resmarie

Early birds today, though a bit tired, maybe we finally realize we are on vacation? The plan was to visit Washington and take the Hop on hop off bus, but even I did not feel like it this morning. It was a lot of work going into town.

Instead we decided to go to the Air and Space Museum close to Dulles Airport, information www.airandspace.si.edu/visit/udvar-hazy-center.  We arrived among the first visitors at 9.30 and enjoyed the sights of a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, early wooden airplanes and a Concorde. Most impressive was of course the space shuttle Discovery, a huge thing placed in the middle of the second hangar of the museum.

We saw three different IMAX movies, Living in the Age of Airplanes told by Harrison Ford (the best one, how airplanes affects us all by getting us closer together and delivering goods etc), Journey to Space (about space journeys with awesome sound effects, in 3D) and Hidden Universe (also 3D but a bit strange though interesting, we are all part of a star?). Information on www.si.edu/imax. You get a rebate after the first film.

There is also an air and space museum on the National Mall in Washington but the Swedish family we met in Shenandoah said the one in Dulles is better. We were happy with it. Since it was raining and impossible to see anything, the observation tower was closed, otherwise you are supposed to get a view of all of Dulles Airport.

After the museum we went to the shopping centre near our hotel, Arvid had a haircut. We also managed to fill up the car with gas and since my Swedish card did not work we had to pay cash in advance. 20 dollars gave about half a tank.

Now we are just resting at the hotel, looking forward to driving to State College, Pennsylvania, tomorrow.