Squirrels

Just a side note for this week. I work really close to the White House and the Mall* here in the capital and all I need to say is, what in the world have they been feeding the squirrels here. Merinda and I have heard tale of the size of squirrels varying from the size of rats to the size of large house or jumbojets. Now that we have been to the Mall several times, all I need to say is that the rumors are true, the squirrels are huge. The explanations that I have heard vary from person to person. Some say the tourists feed them too much while others say that the government experimented on them early on in the Manhattan Project. I personally choose the latter explanation. As you can see from our high resolution, motion induced camera, we were able to catch this elusive and yet gigantic beast in its wild habitat in front of the White House.


Anyways, I have loaded a picture of one of these elusive beasts in its native surroundings as well as other pictures of us in our adventures.

When we first arrived, we took some time to get lost in downtown Washington D.C. We found the White House and several of the monuments.


Yesterday though was a treat. We did something that Merinda has wanted to do ever since we arrived. She wanted to see Jefferson's Monument. What made it more specially was that we went after seeing the Declaration of Independence. As we stood in line to get into the National Archive, Lizzy made all sorts of new friends with the others in line because we had an hour before they would let anyone else in. Once inside, we went right for the rotunda where they keep the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. We again had to stand in line to wait to get into the actual rotunda. An officer walked up and said that we could enter into the side because we had a stroller so we did so. After waiting for a little longer, we were able to walk around and see all three of the documents along with several others that are displayed there right now.

Afterward, we went to the Jefferson Monument which is a little walk from the National Archive. The Jefferson Monument is a monument to the written word as it contains some of the most profound writings that Jefferson wrote on each wall. Afterward, we headed home to get some rest. It was a grand adventure that we will continue in a week or two as we head out to the Lincoln Monument as well as some of the memorials.


*The Mall - Just for those who don't know, The Mall is the green park area in downtown Washington D.C. that connects the White House to the Capital and the Monuments around the edge thereof. Check it out on Google Earth. The Smithsonian buildings are located around this green space as well.