Finding a Running Track

 We enjoyed a full weekend - resting, driving, exploring and more unpacking. Deb has a long weekend in lieu of Canberra Day at  home. We started the weekend at the vet. All is ok. Cricket has always had a little irregular smokers cough but it has been quite bad and persistent the past few days. And he's been sneezing. He's been checked at home and the thought is that he has sensitive airways - poor little darlin. But, it's spring here and the pollen is out. The vet gave him a clean bill of health - she was very impressed with his low heart rate and said he must be very fit !! Anyway, she thinks it's just like hay fever - so we are giving him antihistamines - good ol Zyrtec. He has not coughed since yesterday so that's great. Looks like Cricket and I will share antihistamines every spring! By the way, the vet is a full on hospital, 24hr service and quite large. It's not too far away so I'm glad help is nearby. We have also signed up for pet insurance as pet care is very expensive.

We decided to have a late lunch at this All American Diner at our local suburb. This will be a place to eat when you all visit - maybe you could try the liver and onions special !! They make these fantastic milkshakes and while I can't drink them, they look fantastic. There is nothing healthy but hey, a superhero has to live a little. Deb decided to empty the coin from her wallet - she doesn't use coin so it just builds which is why the kids next door at home love her. We had a money lesson - cents, dimes, quarters...not sure if that will now make her spend them rather than notes. Anyway, the homeless guy outside received a nice handful of coin in his cup. 

I look like my sister !!

What coin is this ??

  

I finally put the bikes together and it feels nice to see wheels again. Hopefully we'll go for a ride tomorrow to this cafe/market thing nearby and check it out - please god, let there be decent coffee there. Also forgot to mention that I met the mailman this week. I had the front door open as I was assembling furniture in the entrance area - Cricket was on the verandah keeping watch as he does best. I hear this man yell 'hello' from across the road. It was the mailman. I yelled hello back but it was like a mexican standoff across the street. I then realised he was worried about the big scary black dog. I yelled out 'they won't hurt you' and he yelled back 'that's what they all say'. Fair enough. So I put Cricket inside and went down the steps to get the mail. He said his name was Claude - I asked him to repeat again - he said 'my name is Claude, as in Jean Claude Van Dam'. OMG, I laughed and I said hello, my name is Merryl, as in Meryl Streep. He laughed - probably thinking we were both so ridiculous to pick filmstars we look nothing like. So he gave me the run down on the mail delivery which was good to know. 

Rained overnight but it was clear for us to explore the forest with the dogs. Can't believe how lucky we are to have this at our doorstep. They always meet other dogs and have a great play. Cricket is becoming very aware of squirrels too so we have to keep a close eye on him. 

Washington Monument

We went into the city to explore the running options for Deb. We walked around National Mall - which is a massive grassland that is popular during the warmer months for exercise, kite flying and anything outdoors really. it's between Washington Monument and Capitol Hill. From wiki - The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and the first American president. 

The interesting thing is that when you see it up close, you will notice a different shading of the marble about one third up. This is because construction was stopped for 20 years due to lack of funds and the civil war. When it restarted, the marble was from a different source to the initial structure. It was started in 1848 and finished in 1884 with the break from 1854 - 1877. It stands out in the landscape too with its 50 US flags at the bottom - one for each state. Wiki has an interesting read on this monument including when, for 10 hours in Dec 1982, the monument and eight tourists were held hostage by a nuclear arms protestor claiming to have explosives in a van he drove to the monument's base. 

St. Patricks Day parade

Selfie - White House in far background

Happy Birthday Big Sister xx

 We took a walk around the White House grounds and the St. Patricks Day parade was in full swing. Last year we only saw the rear of the White House but this time, we got to walk around the front area and took some nice photos with the cherry blossoms in bloom. It's my sister's birthday at home so we gave her a FaceTime (like Skype) call to wish her happy birthday from the White House. It was still a bit early for her but she was surprised with the view we gave her. 

We had the displeasure of passing a guy (twice) walking around for hours with a placard saying No Same Sex Marriage. Seriously? Let me just say it was a guy who should know how hard it is to gain acceptance yet here he is discriminating others. We very nearly asked him to get a photo with him. Moron !!

We saw this memorial last year on Deb's birthday visit.  This photo is from the WWII memorial - quite a significant memorial of course. There is a huge wall of gold stars - each star represents 100 people who died or remain missing in the war. This plaque tells the dreadful loss of life.

When you visit, you will enjoy a walk around the memorial path to see these important but sad reminders of our history. Or maybe you could take a segway tour and stack it like I did the other week :o

It was raining by the end of the walk around so we were drenched - no umbrellas !! Where's a Starbucks when you need one? We finally found one and took shelter. 

Deb got some driving practice today, she did well. We both hate being passengers now. It's a tight squeeze into our garage so it will be a miracle if we don't clip our side mirrors a few times before we go. Took the dogs for a drive tonight to get some takeaway. They love going for a ride. We went to Bethesda and it was full of restaurants and cafes. Wow, looks like that's the place to get to know - and soon.

 

And on a final note, Oreo's. I've never had one until now. It was an anti-climax. It's just like a good ol' chocolate delta cream biscuit. It's ok but I would have maple syrup cookies anyday. I haven't tried Hershey's chocolate yet - we keep buying the Cadbury's even though it's UK chocolate. And our bread maker, Dyson vac and toasted sandwich maker arrived today. Guess what I'm doing this week ??