July 4 – On the Mall

It was good to spend the morning relaxing at the campground. We all needed the break and we wanted to conserve our energy for the trip into DC in the evening. We caught the metro rail at about 5:30 and were amazed at how empty the coaches were. We strolled onto the Mall and easily found a place to sit. (pic) The problem with setting up a picnic spot is that you are tied down to a single spot and everybody cannot go exploring at the same time. We also spent quite a bit of time under our tarps because of the rain. If we ever did this again we would arrive later and just wander around to see all the activities. By the time the fireworks started there was still a lot of space on the Mall. Maybe the rain scared everyone off. The fireworks started at 9:10 and were over by 9:30. They were impressive – especially with the Washington Monument in the foreground. Rich and I were both quite shocked that they were over in twenty minutes. I think we have been spoiled because the fireworks at Gunnison last year lasted for 1 hour and they were just as spectacular. We followed the masses back to the metro, but found that the trains were not particularly full because each line was running every 2 min. We were back at the campground earlier than expected.