A-Z: Air & Space to Zoo

[Part FOUR of the trip I took with the twins back east over Spring Break]

Day 5 of the vacation (Friday, March 29) was our final day of sight-seeing. We headed for DC again that morning on the VRE (Virginia Railway Express) commuter train from Manassas. As we were waiting for the train to arrive, we were standing around on the platform talking to each other, and a gentleman came up and let us know that we were hanging out in the same area that loads for the "quiet" train (the one we'd rode on the previous morning), and I said "I know". He was implying that we needed to be quiet on the platform!! We were just in that area because there was a bench there, we had no intention of riding that train car again (although we didn't need to let the guy know that--we let him be uncomfortable for just a few more minutes). When the train came, we got on a different train car. Quinn was able to go to D.C. with us that day, which was fun for the twins to have him along because he's so fun and hilarious! 

We got off at the stop right before Union Station this time. When we first got there, Lisa got coffee and Quinn got breakfast, and the twins took turns riding around on some rentable scooters while we waited for them. Then we walked to the Air and Space Museum together. This is one of the most popular museums, so I wanted to get in line for it first thing in the morning before it got too busy in the afternoon. The museum didn't open until 10, and we were there about 30-40 minutes early, but it was the only museum we hadn't seen the previous day that we really wanted to see while we were in D.C. so I figured the wait was worth it. By the time the museum did open, there was a big line already! 

The museum was HUGE! One end of the museum was closed for renovations, and even with that, we still didn't make it to every room/display. We got tickets for the first showing at the planetarium, and wandered around looking at everything in the meantime. The planetarium was an awesome experience--the high-definition, 2-D video played overhead on the giant dome ceiling, and our seats reclined. The movie was about a half hour long, and was all about the stars. It was fascinating! I loved the experience--and wouldn't have even gone if Lisa hadn't recommended it!

This is a 1/4 scale model of the first hot air balloon

that humans flew in 1783 in Paris, France.

Our solar system scaled in size

Surprisingly, my favorite exhibit was about the Wright Brothers.

I found their whole story fascinating, and all their attempts to fly, despite

their failures was motivational. This was the successful Wright Flyer restored. 

The plane was so long, it filled the center of the room!

Touching the moonstone!

There were so many planes and rockets everywhere!

I used to be super interested in shuttle flight and outer space exploration, so

I made sure that we stopped by the NASA shuttle exhibit. 

This was an interactive digital contest that the boys

played while we were in the NASA exhibit. 

Quinn got a new shirt and hat before we left the Air & Space Museum.

The last time I was in D.C., I passed an area with food trucks. I'd told Lisa that I wanted lunch one day at the food trucks, but we never made it to the area that I saw them at before. We'd planned on eating lunch at the USDA building because it was near the Air & Space Museum, but when we arrived at the Air & Space Museum that morning, we'd surprisingly seen a whole street full of the food trucks across the street, and knew that's what our lunch plans would be. I was so happy it worked out this way! We canvased the long street for what we wanted, and everyone got their orders from multiple places, and we ate on the grass together. The variety of cultural representations in the food was awesome! I was really proud of the twins for trying new cuisines, too. Micah got food from a Honduran food truck, and Jonah got some Lebanese food! The wait for everyone was a little long, due to the amount of people, but the food was good, and resting our feet was nice!

Our next destination was the National Zoo, which was on the other end of town. We decided to take the underground Metro because we were right next to a stop, and there was a Metro station pretty close to the zoo as well. That was a new experience for the boys! We got on one line, but then had to get off, and make a connection on a different line. The giant underground tunnels are definitely something you don't see in Idaho!

When we got off at our stop at the zoo, the escalator ride to the top was SUPER long! I looked it up--it's the 3rd longest non-stop escalator in America and is 204 feet long!!

Only halfway to the top!

Looking down behind me at the halfway point

Fun Fact: All the monuments and Smithsonian museums are free of charge, as well as the National Zoo!! It was amazing that we got to see so much in two full days, and all of it was free. Also, while we were there, the circulator bus in DC was also free--they did a promotion during the month of March, which was nice for us since so many other things we tried to see on our trip were "closed" due to it being the "off-season"! The National Zoo was giant! Once again, part of it was closed due to construction renovations, but we were able to see everything else (although our feet were hating us by the time we were done!). Only 4 zoos in America have giant pandas at them, and this is one of them. A baby panda was born there several years ago, which is rare, so the pandas have been really popular there. In fact, they're still really popular; we got there when the pandas were eating, and there were so many people watching them, it was hard to get a good view of the pandas. However, my favorite animal to watch while we were there were the elephants. They have several of them! We watched them eat, do their daily check-up, and then we watched them outside mingle with each other, and we even saw one urinate (more like gushing!!). My favorite experience was watching/hearing the lions roar. It was unexpected, and I was grateful that we were walking by when it happened. They were so extremely loud that it shook your innards, and several of the small children around us cried because it scared them!! Another highlight was watching some river otters fight and roll around in the water with each other. We spent several hours at the zoo, and it was all very enjoyable (except when we were getting hungry and our feet were tired). I was glad for the outdoor experience, and that it was good weather for us. 

red panda

One of the giant pandas eating lunch

This is a display showing how much an elephant

poops and pees every day. They can urinate 40 gallons

at once--hence the gushing we witnessed!

I loved watching this elephant doing its daily check-up.

More elephant watching--we actually watched them 3 times: in the building, 

along the fence a little later, and from a bridge above before we left the zoo.

This gorilla got pretty close to the window I was at

Orangutans remind me of smaller versions of Harry the sasquatch in 

Harry and the Hendersons movie. 

It was cool watching the waterlife swimming in the tank!

I love snakes--but thankfully I've never come across a rattlesnake in real life!

I love that this lizard is like a lump on the log!

Hearing these two lions roar was a highlight!

In the Amazonia building, birds flew free! 

There were some giant fish I'd never seen before, and they were so bizarre!

This fish reminded me of an old man's face!

Lisa sent this photo of a sucker fish to Mack,

and he commented that it had a "butt" for a face!

That is one hairy spider! Tarantulas are so creepy, aren't they?!

Their different facial expressions make me laugh!

A giant beetle display made from real beetles!

Looks like a lonely beaver

More elephant viewing!

Who seems to be behind the cage now?!

These 2 river otters were fun to watch as they fought/played in the water.

We were totally beat by the time we left the zoo. We still had to walk about a mile back to the underground metro station, but at least this time it was all downhill! I loved looking at the cute homes along the way and all the flowers that were in bloom--the spring season there was several weeks ahead of ours!

We took the Metro back to Union station, got dinner downstairs at the food court again, and ate while we waited for the train ride to take us back to Manassas. We had walked over 9 miles that day--the most yet, and it felt good to sit! As we were riding the train back to Lisa's house, we could see that the cherry trees along the tidal basin were all in full bloom, just in time for the Cherry Blossom Festival the next day! Unfortunately (or fortunately, I guess) we were flying home the following day, and wouldn't be there to see the parade or the kites flying, but for a brief moment, we saw the trees before we went under a tunnel, and I was glad for that, because they were absolutely beautiful!