Lincoln

Since arriving, we've been on a weird sort of schedule, staying up til midnight and sleeping in past 8:00 which, for those of you know me, is pretty late for me. So yesterday we decided to break the trend and were up at about 5:30. We were on the Metro just after six and headed down to the Washington Monument. It had rained the day before, so the morning was cool and clear, a perfect day really. The Washington Monument looked great in the morning sun, but that wasn't where we were headed. We kept walking West, but found the park to be closed for unknown reasons. We walked around the edge until we got to the other side and what we were aiming at - the Lincoln Memorial.

I have no idea why, but this was the monument I've been most excited about seeing. It was beautiful in the morning light, and quite a thrill to finally see. My camera battery died on me, but I managed to get in a few shots at least. We just sat a while, and watched all the joggers run up the stairs, pause for a second, and then run away again. (Almost everyone who ran by came up the steps, it seems to have an irresistable pull for people.)

We finally figured out why the park was closed - four army helicopters flew in and landed in the field. A guy in the first one got out and ran over to talk to some guy in a white truck. Then he got back in and they flew away, and the park reopened. I was, of course, insanely curious about what the point of all that was. Some early morning drill? Some high-intrigue delivery? Who knows, but it was fun. Stupid camera battery.