Tranquility base here, the Eagle has landed!

These are the first words spoken by man from the surface of the moon. Landing astronauts on the moon and returning them safely to the earth is arguably the greatest engineering accomplishment in the history of human kind. Years later I lived across the river from the “Rocket Ranch” and had the pleasure of meeting many of the ordinary people who performed the extraordinary tasks that made landing on the moon possible.

One lasting artifact from those days of extraordinary accomplishment are a few hundred pounds of rocks, sand and dust. Most of it is locked away for study by NASA. But a few pounds are out for people to see. If you look in the right places, you can touch a piece of the moon. The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington DC has four moon rocks on display, one that you can touch. It is on display in the shadow of the Spirit of St Louis, near the entrance on the mall side. Here is Travel stopping to touch the moon. (You can slide your fingers under the sheet of glass, and touch the arrow shaped rock specimen.)

DG and TR

It’s always 5:00 o’clock somewhere

Here I am taking a little break with an “Amber Waves of Ale” at the Capital City Brewing Company. CCBC is in the same building as the National Postal Museum just west of Union Station in Washington DC. They have a sampler of all of their current products, good, very good. One thing I learned, beer and chocolate mouse don’t pair off very well.

Enjoy your weekends,

TR and DG

I just returned from 4 days in Washington DC. DG had three long days of work, but we squeezed in as much sightseeing as we could. As always we took the Metro from National Airport into the city.

We stayed at a very nice hotel near Union Station this trip. The hotel was just across the street from the conference site and very comfortable for me while DG was across the street being enlightened.

We went to the National Zoo to see the exotic wild life. They have a Panda who is less then a year old. The baby was hiding a tree, munching bamboo. The Panda’s are about to be moved to a new a larger habitat, I sure am glad I free to hitch a ride around the world. You never know who you bump into in DC, I walked past Haley Barber on my way to dinner on Tuesday evening, and minutes later watch Senator Clinton get into her armored SUV at the Capital. Then there was this gang of thugs that I ran into down by the Smithsonian Castle building one evening.

TR

TR goes to Washington

I am headed off to Washington DC with DG for a few days. On the agenda is a reception on Capital Hill and a visit to the National Zoo to see the Panda's. I will report back on what we see.

TR

Limo for Bert and Someone

I am waiting to pick a couple of friends up at the station, now what time does their train arrive from France?

TR

Where can I find a red velvet tuxedo?

DG has been shopping for a car; something gently used with lots of plush to accommodate his middle aged behind and what he describes as demanding passengers. After scouring car dealers, the internet and asking every circling vulture what was in the estates they were working on he found something. It is very gently used (less then 12,000 miles in seven years.) The first owner is not dead, but she has no clue who she is or where she is and really does not care as long as they bring her pudding. The vulture in charge finally got the court order approved for the sale and now we are floating along in style. Why do I have this strange desire for a red velvet tuxedo to go along with my fuzzy hat decorated with flamingo feathers?

TR