Back in Falls Church, Virginia

We're back at Denise's sisters place in Falls Church. The weather turned on us yesterday -- not so cold but very rainy. We got a thorough drenching as we spent the day doing more "tours". In addition to the first few days of monument and memorial tours, we've managed to include the White House, American Indian Museum, Capitol, Library of Congress, and National Botanic Gardens. It's all very impressive and the girls are making the connections between places they've heard or read about and are now seeing in person. Security around the town is heavy with the impending change of presidential administration, as well as some of the international meetings taking place to address the global economic meltdown. It's admittedly getting a little old being regularly bag-checked and passing through metal detectors before entering all public buildings -- which is mostly what we've been doing in Washington DC -- but the security staff are generally pleasant in their task. The van is in getting a 20,000 mile service and oil change today. We expect to be hitting the road again, heading south by Thursday or Friday next week. The rainy, gray weather is making us think longingly of warm and sunny Florida -- especially when we read that is has been 80F down there this week.