Another day and another different route into the city. I've got a real issue with the roads over here. I can't tell the difference between interstates, freeways, expressways, routes, blah, blah, blah, blah. The fact that at an intersection the road can merge from either side really gets me. They seem to hide road signs behind trees and buildings (if they display them at all) and that really doesn't help. Junctions aren't junctions like they are in England. You can turn from a side road straight onto an interstate without realising. The junctions (intersections) are not numbered like ours are (numerically). There number represents the miles down the road. It's the same with house numbers. They are numbered by the distance from the nearest route so Val's house is 665, because it's .665 miles from route 7. That almost makes sense to me and I guess if you're used to it then it's easy. At least they had the decency to put the odds on the left and the evens on the right.
Anyway enough of that. The main aim of our day was to visit Smithsonian Institute which is a series of around 10 Musuems and Art Galleries. We only fancied visiting 2 of them (the Air and Space Museum and the American History). The Air and Space Musuem was very interesting. There were interactive displays explaining 'How things fly', details of the development of rockets, missiles, space suits and flight. There were also flight simulators that allowed me to fly an F-18 Hornet and do barrel rolls and loop the loops. You go properly upside down for $6.50. The only down side was the loose change that was rolling about in the cabin. It was only when we were about to leave the museum that I realised that I'd lost my (or to be more precise, Val's) car keys. Yep you guessed it, they fell out in the simulator and it wasn't loose change. What a plum! I had visions of someone walking around Washington, trying which car the keys belonged to. Luckily though they were handed in at the desk and we were reunited with no real dramas.
The American History Museum detailed things like, the American Presidents, the progress of information technology and money etc. By far the best feature was the original star bangled banner with 14 stars on that they are desperately trying to conserve. It should have 15 stars, but someone nicked the 15th. This museum would be of interest to an American, but for me it didn't offer alot. It felt like they had a lot of good ideas, but they had put them in a pot, thrown them in the air and seen how they fell. It was a bit of a jumble to me.
We made a safe escape from the capital and made it all the way back on the right roads. We even made it on to the toll road. How come when you just get used to a place, it's time to leave?
