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Thursday, September 25, 2008, Mona and Fuad and family's house (Ziad's parents), Washington D.C.
Mona made us a delicious breakfast before we went sightseeing in D.C. Great way to start the day. We left our bikes at their house, planning to pick them up the day after tomorrow and continue our bike journey and use the van for sight seeing purposes. Parking was a problem. We finally found free parking, but for only 3 hours. It was raining off and on all day. Our first tourist stop was the Washington Monument. At the top were spectacular views of the White House, The Lincoln Memorial, The Jefferson Memorial, and the Capitol. Next we went to the Smithsonian museums. My favorites were the gem and mineral gallery, the aerospace center, and the American art gallery. After we were exhausted walking all day on empty stomachs, we decided to make our way to the only nearby campground about 15 miles away in Maryland and look for a place to eat along the way. We spied a Chevy's Fresh Mex and ate there, eating several bowls of chips and salsa before the main course. We also filled up on their homemade tortillas. All were full when we left. We were planning to spend the next two nights at a campground, but after Chevy's, it was already around 8:00 pm and the rain was coming down pretty hard. Mona had told Gloria we could stay longer if the weather was bad, so we returned to their house for the evening. They were gracious, as always, and made us feel at home.