Capitol Hill

Our first day in DC, Marie and I had a tour of the capitol at 2pm. We took a bus downtown around 10:30 and found the capitol (not hard), then decided to see some buildings. We walked into the supreme court first. There is a large hall with busts of the chief justices of the past as well as a view into the courtroom. Downstairs we found a large statue of Justice John Marshall and some of his accomplishments. We then wandered over to the Jefferson building of the library of congress. This building is very ornate in the decor and architecture. One temporary exhibit was art of European explorers and the new world. There was drawings of South America flora and fauna done by Maria Sibylla Merian who was also on display at the Getty in Los Angeles. There was also a piece on Christopher Columbus and the Taino Natives of Jamaica. This brought our trip almost full circle already.
We found a quick lunch next and then headed to Ron Wyden's office to check in for our capitol tour. Marie and I were two of twelve on the tour. We rode a subway from the Dirksen office building to the Capitol. We saw lots of architecture and statutes in the capitol. Each state was commissioned two statues but Oregon had three. We saw both of Montana's statues as well. We walked under the rotunda, the crypt where Washington was almost buried, and saw the Catafalque upon which former Presidents coffins stood on while they lie in State. We continued through the main floor and finally made our way into the House Chamber. This is the place of the State of the Union speeches, as well as the regular House business. We made our way out, and walked toward Union Station. As we got there, we bought our tickets to Baltimore and then found that the train was delayed. As we approached the doorway to get on the train, we saw a HUGE crowd trying to leave for Baltimore. Everyone near us said, "We have never seen it this bad." I guess that is the theme of our week. They ended up boarding two trains at the same time, and we had a fairly express ride to Penn Station.

Upon arriving in Baltimore, we took a taxi ride the long way to my sister's boyfriend, John's house. Inside we were met with delicious peanut sauce and vegetables. John bought a house last year and is fixing it up one room at a time. He gave us a grand tour including a functioning worm bin in the basement, an on-demand hot water heater with telephone, two blow dart guns, an atlatl and a mastodon target. We discussed life, chemistry and plans for tomorrow.