Hottest day of my life

Our super-exciting vacation so far: flying to Toronto, exploring Niagara Falls, 8K race and the Blue Jays, swanky hotel and the Tigers, The Henry Ford.

Wednesday may have been the hottest day of my life. The D.C. heat index forecast was 106, and I believe it!

We stayed in Georgetown and took the airport shuttle to the mall. We proceeded to take in the sights, a few steps at a time. We walked from shady spot to shady spot and had to sit frequently to rest. Sweat poured from every pore. It was completely insane.

The headline said it all:

Froyo on wheels!

We spent a lot of time in the (air conditioned!) Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. There was an exhibit of the early years of the jet plane and air travel, including the pioneer of international air travel, Pan Am.

Grandpa was there near the beginning of the boom, flying for Pan Am for 40+ years. Dad really enjoyed showing us around and seeing pieces of our family's past.

The flying boat, which my grandfather flew back in the day:

We all did a double take when we saw this photo of the pilot speaking over his shoulder with the flight engineer. Grandpa was a flight engineer just like that! Wouldn't it be cool if it had been a picture of him?!?!

We peeked inside the nose of a 747:

Right behind the pilots was the flight engineer's station - that's where Grandpa sat:

The heavy clouds finally let loose just as it was time to leave the museum and head to MLB stadium No. 3. It was definitely the hottest rain I've ever experienced! We covered up and moved quickly to the nearest subway station - and it was dry when we came out at our stop:

The Nationals have several mascots, the Mount Rushmore presidents:

Twenty years ago (now that makes me feel really old!), I used to keep the book for my mom's softball team at THS. I decided to see how much I remembered. It was a team effort, but between the four of us, we did it! It was fun :)

Nationals win!

Washington Monument from the stadium:

The Capitol:

It was late by the time we made it by subway back to our part of town, and we still had to walk quite a ways. We approached the huge, creepy National Cathedral all lit up, and I was excited to take a picture. JUST as I was taking out my camera, they lights turned off :(

Not nearly as dramatic:

Oh well.

Next up: Sen. Al Franken! :)