually climb the steps into it, but didn’t want to leave Tula that long since it was heating up. I’ll head back there later this evening. I got back to the car and still had a good 20 minutes on the meter, so I turned the air on for Tula, and headed to the National Gallery of Art because I happened to be parked nearby. I’ve never been in there before, and a quick peek told me I wanted to have some time there. So I went back to the car and put more money in the meter and then headed back to the gallery to wander around for a while. I do not know art well – I’m just one of those people who know what I like and that’s about it. I seemed to be drawn to old Dutch paintings and some French seascapes (of bad storms and ships sinking, oddly enough!) and random other paintings. I wandered through a sculpture gallery (not in the mood for that) and a furniture gallery, and then back to some more paintings. It’s interesting how different paintings grab different people!

I was disappointed today to discover that although I had charged up my camera’s battery and remembered to put it back in, when I went to take a picture it still seemed dead. Turns out I had left the camera card back at the motel in my computer from when I was uploading pictures. Ugh! That’s the first time I’ve done that. So I got some good pictures today, but they’re on my phone, and I don’t yet know how to get those onto the computer – or if it’s even possible!

Then I was ready for a bit of a drive cross-town. I had decided to “adopt” a bald eagle at the National Zoo today for my donation. Their website had indicated this was a fund-raising choice, and about a half dozen animals were available for adoption. I figured that adopting a national symbol of our country while visiting the National Zoo in our national capital was an appropriate way to wrap up my week in Washington DC! It was another slow drive there, with some big roundabouts and pedestrians all over the place. I definitely wouldn’t drive on a regular basis in this city if I lived here! Just getting around the Dupont Circle area alone took a long time! And I began to get worried about gas – there are not a lot of gas stations in town. But I found one of them, and then got to the zoo. Since I had already spent time walking, and then visiting the National Gallery of Art, it was mid-afternoon, and some people were leaving the zoo. I was actually able to find parking on the street nearly right next to the zoo entrance. And once again, I locked Tula into the van with the air conditioning so that I could go make my donation. I was directed to the gift shop area, which is where the administrative offices are, and one of the employees brought down the necessary paperwork, and I “adopted” my eagle. I’ll get a photo and updates from time to time. Now I have a bald eagle from the National Zoo and a wild horse from Assateague Island – I wonder if I will add more animals to the menagerie in the second half of my journey?!? Since I had parked so close, I decided to take a power walk through part of the zoo. I saw the zebras and cheetahs, and watched a very active otter doing flips against the glass enclosure. I saw the bald eagle exhibit, which was my goal, and stopped in the panda display and watched a chubby panda chowing down on bamboo – they must have some pretty sharp teeth! I went to the new elephant barn, but they weren’t in it – they were apparently all outside. I don’t generally like to see man-made structures for wild animals, but I have to say this looked like a really nice place for elephants!

After my visit to the zoo, I wanted to battle the traffic again to head back to the mall and visit the last few monuments I wanted to see one more time. Along the way I made a hasty stop at Noodles and Company to pick up some dinner (with a police officer reminding me my car would be towed in 18 minutes if I didn’t come back!) – but they were quick at the noodle shop and I was back with 6 minutes to spare! It took me a long time to head back to the mall, and then I had to circle a bit to find a spot at a meter. I got out with Tula and enjoyed my dinner in the park, and then walked Tula for a while, and it seemed like she was perking up a bit. But I was still pretty far away from the places I really wanted to see, so I decided I would circle around a couple more times..and a couple more. Right when I was just about ready to give up, a good spot opened up, and I headed out for 3 miles of walking on a beautiful evening. The first thing I saw was a “snowstorm” of cherry blossom petals – they don’t last long, and when the wind blows, they fall off the branches in large numbers and swirl around like snowflakes and cover the ground and land on people. It was pretty! From there I returned to the Korean War Monument – I think that’s my favorite. There’s 19 life-size statues of soldiers, and the expressions on their faces show the utter fatigue they feel carrying big packs under ponchos in bad weather. But their expressions also show the care and concern they have for their comrades – it’s a wonderful piece of work. Then I headed up the steps to the Lincoln Memorial – with the unfortunate timing of the arrival of several large 8th-grade groups. But I managed to have a nice look before they all stormed the place! And then I went on to the Vietnam Memorial. Tula wasn’t allowed in that area, so I hadn’t been up close to that one yet. I’ve visited that one in the past, but it never fails to be a moving memorial. Then, as I was walking back to the car, I went all around the World War II monument. There are 56 columns (I counted!) – one for each state and territory. The only difference from all the states/territories that are represented on the columns and all of my state/territory visits was that they had a column for the Philippines instead of Northern Mariana Islands – but they’re all in the same region. The evening was a beautiful way to end my Washington DC week.

In the end, adding in my last long walk, I walked more than 56 miles, and I finished all 7 donations – two to DC Kitchen (one for the children’s Healthy Returns snack program and the other a donation of 11 $5 gift cards), Smithsonian Institute (flag display), National Geographic, Bread for the City – Art with a Heart Fundraiser, Armed Forces Retirement Home, and National Zoo (adopting “my” bald eagle). Heavy rains were going to be moving in tonight, and I headed back to my motel – having seen and explored a big chunk of the city! And, this is the halfway point of my journey, and I can hardly believe it’s half over.

Washington DC – Wednesday, April 10

I needed a break from the crowded city bustle, so today I set off for a quieter part of Washington DC – yes, quiet places exist! But first, I wanted to make my donation and that set me off in a different direction too. So I’m managing to see a lot of parts of the big city. Today’s donation was going to the Armed Forces Retirement Home. I talked with their activities person yesterday, and she told me they would welcome a donation – they’ve been hit by sequester cuts too. I hadn’t been in this part of the city yet, but I had good directions, so although it took a while, I did get there. This is one of the oldest veteran’s homes in the country – going back to the Mexican-American War, with an interesting story. The activities director told me that sometimes at the end of battles, the victors would go in and scavenge and pillage for any food and valuables – the spoils of the battle so to speak. In this case, the governor(??) of Mexico City gave the United States $125,000 to build the winning soldiers a home for those who needed it, in exchange for not pillaging. And that is how this veteran’s home came into being so long ago. It was a Soldier’s Asylum for a while, and there is also a “cottage” on the grounds that is called Lincoln’s Cottage. Abraham Lincoln spent a lot of his time there when he was President – it was on higher ground than the Capitol, and therefore was a little less swampy and buggy, and he wrote a lot of the Emancipation Proclamation there. There was even an assassination attempt on him there as he rode through the south gate, and the bullet went right through the top of his hat.

When I was done there, I took Tula out on a short little walk on the grounds, and then we headed for the National Arboretum for some peace and quiet away from the hustle-bustle. Again, it was a slow drive there, but absolutely wonderful once I found it! It was still a really hot day, so heading to a 400+ acre area of shady trees and flowers and lots of walking space was exactly what I needed. I wanted Tula to have a day off from walking, so I would find a place to park, and leave the van running with the air on, and I’d walk a couple miles, then come back and drive to another pretty spot and repeat. I walked through the flowering trees collection, the conifer and dwarf tree collection and the Asian collection. I only saw a few people out walking or riding bikes – such a beautiful place on a hot day, and hardly anyone there! I got Tula out again and she was happy for a walk, but seems happy to be done too. I’m wondering if she might be dealing with allergies. The only bad thing about the arboretum was they close the gates at 5 sharp, which was too bad on such a pretty evening. And I still wanted to walk a couple miles, so I drove around until I saw the first promising area to walk, which turned out to be some huge shrine near the American Catholic University, and a long sidewalk by all of their grounds. Again, it was shady and pretty, and I finished off what I wanted to do today.

Washington DC – Tuesday, April 9

Today’s forecast was for record-breaking heat, and it’s also the peak day for the cherry blossoms, so it’s going to be a hot and crowded day, but I wanted to head downtown anyway. This time it took nearly 40 minutes to find a parking space and hordes of people were out and about. There were dozens of tourist buses around, and I heard lots of different languages being spoken. There are nearly 2000 cherry trees in the Tidal Basin area alone, and that was the place to be. It took a long time to walk over there, and because it was so incredibly crowded, I decided to hold off on the long walk around the tidal basin until it was at least a little cooler in the evening. Plus I didn’t think I’d have enough time before having to go back to put more money in the meter. I was going to try to find East Potomac park instead, but I ended up on the waterfront by the fish market! I don’t associate Washington DC with fresh fish, but it is right on the water, and this market had a lot of fresh fish and shrimp on ice in market stalls. Plus there were a couple places to eat, and it was all colorful and smelly!

Tula seemed happy to get back to the van even though we had only walked about 4 miles. Her eyes have been a little goopy and she seems to be kind of tired – it worries me a little. I’m beginning to wonder if she might be suffering from allergies or something – especially here where there’s literally thousands of trees, and it’s really hot. The thermostat in the van said 96 degrees. I started the van and got it cooled off with the air conditioning, and then left it running with the a/c on – and locked – with Tula enjoying a cool nap while I did a little more walking right in the area.

For my donation today, I mailed in a check to the Bread for the Mighty Food Pantry for their Art with a Heart fundraiser. In addition to having a food pantry, they can also provide clothing, primary medical care and legal advice. They have hundreds of volunteers and get contributions from a lot of people. They help about 8400 families a month, which is about 10,000 people a month – big numbers! Their Art with a Heart fundraiser provides a lot of funds for a lot of needy people. I had a couple ideas for another donation, and I drove to a different part of the city to check one of them out. But this one had closed and moved to a different location, and that made my decision easy to go with a different donation on Thursday.

By this time, I wanted to head back into the melee and enjoy a long walk in the cherry blossoms. I was determined to find a parking space along the mall, which had a 3 hour limit until evening, and then no limit. I didn’t want to be worried about time. I had to circle around for a long time (intersections take forever with all the pedestrians crossing), and watched as other people found spaces, and finally my patience paid off and I got a spot. It was still a long walk to get to the Tidal Basin, and was still very crowded, but it was truly a spectacular sight with all the trees in full bloom. There was pink everywhere I looked! The cherry blossoms don’t have a strong smell like lilacs or something, but seeing thousands of trees in bloom was really a treat. It took a long time to walk all the way around the basin – lots of people would stop to take photos of themselves by one of the trees, and the strollers and all made it a slow go. But it was such a pleasant evening I don’t think anyone minded. Some people were enjoying picnics under the trees, and the whole thing was a wonderful springtime picture. Even the news trucks were out getting some footage for their broadcasts. When I was by the Korean Monument a couple days later, I read that the cherry trees were a gift from Korea in gratitude for the Americans coming to their defense during the Korean War in the 1950s, and I don’t know if that meant all of the trees (the cherry trees seem to have Asian scientific names) or the ones by that particular monument, but it was a nice gesture no matter what. There were a lot of Asian tourists here too – it made me think back to my time on Guam. The scene was especially pretty on the far side of the tidal basin with the stately Jefferson Memorial sitting on the grounds in front of all the water and surrounded by pink trees. I can’t imagine he thousands and thousands of photos that people took just this evening – me included! Kodak must have sold a lot of film there back in the day!

When I’d had enough of all the cherry trees, we made our way back to the van. It was nice to get back onto the less crowded mall area. I’ve been walking 9-11 miles a day – it’s easy to get extra walking in since I have to park so far away from where I want to be. I had the news on this evening, and it was kind of fun to hear them talk about the peak day for the cherry blossoms, along with the record-breaking heat, knowing I’d been there in the thick of it. The cherry blossoms will start falling off within the next couple days – especially with the forecasted wind and rain. They don’t last very long, and since I didn’t even plan my time in Washington DC to coincide with the blossoms, I’m feeling pretty lucky I was able to see what I did!

Washington DC – Monday, April 8

I had a parking plan for this morning – I was going to time my arrival downtown for about 9:45am, past the peak of rush hour, but 15 minutes before all those parking spaces along the mall would be available. And the drive in went smoothly – I think I was in all the correct lanes at the right time! But my plan backfired – I got downtown and ALL of the parking spaces were already taken. And it wasn’t like people were just arriving and getting out of their cars – it looked like the cars had been there for a while. And the signs about not parking until after 10am are posted about every 3 spaces, yet I didn’t see any tickets either. So obviously people know more than I do about parking. I had to circle around for a while, and check the side streets and after about 20-25 minutes, I got a space at a meter. The bad thing about the meter is there are 2-hour limits, so I have to be conscious about time. I got Tula out and today we headed in yet another direction. We first walked by the White House again – like yesterday, there’s a lot of police officers standing in front of the fences, and I imagine there’s a number of secret service guys around. From there we walked down to the Georgetown and the George Washington University area. It was a bustling, enjoyable walk, and there were lots of cherry trees blossoming in that area too. There’s a lot of color everywhere! I was a few minutes late getting back to the car, and the parking officers were out on their Segways. I’ve seen a number of people on Segway tours – I’ve never been on one and don’t quite understand how they work and stay upright, but I’ve seen people of all ages and sizes on them, and it looks like a fun way to zip around – although it could be a bit of a challenge on a big crowd.

We had covered a good 5 miles on that walk, and I put some more money in the meter and left Tula in the van and went back into the Natural History museum again since I was parked nearby. On the way back, I walked through the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Gardens. I was amused by the sculpture of a large typewriter eraser, confused by a modern sculpture of a red horse (it looks nothing like a horse to me – proving again I neither understand nor appreciate modern art!), and laughed when I saw their version of The Thinker.

Then I headed out to 2 potential donation sites, and I had to drive through a lot of the city to find both of them. Once I’m actually downtown, I don’t mind driving – I expected it to be very slow, and it was, but I was also able to see some more of town by just creeping through. The first place I stopped at (finding parking isn’t quite so bad away from the monument area) was the Bread of the City food pantry. This is a large building that also offers other services to those in need, and I went inside and got a couple photos, but there were people in line in the waiting area, and the workers were all busy, so I decided to just mail in the donation – more on this place when I do that later in the week.

The next place I wanted to find was the National Geographic headquarters. I had a distinct memory of walking past that building and into its gift shop on a much earlier visit. In keeping with my desire to make a couple “national” type donations while in the national capital, I wanted to make a donation to National Geographic. I’ve always liked the organization, and have been a longtime subscriber (up until I canceled before I left on my journey!). And, as a website says, “National Geographic has been inspiring people to care about the planet since 1888. It’s one of the largets scientific and educational institutions in the world.” I had to drive to another part of town, but again, even though it was a slow process, I found the place okay, and parked. I wandered through the gift shop – it was fun to see a lot of the actual stuff that I’ve seen in their catalogs. Then I asked the gift shop people about making a donation, and they sent me out to a receptionist who handles calls and visitors for the staff (that part of the building is not open to visitors.) The receptionist pointed out the donation box, and I asked if it was okay to leave a check in there. When she realized I was making a donation a little bigger than a few dollars, she wanted to call down one of the development team people. I didn’t want her to bother them, but she insisted, and soon one of them came down. He was very nice and gracious, and told me that 100% of donations go directly toward their projects. They don’t take any percentage of donation money out for salaries or overhead expenses – there is a separate fund for those costs. So it’s a little unusual for a big non-profit company to be able to apply 100% of donations to the actual work they do. I’ll never know exactly where my donation will go, but small though it was compared to many of the ones they get, it’s nice to know it’ll help a tiny bit on one of their many projects! And the development guy stressed that donations of this size are appreciated as much as larger ones! They were very kind, and interested in my little journey. As I was leaving, he gave me a couple publications, a National Geographic pin, and a rectangular yellow pin (like the border of their magazine) like the one on his lapel! I was oddly pleased to get those 🙂

By then it was getting to be late afternoon and I headed back downtown to see if any parking spaces had opened up as people began to leave. We found a spot a few blocks away and wandered over to a monument area we hadn’t been to yet. As we were walking along a pond, I suddenly heard a splash, and turned around to see Tula in the water! It was a very warm evening, and I don’t know if she slipped in or went in on purpose! She got out right away. It was a good thing we were near the beginning of our walk. There’s quite a few ducks around and maybe she got overly curious! I saw both the Three Soldier Memorial and Vietnam Women’s Memorial (honoring military nurses) by the Vietnam Memorial. It was a pretty evening for a walk, and when Tula was dry, we called it a day.