The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

"The most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.'" - Ronald Reagan

First, we have to make a small correction to yesterday's post. As we were checking out of our hotel this morning in Aberdeen, Maryland, we took a good look at the Cal Ripken baseball stadium and realized that there was no way it could be a major league baseball field -- just not big enough. (We were really tired last night and didn't get a good look at the whole ballpark.) Assuming that it was part of the Baltimore Orioles farm teams, we double checked with the hotel clerk and confirmed our assumption. So the Cal Ripken baseball field is not for the Baltimore Orioles major league team, but is for their farm teams.

We did not have a lot of driving to do today as we only traveled about an hour south of last night's hotel to reach our first destination. Passing through Baltimore, we headed towards the city where the ill-advised, uninformed, and out-of-touch spend their days working. Yes, you guessed it, we went to Washington, D.C., where the United States Congress (the one with the 9% approval rating) spend their days wasting time and spending our money. But, we digress. We were able to get up close pictures of the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument. The day was so muggy and hot that we weren't able to walk all the way to the U.S. Capital building, but we did a drive-by photo shot which turned out fine. We also drove as close to The White House as we could, but heightened security prevents you from getting very close.

It is our theory that these old cities that existed long before cars have crazy, narrow roads because the roads had to be put around existing buildings. That theory would make sense in Washington, D.C., as the roads are narrow and make no sense. They go all over the place. What is an outside lane on one block may be a parking area on the next block, so you really have to watch.

Washing-ton, D.C., is worth seeing, but plan ahead. Know what you want to see and get a map of the area. There is free parking, but it's limited and, again, you need to know where you are going. We found that if you turn off Ohio Street behind the Lincoln Memorial it will take you to several free parking areas.

We also suggest that you make this trip in the spring or fall. The humidity and heat combined can really make you feel sick.

We've posted a picture of the Washington Monument. There was quite a bit of construction going on, some of which we inadvertently included in the bottom of the picture.

We did find our way to the LDS Washing-ton, D.C., temple. We are posting that picture.

Tonight we are in Ashland, Virginia, not far from Richmond, Virginia. That drive was only about 1-1/2 hours from Washington, D.C. Tomorrow we hope to take in a couple of local sites before heading to Raleigh, North Carolina, to see Savannah.

Isaiah - we left Maryland this morning, went through Washington, D.C., and Virginia.

Kobe and Jonas - we are thinking of you, too.

We've seen no corn today.