Today we traveled through five states on our trip eastward: Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. We’re not sure how the states figured it out, but the geographical features are distinctly different the moment you cross state lines. Crossing the border from Ohio to Pennsylvania? BLAM! Instant mountains out of flat lands. Leaving Maryland for Washington, D.C.? SHAZAM! Instant urban landscape out of the wilderness. We managed to add one more national park to our Parks Passport book—the Cuyahoga Valley. While a good nature area, it was indistinct to us from our familiar Michigan parks, so we moved on after a brief picnic lunch.
Since we got a late start in the morning, everything was pushed back a bit, which meant that we arrived in Washington, D.C. at rush hour. But, amazingly enough, all five lanes of highway traffic behaved very nicely, allowing for consistent 70 mph traffic, with only one slowdown. Downtown, though, was trickier. The usefulness of roundabouts is certainly debatable and takes a bold driver to successfully navigate. We made it to our hotel, though, which is next to the George Washington U campus, kiddie-corner to the Watergate, and only a short walk to the monuments.  And we got complimentary cookies!  We can’t wait for the National Zoo tomorrow!