The National Zoo

 

I don’t know why so many people make such a big deal about not driving within the beltway.  We only had 8 miles to go so we didn’t have any trouble at all.  We waited until rush hour was over before we started; 9:45am.  We were there at the zoo parking lots by 10:45.  There are five lots and we got to wait in the line of traffic to drive by each one in turn; each one with an attendant at the entrance directing the stop and go line of traffic to the next lot.  By the fifth parking lot though, we got to turn in.  So did two cars behind us, then they closed that lot too.  We were out of our car by 11.

 

The zoo itself is wide open and free, just like practically everything else in D.C., except for the bag checks at every entrance.  The zoo didn’t even have a bag check.  It didn’t even have a gate!

 

It’s not especially big, not like San Diego, but it is a very nice zoo.  Winding trails, well planted, partially shady, hilly.  A good hike.  The Orangs have an interesting exhibit that lets them commute from one enclosure, across the park, to another enclosure.

 

 

 

Going to the National zoo, you see things you don’t get at every other zoo.  We saw triceratops,

 

….giant pandas,

 

…and the usual elephants,

 

 

We got to see some real Giant Pandas too.

 

Doing what they do best.

 

An uneventful drive home (except for the traffic), a stop at the grocery, and we’re positioned for a dawn exit tomorrow morning.

 

We’re east coast newbies.  We’ve driven in and around big cities before, so we know to be careful around them, but the road north from Washington DC seems to have an awful lot of big cities awfully close together.  There don’t seem to be many places between Washington DC and New York City to stop for the night in a motorhome either.  We were having trouble figuring out how to drive through this corridor while avoiding rush-hour traffic in every city along the way.

 

Then the solution suddenly came to us.  Wait until the weekend (tomorrow).  Duh.  Get up early Saturday morning before anyone else wakes up and blow north without stopping until we’re past New York City!  The perfect plan.  We’ve thought of everything!