The Great Outdoors in DC

So, I've managed to do a lot of outdoorsey things in DC, which is good! Last week was cool in temperature, so it was perfect for being outside. It heated back up today and should be in the mid-90's for all of next week. Emily and I went hiking one day along the Potomac River on the Potomac Heritage Trail off of the George Washington Expressway. There were lots of toads which jumped out of the path and I finally found some day lilies that I was able to pick because they weren't on private property. They're good to sautée and eat - they taste like green beans - it's a little trick my mom taught me - thanks, mom! We also went to the National Arboretum, which is about 460 acres - it's huge - we didn't even get to see everything. They have a State Tree exhibit, in which there are 51 plots of all the state trees, plus the District of Columbia tree. There were also original columns from the Capital Building that had to be removed once the Capital Building was expanded. We also went to the FDR memorial (thanks, Halle!) and strolled along past the Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument. There were lots of middle-school kids there with matching shirts. It made me think back to when we came here in 8th grade and how badly I feel for the teachers who had to put up with us. We took Friday off from work and went Riking, which is a name we made up for Biking and Rafting. We biked 12 miles on the towpath along the Baltimore-Ohio canal through Harper's Ferry, WV and then rafted (thanks, Sue Lynch, for the idea!) down the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. It was a lot of fun, but there were only Class I-III rapids, so hopefully we'll get to go again when we're in Pittsburgh or Cleveland because there are rivers with stronger rapids closer to those cities. Yesterday, we shopped for a little bit and then hung out on the roof-top terrace of Team 2's apt. building. The drinking started there and ended after hitting up the Wonderland Ballroom in Columbia Heights. Good bar, good beer, good times. Today we worked for a bit and we're going to Team 2's again for pizza and pirate day, which consists of making pizza and stealing each other's music! So, that's my life in DC right now. We're planning on leaving here on June 25 and heading up to Pittsburgh. Happy Father's Day, Happy Birthday Courtney, Happy Almost Birthday to my little sis, Lindsey and Traci!!!