July 2nd: Botanic Gardens, Smithsonian Castle, Greyhound to Nashville

I woke up sometime. I was leaving Washington DC this day but the bus was leaving at 5pm or so, so I had time to see a few more things.

Jay wasn't very sure what he wanted to do. I said I was thinking of seeing the Botanic Gardens and he thought that seemed cool so we wandered over there together.

It was very hot outside again. Inside the Botanic Gardens was much nicer even though it was a glass house. It was regulated with water spray and other stuff so the temperature was very good.

I saw a movie about Orchids a while ago called Adaptation. It was fairly unusual and good. Not sure if this is an Orchid...

We finished looking through here. Jay and I walked along the mall for a while. Jay wanted to have a look at more of the Museum of American History whereas I wanted to get back to the hostel by 3pm so that I could get some food and be ready for the bus. I don't like needing to rush to get to places in time. I said goodbye to Jay. It was cool hanging out with him for a few days. He is an interesting person. He owned a houseboat in San Francisco Bay for a while! So we talked a little bit about sailing. I will learn how to sail soon. He is also into downhill mountain bike riding. He is coming to Thailand in November/December and so we might meet up in Australia and see some things after that.

I went over to see the Smithsonian Castle since it has the memorial site of the guy who initially funded all of these free museums, and I thought I should see this building before I left since I think it's the iconic one.

Ashes, or something, of James Smithson, founder of the Smithsonian Institution.

Inside. The building smells a bit funny. It might be the sweat on every body due to the heat outside. I'm not sure.

"Please do not place drinks or food on the antique table".

The castle.

This building actually just contains a general small collection of stuff and I think it's purpose is supposed to be to give you an idea for which of the other museums you might want to go and see. I didn't really look at anything inside this building because I had looked at enough museums. I was looking more at the building, and sitting down on their seats because my feet were sore.

I made my way back to the hostel.

They are playing more music on the "mall".

They've got some kind of festival going on here.

These kids are painting the globe for some reason. There are lots of places here where they're trying to get American citizens to sign up for 'peace corps'. It seems to be where you can volunteer a year, or so, of your time to go away to some other country and help out where some things are needed to be done. It seems like a pretty cool concept to me. It would probably be a great experience for people doing that.

I walked through a park.

Metal tree.

Capital building again.

Before getting to the hostel I went to Safeway and bought some food. I bought some flat bread/pita bread and hommus (good idea from Amanda from when we were on the train to Bristol!), two nectarines, yoghurt, water, cashew nuts, and probably something else. Then I went back to the hostel.

I put my mp3 player on the cupboard while I took my shoes off (you have to remove your shoes while inside at this hostel), and I put the yoghurt in the freezer so that maybe it would stay cold for a while longer on the bus journey and not go bad. I did a few more things and then I got my stuff together and left. A while later, while on the bus, I realised that the yoghurt was still in the freezer and the mp3 player still on the cupboard. Damn! I have had the mp3 player for many years and needs to be upgraded so I can not be too upset. I still had my camera.

The greyhound station in Washington DC. It's looking a little more ghetto today than it did on the previous journey.

Awesome food. I also got blueberry muffins.

Tasty hommus. Pita bread and hommus is a fairly good mix I think.

Shoes and shirt are required! I'm travelling through Virginia.

Nice looking houses.

The landscapes here all look very nice. It's a nice looking country. It's a pity about all the highways and lack of trains.

This bus journey has a duration of 16 hours I think. It is long. I got on at 5pm and I think I was scheduled to arrive in Nashville at 9am the next day. The bus was also very full so I had to sit next to someone. It's difficult to sleep in a bus sitting up right while next to someone. The people on the bus were a little bit 'dodgy' looking. But I was fairly sure I wouldn't be decapitated and then it just becomes an interesting experience.