Mount Vernon

Was short on sleep again. I woke up at 5am and couldn't go back to sleep so I went online. By 9am, I started getting ready. Checked out of the hotel by 11am and headed to Mount Vernon, George Washington's home.

It was already after noon when I got there. It was hot. The parking was diverted to a neighboring lot, which was mostly gravelly. I wanted to do the "National Treasure Tour" but it was already sold out for the day, so I just paid for the admission, which included a tour of the mansion.

I knew I wouldn't have time to do everything, but I think I covered the major points. There were a couple of short films to watch at the orientation building. And the host was funny. He said that photography was allowed everywhere else except the inside of the mansion and the inside of the museum and especially not the infamous dentures, which I didn't see anyway.

After the films, I headed for the mansion tour right away, passing by the Liberty Bell replica, which a young boy volunteered to ring. The wait for the tour was supposed to be 25 minutes but it was mostly in the shade of the trees. Yay for Washington planting those trees.

Instead of leading groups of people around, the tour guides stood at key areas of the mansion, and they just kept repeating the blurbs as the line of people go through. I went through part of the virtual tour online the night before, so I kinda looked out for the items mentioned in the virtual tour.

After the tour, I walked around behind the mansion to take pictures of the gorgeous view of the Potomac, then I headed to the old tomb and the new tomb and ended up at the museum.

At the entrance of the museum, there's a big relief of Washington's face that seemed to follow you as you moved side to side. Nobody mentioned it but I noticed it as I was looking for a good angle to take a picture. Then I mentioned it to a lady near me, and she mentioned it to her son, and pretty soon, a lot of people were walking sideways to see the face move. :D

The stuff inside the museum are very interesting. There were jewelry and clothing and tools. And there were also samples of the china for each presidency.

After the museum, I had a bit of time, so I went to the food court for a very late lunch. Then off I went to the airport. I had to return the car by 5pm to avoid being charged for another day. But my flight wasn't until 8:40pm so I had a long wait. I got a book of sudoku puzzles and was breezing through them. (They were easy ones.)

The first leg from DC to Las Vegas was 4.5 hours and I slept through most of it. I even slept through the beverages. But I was awake enough to notice that the flight attendant in the PA system said, as we approached Las Vegas, "On behalf of the flight crew, we welcome you to Lost Wages." :D

The flight from Las Vegas to SeaTac was also very full but I was lucky enough to have an empty seat between me and the guy on the aisle seat. I thought I could stay awake, but as soon as we started pulling out of the terminal, I promptly fell asleep. I woke up briefly as we took off. Then forced myself to stay awake when they served beverages. A few more sudoku puzzles, then back to sleep.

When I got to baggage claim, I saw my luggage just coming by on the ramp, so it was perfect timing. Went over to the ground transportation area and called for a shuttle to the parking lot. There was an older couple who were picked up by their shuttle. And then the same guy who sat near me on the plane also arrive. But my shuttle got there first.

At the parking lot, there were three sheriff cars. The driver said there had been an accident. My car's hood was up and I wondered if it was my car. Well, long story short, apparently, someone purposely ran over a pedestrian and the shift manager of the parking garage was an eye witness so he was being interviewed. Meanwhile, as he was getting my car ready, he realized that my battery was dead, so he jumped it with his own car.

And, for some reason, there was a clicking noise as though my emergency blinkers were on, but they're not. And all the lights were flashing. Well, I was obviously upset. I had just gotten an oil change the day before my flight out and my car was just fine when I left it there. And to add insult to injury, they didn't wash my car, even though I already paid for it. And I'd have to email them to get a refund.

Anyway, he charged it again for a longer time but realized that it won't hold a charge. He said that sometimes the car stalls after a while, so he offered to drive to where I was if I got stalled on the way home. I said that was fine, I had AAA. Well, at least, he was very professional and very helpful.

I bet one of their employees turned my blinkers on all week and that's why my battery died.

I got home safely with only one brief scary moment when the car jerked and all the lights flashed again. The clicking noise persisted until I got home. When I turned off the engine, the light started flashing again. I guess, my battery is really dead. Will have to call AAA later today to get towed to the dealer. *sigh*