Greetings from the greater Washington, D.C. area. I am presently sitting in a Panera Bread in Falls Church, VA. Yesterday I drove from Hermitage down to the Washington National Cathedral. About an hour after I arrived, a bus with four adults and sixteen youth/young adults arrived from church. We attended noon day Eucharist (fun!) and then crawled the church until about 3 p.m. We did get a short tour, but not the "behind the scenes" tour that Tim recommended. I think I need to come back and spend more time there. I do have lots of pictures, but I am not sure when I'll get around to posting them. For now, here's one of my favorites…
It's an incredible structure. Really neat to visit, and the grounds are fantastic. I wish I lived closer to something like this, I would certainly spend more time reading outdoors. I do always have the nagging feeling that all the money and effort that went into the construction of such a building might not have done other things. It is one thing to build a monument to the glory of God… I suppose for me it comes down to what they do with the space, and in this case they're doing good work in and through the building.
For those who might be wondering I did not run into John Chane. His parking space was empty (boy was I tempted to borrow it!). I did leave him one of my business cards with a short note, though, and I have photos of the building where he works.
After the Cathedral I drove, with Donna's help, down to the International Spy Museum. It was crowded and not all that it seems to be cracked up to be, but some of the exhibits are fun. Two or three stick out on my mind: There was one where you could (literally) crawl through a ventilation duct like they do in spy movies. Let me tell you, it is hard to do that without making noise. They also had some computer simulations. In one you were given Arial photos (from satelites, I think) of locations, and you had to determine if there was enemy activity (locate planes, camps, troops marching, and so on). I was pretty good at that one. There was also one where you were given a photo of a terrorist, and then you had to pick him/her out of a crown in an airport security feed (video). That was tough, since they didn't look like the photo. If I had a chance I would probably go back, but I'd block at least half a day to see all the instructional videos, read all about the "history behind the history" that spies were involved in.
Yes, they have a gift shop. Yes, I bought Susie a gift. No, I'm not telling. 
After that we drove to Laura's Sister's home in Alexandria, VA. On the way I stopped by the campus of Virginial Theological Seminary. My goal was just to see it again (it has been four or five years) and to show it to Donna, who was curious. While cruising around, we saw Tim Kroh cross the parking lot (he's a seminarian from our diocese). I honked the horn, and he came over. I think the reaction was someplace between shock, surprise, and fear. I told him it was a spot inspection. It was good to see him, and I wish we'd had the freedom to take him to dinner or something.
From there we went to Queen of Peace R.C. church in Arlington, VA, where we were to stay the night. They are very hospitable, and loaned us the common room in their new ministries building. (They built a new building totally for outreach and education. Awesome.) The only downside is that local building codes say there must be some lights always on, so we had no dark all night. I slept, but not well. Ah, well.
The youth and other adults are at a local YMCA showering (they donated the showers–the executive director is Episcopalian… it pays to call around). I showered last night. I have to meet them there soon, and then we go to the Arlington National Cemetery, back to the Mall in D.C., lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, and home!
Phew.
More when I get back.