Day 11: Mr. Mojo Goes To Washington

A few days with no Internet access has left the recent parts of our journey undocumented. Our visit to Cornflake’s new home in Blacksburg Virginia was uneventful, with the mild exception of leisurely visits to the local pubs. I shall spare you any detailed photographic evidence of our somewhat successful carousing, and skip to the next and near-final stop on this grand adventure. Today we reached the capital of the most powerful nation to ever exist on this planet.

We drove the roughly four hours from the most western part of Virginia, stopping only for provisions in Lexington VA:

We had chosen an excellent time to visit, as a certain Hurricane Charley was slamming into the Virginia coastline, welcoming us:

After heeding countless friends advice about not driving into DC proper, we got a hotel room in Arlington, and proceeded to take the Metro subway system downtown. Metro is a surprising sane and well designed system, and served us well:

The Vietnam Memorial was partially under renovation, and, unfortunately, unimpressive. However, the statue in front of it is fantastic:

Torrential downpours began to take their toll on our weary booze and travel addled bodies. After five minutes, we were wet. After ten, we were soaked. After fifteen, every article of clothing we were wearing was sopping wet. We continued on for nearly three hours. I was lucky my digital camera didn’t explode, poor thing. Here we see Cornflake contemplating our situation as we get lost somewhere near the Treasury Department:

The World War II memorial is quite impressive. Tasteful, but not wimping out. I very much approve:

Here Mojo consults with his spiritual adviser, the great St. Abe:

Abe’s view, as one would expect for #2 on the great presidents list, is excellent. If it were not pouring water from the sky, you would have an excellent view all the way to the capital. Also, another thing you don’t realize until you’re there, the Washington Monument is large indeed. Photos don’t do it justice:

By the time we saw the White House in the distance, we were too tired to get any closer:

We called it quits after that. Unfortunately, I’ve got to fly home tomorrow, so I won’t be able to enjoy any more of the capital. I’ll have to fly back when I have more time to spend exploring all the various museums and other attractions.

Tomorrow, the last day of my voyage, as we head to Baltimore and I catch my flight home.