Day 78: The Journey to Washington

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We woke up bright and early and were ready to leave at 7am for Wahington DC. Our tour for the White House was booked for midday and it was a 4 hours drive, so we wanted to get there with plenty of time in case we got lost. At about 9am we hit really bad traffic and after sitting in it for an hour we decided to pull over into the Chesapeake Visitors area because we needed a toilet break anyway. By the time we were done the traffic had come to a complete standstill, so we decided hang around at the visitors centre for a while so the traffic could clear. We gave up on the idea of making it to DC by midday to do our tour, but luckily we happened to also have tickets for the 7.30am tour the following day, so we decided to go to that one instead.
We found out the reason for the traffic was that there had been a fatal accident where a truck had crossed the divider on the highway and killed a woman who was 8 months pregnant in her car. So it was a really tragic situation. The traffic didn't seem to be clearing anytime soon so we settled in at a picnic table, and played cards and ate some snacks for the next 4 hours. The time passed really quickly and we had a fun time. By 2pm the traffic had cleared quite a bit, so we got back into the car and about half a kilometre back on the highway the car started revving really high and smoking! So we pulled over beside the divider in the highway and leapt out of the car because it smelt like fireworks! So there we were the four of us, in the middle of the highway, with our car broken down. After calling the tow truck company there was not much we could do but make the best out of a bad situation so we settled in to play some more cards on a blanket, still in the middle of the highway! The traffic was still quite bad, so the tow truck took over an hour to arrive, but once he did he towed us to the nearest auto shop, which was in Aberdeen. Susan decided to hire a car to get us the rest of the way, but we had to pick this up from a different place, so we then had to wait for a taxi to arrive. The highlight of Aberdeen was a drinks machine that sold Diet Coke for 60 cents!
Once we got to the Avis Rental Centre we picked up our car and drove the rest of the way to DC. We parked on Constitution Ave and walked to the Washington Monument, and along to the Lincoln Memorial and the World War II and Vietnam War Memorials. After that we headed to our hotel and got some dinner at a Mexican Cafe, then we went to bed because we had to be up at 6am to leave for our second chance at the White House tour.

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Photos

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as we broke down on the side of the freeway

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where we were stopped for 4 hours waiytng for traffic to die down

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a combination of all our entertainment

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our possie

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sitting in the median on the freeay for an hour and a half waiting for a tow truck

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but never fear in auberdeen there was 60c coke!!

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hanging in auberdeen with our amazingly awwesome drinks till the taxi arrived

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the washington memorial

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the world war 1 memorial

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memorial still

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the lincoln memorial

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the lincoln memorial

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the view from lincolns memorial. where the reflection pool usually is

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the vietnam war memorial

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all the names along the wall of the people that dies in the vietnam war