Shenandoah and DC

Finally a chance to upload pics... This was nearly a month ago.

Continued up the Appalachian mountains via Blue Ridge Hwy and Shenandoah. Visited a few waterfalls amidst the Memorial Day weekend crowds. All the campgrounds were full so we renegade camped at a trailhead parking lot with other people who couldn't find a site and didn't want to pay $40-50 at a private campground. We drove into DC on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend hoping traffic wouldn't be too bad. Alas, this is the day of the annual Thunder Rally where Vets (the military kind) on motorcycles parade around DC. We spent 4 more days in DC visiting a good number of monuments and museums. The 2 highlights were the views from the top of the Washington Monument and getting a personal tour of the Capitol from an old UC Irvine rowing friend who works for Rep. Dennis Kucinich from Ohio. Tons of people were visiting this week but somehow the only campground in town was deserted despite it's nice proximity to the Metro and forested surroundings. Even caught a bit of a league kickball game going on in the Mall.