I’ve got an excuse!

I was here:

and here:

I rode the metro and walked a lot.

I saw this:

and that:

and the national mall …

At the zoo, I saw these prezewalski’s horses

I’ve never seen them before. I remember them fondly from my graduate school days when I became quite familiar with their geneology. One of the professors I worked with was studying them and trying to help conserve all the available genes in the small population. They were fascinating to me – yet nothing more than squares (males), circles (females) and lines on a piece of paper. this is the real animal.

My new job is near Washington, DC – and while I mostly work from home in Alabama, I do travel to the area quite frequently. The Smithsonian has long been the most interesting part of Washington, DC to me. Here’s the Smithsonian castle

And another view.

Pam came with me this trip, and we took some time to see the sights including the Smithsonian Native American museum.

Personally, I found the architecture more impressive than the displays – there are some impressive displays, but the building is just plain cool!

The George Washington Masonic Temple in Alexandria from the hotel.

The trip kept us busy. Early flight on Saturday morning. Touristing Saturday and Sunday, a hard week of work followed by another weekend of the tourist gig. The late flight home Sunday evening dropped us into bed in time for me to wake up and work Monday morning. Somehow, it’s
Friday night already and I haven’t touched yarn since before we left.

We got to the National Zoo, the Mall, Old Town Alexandria, the Smithsonian Castle, the Smithsonian Native American Museum and the National Archives before the batteries (camera and ours) quit. We also visited the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery (across the street from the White House) and walked past the White House and Treasury.

Of all the places we visited, I was most impressed with the Renwick – and I couldn’t decide if the art or architecture was more impressive.

I also found the National Archives interesting. It’s rather like a big bookstore, but theyr’e all old and interesting books. I kept wanting to open up the books and touch them. I found national history on display that intersected with family. The logbook from the USS Nevada was on display, open to Dec. 7, 1941 – famous national history, but I wanted to turn the page to see if my uncle was mentioned.

While we were away, a blog reader asked if we had T-shirts with our logo available. While we were flattered at the request, we had no logo apparel. After some research, however, we discovered Cafe Press and remedied the situation. Therefore, in the best spirit of blatant advertising, I direct you to the new button on the sidebar.

I get a three day weekend this weekend and we’re not going anywhere because it’s supposed to snow. Maybe I’ll touch some fiber.