Leaving and Outing

Washington DC

Hello,

We are leaving early tomorrow morning for Salt Lake City. Miriam will be coming here late in the day. If all goes as planned we will learn from Miriam where she has parked the car so we can drive back to her house. Sarah, Lexi, and Natalie will spend the day alone because Stephen is out of town.

Sarah had talked about going down to see the Martin Luther King memorial if it were not raining as predicted. Natalie woke up and it was still not raining although quite cloudy just as it had been all day. With Natalie in the baby buggy and Lexi in a stroller we headed off to the Metro. There is an elevator so it was easy to get down to the tracks. Changing trains was not much of a problem because Sarah knew what elevator we needed to use to get to the proper platform. By the time we left the station there was a fine mist that rather quickly became rain. Leroy and Sarah both had rain coats. My hoodless jacket was water resistant and Lexi held an umbrella.

I walked briskly as I pushed Lexi along the street where people thought she was the cutest thing holding that umbrella while her grandmother’s hair was starting to drip water. We stopped under a tree to rest and hoped that the rain would diminish. No such luck! Instead the water was wending its way through the leaves onto our heads.

Sarah suggested that we head to a restroom that she knew of on the mall. We got there and shared the shelter with a couple other people including one woman who appeared to be homeless as she had her bags with her. The sky got lighter, but the rain did not slow down for a long time. Finally we decided to go home as it slacked off a little. On the way back we used the escalator as the elevator was not easily within reach. That escalator ride is a bit tricky with the strollers, and children. Lexi walked, but I was not good at holding her hand, the stroller and wanting to hang on to the railing. Sarah and Leroy managed the buggy and the baby. It was quite the adventuresome outing without getting to our goal. My hair was totally wet by the time we got back to the Metro. At least it dries to the shape it was before we started. I am grateful it was not so cold that we were very uncomfortable. There were other tourist types with children caught in the rain so we were not alone in this silly trip.

Paula