Walk, walk, walk. This is starting to feel a lot like a hike to Mount LeConte. Walk, walk, walk, Kyle is mumbling something about "not caring, I'm going to go back". I try to explain that we are just about exactly half way around and it is just as short to keep going (not sure if I'm fooling even myself much less him). Walk, walk, walk. We pass through some nifty monument with lots of waterfalls. We don't remember nor really care at this point what/who it is for (it was cool though). *** At last we arrive. Our walk is rewarded with a nearly empty monument. We do a Chevy Chase Vacation style glance around the interior and realize we better get moving or we will miss the last Metro. *** After attending to blisters (always carry bandages and moleskin for this). we are on our way again. Kyle actually seems rejuvenated a bit and I try to keep him distracted by playing "find a food" - taking turns coming up with foods that start with each letter of the alphabet. No doubt a subconscious appeal by my stomach for food. The rest of the hike is a bit of a blur. I remember we got back with about 10 minutes to spare. I also vaguely remember hitting the CVS and buying ice cream, Frutopia, and anything else that looked wet, cold, or both.
We head out bright and early so we can take a tour of the Burea of Engraving. Not surprisingly, we get there and the tickets are all gone. Looking inside the booth we notice a piece of paper that was taped to the glass but had fallen off. It says more tickets will be available in the afternoon. A-ha! Maybe no one else will see the paper. We find out from a guard that more tickets will indeed be available at 3:30.
Next stop is the McDonald's in the Air and Space Museum... I will not go hungry today. After a rather long hike to get there, and further wait to go through the security checkpoint, we come to what has to be the most efficient McDonalds in existance. You give your order to one person, pay another, and finally pick up your food from a third. We wait in line and figure out what we want. *** Wait a second, does that sign really say $6.99 for a combo meal? They must be kidding. Long story short, we order, they screw up and after a confusing series of trips between the order taker, cashier, and food pickup stations we walk away with our $26.49 McDonalds meal. We are thankful, I think it should have been over $30 but with their mixups no one was sure what we ordered and had paid for. It is food, I am happy.
