Washington DC: Days Three and Four

For me, Monday was the start of the National Bike Summit. While I spent my morning taking a quick bike ride to National Geographic Society to check out their bike facilities for employees, Em did some roaming by herself along the Mall. Since I had a break between noon and 2:30, I reserved Capitol Building Tour tickets for us at 12:30.

That morning I read the back of the ticket, where it noted that ticket-holders should arrive thirty to forty-five minutes early to get through security. My ride was supposed to return to our hotel at noon. I gave Em the tickets and told her to meet met at the Capitol Visitor Center and I'd do my best to get there on time.

The ride got back to the hotel earlier than planned! So I dropped off my bike and made off like a bandit headed for the Capitol (about a mile and a half away). I did a mixture of running, jogging and walking fast to get there in time to pass security and make our tour time. It's downhill and flat...until I arrived at the Capitol. At that point, it's an uphill climb to get to the Visitor Center. I finally made it and met up with Em at the entrance, where we made it through security in about two minutes. We were actually there in enough time to make the noon tour group!

We went straight from the Capitol to the Library of Congress through the underground tunnel (to avoid going through security again!). The Library of Congress is the most beautiful building I have every seen! I could not stop marveling at the ornate beauty of the main hall and the adjoining rooms.

I made my way back to our hotel for Summit stuff while Em did stuff on her own. We spent our night resting from all the walking by watching The Voice in our hotel room.

Day two started, for me, with a bike ride to National Public Radio. This was the coolest thing ever. NPR is practically all I listen to and I get most of my news from them. We were shown the indoor bike parking and the showers for employees. We then got to tour the newsroom! Sigh. It was awesome.

Em was off doing her own thing. She possibly saw the President drive by. She checked out a couple of the Smithsonian Museums. I didn't see Em again until about five, when we met up to meet our cousin after work. Scott works in DC and lives in Virginia. We stayed with them when I left NYC in 2009 and Em was out to help me move back to SLC. We met up with Scott at his usual bus stop near his work and rode the bus with him back to Virginia. We had dinner with him and his family and it was great to hang out with them! They live far away from most family (I might be the closest in Texas; most everyone is in Idaho), but Em and I are their second-most frequent visitors!

Scott and Nanette dropped us off at the train station (yay for public transit!) and we made our back to our hotel in DC.