Washington D.C. : Best $14 I have ever spent

Hands down the best $14 I have ever spent involves renting a bike. 

Seriously? You bet! 

Washington D.C is big. As in painfully, limping, whiny pants, I didn't want to walk anymore, big. Everybody warned us that we would be doing a lot of walking. Boy, I should have believed them. I have never walked so much in my entire life! I even wore really good shoes. At the end of the day we were both so tired and sore we could hardly crawl into bed.  Thank goodness for this "capital bikeshare" thing. You pay a $7 rental fee for 24 hours. It's "free" for 30 minutes and then $2 for 30-60 minutes. You just check in your bike to these nifty stations and go on your way. We rode these bikes ALL OVER. (literally. Do you see that map behind me? we pretty much covered the whole thing)
At first we tried to get away with just one bike. I think they purposely put the pedals under the seat so two people can't ride a the same time. Lame. At that point I didn't really care so we ended up getting two. Still totally worth the $14. 

 I look like a dork but I love these bikes so much.

You know the phrase "it's like riding a bike"

Well, I haven't ridden a bike since I was 12. 

It was hard. Pushing off. Peddling without wobbling. Trying not to be scared of the cars zooming by you. Peddling fast enough to keep up with Boyd without your bike rattling. Stopping. Eventually I got the hang of riding but it was quite the sight when I first got on. Boyd was pretty fearless when he started copying the "regular commuters." He would pick a person (wearing appropriate biking attire, with an appropriate bike - not a bikeshare) and follow them. He soon realized I just couldn't keep up when I got left behind at a stoplight. woops.

I realized that these bikes saved my life when we rode past a group of people walking. I overheard a girl saying "OH, I wish I had a bike, my feet are killing me" 

HA HA. (seriously, I laughed out loud and yelled "it's totally worth it" back at her) 

Washington D.C. : Day 3

 Our day started out at Jefferson. 

It was close to where we parked. 

Word to the wise: Free parking south of the Mall, near Jefferson. 

Next we went to the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

If you are ever in D.C. I highly suggest going here. 

It was really fascinating and fun.

We got a sneak peek at the new $100 note.

We saw what $40,000,000 looks like in a stack. 

Apparently I'm only worth $1,444,600 in $100 notes

Boyd is worth much more. 

 

I'm a total sucker and purchased a $1 note for $5. 

It was "lucky money"

2013 is the year of the snake, also my year. I couldn't resist. 

I look so Asian. Wait, I am so Asian.

 Ahh, we finally got a picture in front of the Washington monument when it wasn't dark.

Next, we were off to the Natural History Museum. 

 This is Boyd's "dinosaur" face. 

One of my absolute favorite parts of D.C. was the gem exhibit. 

WOW!

That topaz is 22,892.5 carats. 

Let me repeat that

twenty two THOUSAND eight Hundred Carats!

 I spent quite some time in this room. It was simply fantastic!

After the natural history museum we were exhausted. 

I wanted to see the white house 

 I didn't have the energy to walk there  

didn't want to spend the money for the metro ride there and back

didn't way to pay for a taxi or rickshaw

Didn't know what to do. . . 

I'll post later on about how we got there. 

But we made it to the white house!

(at least the back of it)

Still completely exhausted we made it to Lincoln that evening. 

On the way back to the car we spotted this guy. I don't remember who he was. Anyone? 

I'm glad Boyd lets me take funny pictures of him next to strange statues.

Washington D.C.: Firsts

 This is my first time riding any form of public transportation. 

For Real. 

I have never ridden a public bus (exception: school bus)

I have never ridden Trax, a train, a metro, etc. 

I rode the Metro for the VERY first time in Washington D.C. 

and I lived to tell the tale. Actually, I had anxiety over riding the metro.

I was worried about selecting the correct line, timing, the fact that it was something new, most of all I was worried about the germs, and the crazy people that might be riding with us.
Although, we did have a lot of fun making a run for the metro and finding out we were on the wrong one, or just missing it, or just making it for that matter, or best of all, taking the metro to Costco!

 First time in a metro station. It was dark. . . and dirty . . . and frankly I didn't like touching the escalator hand rails.

Speaking of firsts and escalators. . . 

This HAS to be the LONGEST escalator I have ever seen in my entire life! 

When we got on, I looked up, and you couldn't even see the top of it. 

I grabbed my point and shoot and ended up with this.

 We are about 1/3 way up, the white lights up to only mark the 1/2 way point. It was crazy long. 

So: First time I have ever ridden a gigantic escalator.