The trip to DC today included a visit to the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land, where I went to do a couple of stories. We then went to the National Zoo. My goodness, a 4 mile drive took an hour, because I got lost. At one point, I pulled over and found us on the map, found the zoo and charted out a course. I'd gotten off on the mapquest directions. Pretty silly that there's not a direct way to go across the city. There was no parking at the zoo, but we found a spot on a side street, and explored the zoo. It was OK, not great. The Denver Zoo is nicer, I think; at least in part because it is flat - this one is one hill after another. But the Denver Zoo is newer, with adequate parking, more frequent places to eat, newer exhibits, etc. We particularly enjoy the Denver Zoo's bird exhibit - this one was OK, but we still enjoyed it. Paul pointed out that the National Aquarium in Baltimore has a better bird exhibit than the DC zoo. Driving in DC is just a nightmare. People here take the Metro, and I can understand why.

Now that spring is here - the trees are flowering, and it is beautiful - I'll take some photos and post them - I'm back to focusing on the outings we want to do. Go to a horse race (preferably the Preakness), visit Amish country with Ellen and the kids, visit a Civil War battlefield.