Freedom is not free

Got up a bit later and pottered around packing my stuff back up and trying to wedge the company laptop in my case so I could leave it in the hotel for the day. I checked out and then took the hotel's shuttle bus down to the National Mall. There were lots of people around - military graduations, a school band and a large group of veterans around the second world war memorial. I joined one of the tours run by the Park Rangers and found out more about the memorial. I don't think the fountains have been working when I've been before.

I went to the Vietnam veterans memorial and the Korean War memorial. The reflections and angles in this picture appealed to me.

Visited the Natural History museum and had a lovely time in the butterfly pavillion. A large blue morpho landed on my scarf and sat there for a while - too close to blip! Another then landed on my head. There were some ladies with butterfly nets who inspected each visitor before they left so that none of the butterflies escaped.

Stressful journey back to the hotel to collect my case and pick up the shuttle bus. The traffic was really bad due to a demonstration in the city centre and all the graduation ceremonies at the numerous universities. I missed my shuttle bus by about 5 minutes and ended up getting a taxi back to the airport. I had plenty of time before the plane left so I was annoyed at myself rather than stressed that I'd miss the plane.

Enjoyed a quiet flight and got a bit of sleep too.