Alison took
the day off and we struck out for Northeast Washington, D.C. to visit the
National Arboretum. There’s a Capital Bike Share stand right at the entrance to
the arboretum, so we (Karen, Alison and I) grabbed some bikes and rode in. The
temperature and humidity were starting to rise, which made for more work on the
hilly terrain (ask Karen about that).
Part of the
arboretum was closed off because bald eagles were nesting in the area. We still
got a chance to make it over to a viewing area with a telescope, where we saw
two young eaglets high up in their nest.
On top of one
of the nearby hills is a collection of sandstone columns standing alone in what
looks, from a distance, like some kind of post-apocalyptic scene. It turns out
that these columns were once located (from the 1820’s through the 1950’s) at
the east portico of the U.S. Capitol building, until they were removed for a
construction project to expand the building. Somehow, they ended up on the hill
in the arboretum.
One of the
arboretum highlights is the bonsai tree garden. On display here are amazing
examples of bonsai trees that have been donated from private collections over
the years. Some of these trees are very old. In fact, one of the trees (see
below) has been growing in a pot since 1625 – nearly 400 years!
After an
invigorating morning out in nature, we had a Hawaiian lunch in Shirlington,
then went home to rest up for our evening activity: Friday Night in Herndon.
We finally
met up with Stephanie and Stephan in Herndon. They’ve had busy work schedules
for the past couple of weeks, so this was our first chance to get together. We
sat out on the lawn in the square, listened to some 70’s and 80’s live music,
and did some planning for our next round of activities. Stephanie came back to
Arlington with us so we could do a little educational run the next morning.
Next: Ranger
Run
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