Washington DC

I slept pretty badly last night. All the walking around in the rain in New York has left me with a bit of a cold. But I'm ploughing through!

I took the Airport bus into the US capital this morning. I was surprised by how unimpressive the Pentagon is from the ground. Sure it's a very large building, but it's just walls and windows when you drive by it. I wasn't sure at first it was even it.

I got off near the Air and Space Museum so that was my first stop. I had a mild space interest as a youngster (and later if you count all the sci-fi I watched) so it was interesting.

One of the Air displays talked about the Battle of Midway which is a key event in a book I'm reading so that was interesting to see.

I headed up to the Capitol for a look and then heading back down the other side of the Mall, visting the Art Gallery and the Natural History museum. By this time all of the museums were full of kids on field trips, but they were easily avoided.

I made my way to the Holocaust museum (not the most cheery of places but it has a good message), then to the Washington Monument and finally the White House.

I stood at the fence and peered up the lawn to the hill. It's an impressive site, as is knowing how many hidden cameras are watching you as you walk by. I heard one girl say something about climbing up one of the trees. I thought she should so we could get a demonstration of the Secret Service response!

I had a bit of a look around the rest of the city. It really doesn't have a life to it. It's very cold and beaucratic and lacking the energy that the other cities I've been to had.

Tomorrow morning I'm off to my last stop, San Francisco. Only three days and I board the plane home. Man it's going quick!