We woke this morning to a driving thunderstorm. I thought that was a bit odd... I honestly can't remember the last time that I saw a T-storm before 8 AM. The weather trouble must have extended pretty far north of here, as Philadelphia had a severe thunderstorm warning in effect until 9 AM. (I get text messages from readyPA.gov about traffic, weather, or other alerts in the Philadelphia area. I still get them even when I'm not in Philly.)

Anyway, as it was chilly and rainy this morning when we left for DC, I opted not to use sunblock. The weather report I saw had it raining all day, so I didn't think it would be worthwhile to carry the sunblock with me. Mistake.

Our first stop in DC was at the Smithsonian's Museum of African Art, where they had arranged for a guided tactile tour of one of their exhibits. There weren't quite as many items to touch as I originally expected (a mask, an altar, and one other item that we weren't entirely sure if it was permitted to touch or not. But when no proximity-warning alarm went off at our approach, they let us touch it.) Then again, the tour was only one hour, so that would limit the amount of time we could spend seeing items and making sure everyone got to handle it.

After that, Doug (the SSP I'm teaming with), Alvah, and I went to the National Air and Space Museum, where we had lunch. After that, since I had been the SSP for the art tour and Doug had time off, he took Alvah in the Air and Space museum and I went off on my own for an hour. That's hardly enough time to see much, especially since I like to take my time in museums and See Everything. So I visited a few things briefly and hit the gift shop. :)

I have decided that I really would like to spend a few DAYS in DC. There are a ton of museums and other sites to visit, and a four-hour visit to the city is hardly enough time to do anything. One thing that looked like a ton of fun was the Segway tour we encountered while we were waiting for the buses to return. DO WANT. That will definitely be on my "to do" list if a stay of any length in DC happens.

Cleverest T-shirt design I saw today: a street vendor had a shirt with Obama tearing open his suit and shirt a la Superman, to show the seal of the Preaident of the US in place of the Superman logo. :)

Did I mention that I should have carried the sunblock with me today? As luck would have it, the sun came out and drove the temperature WAY up. And those few blocks we had to walk in the full sun, minus sunblock, were enough to trigger a bout with itching. At some point last year, I blogged about it when I finally discovered that this chronic issue that's plagued me for years is a sun allergy. Fortunately, sunblock is an effective remedy for that problem... IF I actually apply the sunblock and don't leave it sitting in my room. Oddly enough, it actually has to be worn to be of any help. Gah. Live and learn. ;)

After we returned to camp and had dinner, we had braille Bingo. Actually, there were choices of cards including regular print, large print, and embossed large-p;rint numbers with the corresponding braille numbers above them. That's always fun.

Anyway, I am EXHAUSTED. See m=y twitter feed for additional little details from today. Good night!