Guns, Runners and Pavement

Well, folks, I have survived a week (almost) in DC. I've joined a gym (ugh!), worn some suits, and tramped around the urban jungle. There are some cool things about DC. You can sign out a bike and ride it, and drop it off someplace! (I'm not brave enough of a bike rider, but it's still a neat program). There's some farmer's markets. You can ride the metro just about anywhere. And a lot of the museums are free!

 A nice snowfall this morning made these row houses look even more quaint:

This is the Capitol Hill neighborhood. Lots of cute townhouses.

The mall is a favorite place for runners. I've kept my runs to about 30 minutes because the pavement just hurts. I have been running on trails for too long. How did I ever run 26.2 miles on pavement? Twice! Ouch.

Every day hundreds of runners are here. A lot of them in shorts, even though it's really cold.

I haven't seen this many guns since I left Alaska. I don't have any pictures of the capitol police because I wasn't sure if they would appreciate it. During the week, they are on every corner. With very large rifles.

Today I went to the botanical garden:

And the museum of the American Indian. I was fascinated by the boats.

This aleutian kayak is 19' long and 24' wide. Looks a little tippy to me.

An Ojibwa birch bark canoe

Other things I have learned:

Capitol Hill is really on a hill.
Plastic bags will cost you 5 cents in the store.
They're into "reflecting pools" here. (I don't quite get the concept of water you can't swim in).
"Sarah Palin's Alaska" reality TV show is really, really bad.

Stay tuned as the city adventures continue.