Washington DC

So, I left the wild and fun dog oriented weekend in San Diego and flew to Washington DC for a conference on Unmanned Aerial Systems - which are remote controlled aircraft ranging from hand-held surveillance units to Globalhawks, single engine jets that have the wingspan of a B737. The military, the FAA, and the civilians are trying to figure out how these aircraft can fit into the National Airspace System along with all of the "manned aircraft." It turned out to be not as boring as I expected.

In order to have some fun on the trip, Rick, Ardy, and I decided to try a City Segway Tour on Wednesday evening after dinner at Old Ebbets Grill. First they wrapped us in saran wrap since the weathermen were forecasting severe thunderstorms during that time, then we learned to ride/drive our Segways. I was a little shaky at first, but after a few laps around the alley, I got the hang of it and our group was ready to hit the road (or sidewalk, really).

We toured around the mall area, hitting the high points ~ the Washington Monument, the White House, the Capital, and all of the museums and federal buildings in between.

For most of the three hour tour, the weather was pretty good - it rained off and on, but our saran wrap ponchos were keeping us pretty dry. We saw some spectacular lightening - up close, and heard some roaring thunder - up close, but most of the time it was just rain...

until, we got to the Capital. It was getting a bit dark, but the Capital policeman came out and warned us that we might want to take cover, since he had heard that penny size hail was coming our way.

We segged around until we found this overhang;


where Ardy checked the Doppler weather map on her Blackberry. She determined that it appeared the storm had passed our position and we hopped back on our Segways and headed back to the shop. I bought a clean, dry t-shirt so that I wouldn't win the wet t-shirt contest on the Metro on the way back to our hotel in Arlington. I HIGHLY recommend the Segway experience..... too fun!