Mrs. Peck Goes to Washington

In first class, no less.

A little slide show of some things I saw. I tried to show you only things that are not typical of a visit to our nation's capital. Furthermore I've added captions if you are interested click on the album.

Arriving in DC a little after 11, Bruce and I parted company, he picked up his rental car, I hopped on the Metro. I've found there are always people willing to help a stranger if you ask nicely. In this case, the attendant punched all the buttons on the machine for me with the end result, a day pass. I took the blue line, getting off at the Smithsonian stop and was on the Mall by 11:35.

Because my time was so limited I went into only one gallery, the Freer. Mostly I lugged my backpack and purse around outside. It was fairly warm and muggy, but not enough to send me inside into air conditioning. Instead I found several wonderful gardens awash in gorgeous flowers.
Gardens

The day before we left a strange symptom occurred. You're not surprised are you? After eating lunch I noticed that the left side of my jaw, extending behind and below my ear, swelled up. I was at a loss, so called the doctor, mostly because I was concerned with flying. Suffice it to say, I got no help there, at least coming away with the impression that it couldn't be too serious.

With that in mind I decided to go anyway. I tried to locate soft foods hoping to minimize the weirdness. It took me till last evening to figure out what is going on--something to do with my parotid gland, the major salivary gland. Again, you're not surprised are you? I always have strange afflictions. What this does tell you is that in many cases the web is of no use; not a thing about salivary glands came up after typing in "swelling jaw while eating." It does, however, help to have worked in the diagnostic end of medicine for 30+ years. What I'm going to do about it is undecided at the moment.

Trying not to lose your interest, I will try to be succinct, really, the pictures tell most of the story anyway.

Next time I'm not sure what camera I will take, but I'll definitely use a different backpack. The fabric on my new fancy Patagonia rubbed my shoulder raw. I was so tired that I slept from 8:30-6:30!!! On Thursday Bruce and I visited the National Cathedral, an amazingly beautiful and peaceful place. Wow is what I have to say. Lots of the buildings are on a grand scale in DC, this one is no exception. It is hard to convey the beauty in photographs. Also, did I mention that everything was taken in the middle of the day with much too much bright light?

Bruce also toured me through the space where the Capital Grille is beginning to take shape. I stand in awe of builders, really we take it so for granted. When I saw all the layers of work being done, trying to imagine how anyone makes sense of it all, I couldn't help but admire the job Bruce does. Naturally I've always felt that way, but it is always a good thing to be reminded of the complexity of it all. No wonder he has to work so much! When the job gets closer to the end I'll go back for a much longer visit. He'll probably be staying for a week or so.

Baxter stayed with Michelle and Dave while we were gone and he isn't done pouting yet.