| AWSHIDT and Presidential Tour Photos
Sunday, September 23, 2001 Around 10:00 AM, we finally got ourselves up and going. I promised Cathy that we would spend the day sightseeing instead of in the saddle. I only needed two AWSHIDT signs and a photo of the Washington Monument for the day, the rest of the time would be hers. After a big breakfast in the Moose Creek Restaurant at the hotel we headed for Washington, D.C. Riding south on I-95/495 to 214, around RFK Stadium we soon found ourselves at the US Capital, that's when I first noticed the barricades and heightened security. We cruised down Capital Ave.(US-50) and took a quick tour of the city, all the while looking for the optimum spot to take the required photo of the bike and the Washington Monument. We rode around the Mall and Reflecting pool several times before we decided it would be better to wait until later in the afternoon for the photo. We spent most of the day in the Natural History Museum then visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. |
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| Around 5:00 PM Cathy and I visited the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial located just off Constitution Ave near the Lincoln Memorial.
Most visitors had already gone home when we parked the bike. We lucked out with finding a
spot with the US 50 sign close by; we got the shot before walking along the path that lead
to the memorial. I had seen the wall before, ten or more years ago, on a very crowded, hot, afternoon after visiting many of the other sites in D.C. I was tired from carrying the kids around, and at the time, could not appreciate its significance. This time, however, was much different. There were maybe three other people there. It was quiet, very quiet, no one talked, there was no traffic noise, just silence. I walked down the sidewalk I began to read some of the more than 58,000 names etched into the black granite. There were a flowers placed at the foot of the wall in a few spots, I stopped and scanned the hundreds of names above them. Cathy read a letter placed inside a clear plastic envelope that was left at the base. I can't put this experience into words. Of all the monuments and memorials I've ever seen, this one to me, is the most moving. Here are a few links you may want to check Coast to Coast on US 50 The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall Page |
Rt 50, Washington DC |
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Washington Monument |
The Washington Monument, one of the six Big
Bonus Locations and the only one on the east coast listed for the Presidential Tour, was
worth ten points. Earlier in the day Cathy and I walked around its base scouting for
a good spot for the photo, she was a bit disappointed that it had been closed for
renovation. The few locations we found to get a picture were looking directly into
the bright sun, we would have to wait. Eventually it was time to start heading out of D.C., but first we had to get the photo we had originally come here for. We first tried the parking lot close to the monument as it was nearly empty, but we were too close for the lens I had on my camera. Between the monument and the Reflecting Pool runs 17th St. Just the right distance away to get all 555 feet of it in the photo. There is no parking on either side of the street so we would have to work fast to avoid being ticketed. With the sun low in the sky, the whole monument was bathed in soft light. We did not stay to enjoy the view, Cathy posed, I snapped the photo, and we were back in the saddle heading west out of town. |
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Rt 15, Gilberts Corner, VA |
| ====> The road home, Monday, Page 1 ===> | |
