We were out of the hotel by 9am which wasn't too bad and even had time to have coffee and a bowl of cereal. Unfortunately we found out the Days Inn in Washington does not provide breakfast and we were told that we could buy breakfast at Subway, which is probably owned by the same chain!!

As we were already in the centre yesterday, we could find our way easily with the help of Garmin. We passed along the 16^th Street and saw some lovely looking houses, the type and size I wouldn't mind staying in. But what the heck we are travelling now so forget any ideas about building houses for the time being.

The idea was to park along Constitution Ave NW in between Washington Monument and the White House. We were lucky to find a space after going round the block twice as there were limited space due to some rally or other of World War I army vehicles which took half the parking spaces. We got some good photos of 1919 motorcycles and other army Jeeps and trucks, a bonus for us.

Then we started walking slowly towards the White House and as I remembered it during my last visit to Washington I could go to the fence in the rear but now there are brick blocks to keep people away from the fence. After the usual photo session I suggested we walk to the front of the Hwite House which meant we had to walk uphill pass the Treasury and Alison began to sweat in case it was too far for me. I was determined not to be a burden and told her not to worry.

I made it to the corner after passing the Treasury with still a lot of puff in me! At the front of the White House the Sri Lankans were protesting against claimed usage of chemicals in the war with the Tamil Tigers. Apart from that it was rather peaceful. Adrian was trying to make friends with two little girls by being friendly with the father, were he learnt that I don't know??

Soon it was time to stop for a bite and we got cheated by buying from the first stall thinking that all prices would be the same. We paid USD3 each for corny dog which was UUSD 2 a couple of stalls down the road, that's 33% difference!! Another thing learnt, never buy from the first stall in sight until the prices are checked.

The next stop was the World War II Memorial which was rather impressive more so in real life than as seen in photos or tv. It was then time to leave Washington DC but not before taking Adrian to the Smithsonian Museum to see most of all the Dinosaur's skeleton. I couldn't find a parking bay but there was a space for permit holders and I parked there giving me an excuse not to go with Alison and Adrian. They didn't take too long and we were soon on the way to Philadelphia.

We were heading for Sharon's apartment which she ad kindly offered for us to stay in while she was away on holiday with the family until Wednesday. We got to the apartment in pouring rain, infact it had been raining all the way, just on 6 pm and met David, Joanne's husband for the first time. David was kind enough to order Chinese takeaway for our dinner and shortly afterwards it was time for us to unpack and bring some of our things to Sharon's.