The Capitol of Tourism

The sounds coming from my engine have grown progressively worse. I kept thinking it was a clutch problem because it only occurred in first or second gear but eventually I heard it at higher speeds. I thought about ditching most of my camping gear in DC (thinking it would lighten the load on the transmission), but decided to wait to Philly to have it looked at. In the meantime I stayed off it much as I could. That meant no riding through DC or pictures in front of the Washington Monument with my bike and American flag unfurled. While not worrying about my bike I spent the rest of the time finding a place to stay. I thought I'd just roll into town, pick the closest hostel and call it a night, turns out every one is booked for the next several months. I eventually found an expensive one north of the mall. Over the course of the next three nights I stayed at three different places in the DC area including a campground in Maryland.

Schoolhouse Rock anyone? No! No bills allowed on these steps, post 9-11

Washington DC is free. I spent a lot of time at the Air and Space museums and also checked out the visitor center/museum of the US Capitol building, walking through over 200 years of American history set to dramatic music. Every major museum is free, perfect for traveling on a budget. Arlington National Cemetery even has a bus-train tour... DC is the mecca of tourist groups. It's quite insane at times.

SpaceShipOne, the first in private space flight.

USS Enterprise, first NASA test shuttle

Luckily it rained one night and the national mall was relatively clear for one hour. There are several, lesser known places to visit to escape the crowds, like the Renwick gallery suggested by my brother, or the Air and Space Museum hangar in Chantilly, Virginia.

This would be considered creepy at anyone else's house.

What a mess...

Without my bike I relied on walking, taking the DC metro, and even hitching a ride from a Smithsonian curator. I couldn't help but think of the similarities between my predicament and Che Guevara's much more profound trip across South America as detailed in his book: Motorcycle Diaries. Che's bike broke down repeatedly and it seemed 2/3's of the his and Alberto Granado's adventure was without their motorcycle. Of course, my trip pales in significance and I doubt it will lead me to start killing people.


On the way to Philly.