Friday 16th February, the first press coverage of our trip appeared today.

http://www.k9magazine.com/viewarticle.php?sid=15&aid=1826

Saturday 10th February, we arrived home from the airport midmorning, and after a walk on the heath for Caesar, all three of us, Karen, Caesar and myself settled to our beds to catch up on some all important sleep!

We reminsiced about about how tiring and challenging the trip had been and were very pleased to have gotten home safely. Often in the past we have wondered how we would have coped if one of us had become ill while away; and we were relieved that when the worst actually happened, and Wendy had ended up in hospital during our trip, we managed to cope well and our insurance company were very helpful and supportive.

Friday 9th February, our last day in DC, well, our last day in the United States for that matter. We were up early as we had a plan! Wendy wanted to go geocaching, Caesar needed a decent walk and Karen wanted to put the final touches to the packing and go shopping. So, after breakfast we divided our labour, Karen took Caesar for a nice long walk out on the grassy area by the White House, stopping for one last look, and Wendy went geocaching. This necessitated a speedy run on the trike to the other end of Pennsylvania Ave, almost as far as the Capitol BUilding to The Canadian Embassy, then off to Chinatown for a cache there and on the way back, Fords Theatre; the theatre where Abraham Lincoln was shot. I collected the details needed from outside and headed inside to view the actual scene of the shooting. This was a really interesting experience and one not to be missed.

We met up back at the hotel and then headed to The White House shop where we wanted to buy a few souvenirs ... Wendy bought a towel, which is now gracig the visitors loo at home, looking for all the world as if it has been stolen from THE place!

We then checked all the baggage was secure and had it brought downstairs, one last walk for Caesar and then we got a lift to the airport from our dear friend Patty. Check in was fairly straighforward, and we headed through security and then enjoyed some time in the Virgin Atlantic clubhouse. After making a few calls and enjoying a pleasant meal and of course a glass or two of champagne we met Barry Humphries the External Affairs and Route Development Manager of Virgin Atlantic. It was god to be able to exhange notes about flying with an assistance dog with one of the people responsible for setting the scheme up.

We had a pleasant overnight flight to Heathrow, as usual DEFRA boarded the plane and processed Caesars' paperwork in no time and apart from a hiccup where we were stopped briefly at Customs, we were free to go. As usual, we were delighted to see Trisha who had come to drive us home, that's always the hardest bit, staying awake til we get home!

One noteable change from previously was that there is so much construction work going on at Heathrow, there was no immediate access to grass for Caesar, so he has to wait until we cleared the airport :o(

Thursday 8th February, we were up very early today and headed off to Capitol Hill. Caesar had a veterinary appointment this morning in preparation for his return to England. All was well there, the vet thought he was very fit and well, he was 73.6 lbs (33.45 kilos) today, which is about a pound less than he weighed when we left home almost three weeks ago. I guess all this cold weather means he is using more energy to keep warm.

After the vets we went with my friend Patty Kennedy for a tour of the Capitol building. It was so wonderful to see Patty again, especially as I had been unable to see her when she attended the IAADP conference as my guest last week, due to my being unwell. The of the architecture ofthe Capitol is every bit as splendid as I remember it from last year. Karen really enjoyed her first visit to the heart of this nation, we saw several of the more well known senators including Hilary Clinton. We enjoyed watching a debate about climate issues in the House of Representatives and also looked in on the The Senate. We had a delighful lunch in The Senators Dining Room and rounded our visit off with a visit to the Senate gift shop ... well it would have been rude not to, wouldn't it?

Patty dropped us at our hotel late afternoon and we had a quick change and headed out for one last sightseeing tour, mainly to take photographs of some of the monuments and memorials which we had seen but not snapped before.

As it got dark the temperature really dropped and we hurried back to the hotel about 6.30 feeling very cold.

This evening we have been packing and getting ourselves organised. We want to try one last geocaching outing tomorrow before we head out of town.

Here's a few of todays photos.

















The inside of the Rotunda of the Capitol Building.





















Caesar with the statue of an honest man, Abraham Lincoln again in the Rotunda.




















Looking North towards the Washington Monument from inside the Lincoln Memorial

Wednesday 7th February, we awoke to more snow. Everywhere outside was veiled in the white stuff, so after breakfast we headed out to the park besode the White House to free run Caesar. He LOVED it! He was running around kicking up the snow, play bowing, vocalising, rolling and trying to catch snowballs in his mouth, and playing catch me if you can! It was delightful to watch him having so much fun!

We then took a taxi to the Air & Space Museum and met briefly with a fellow geocacher to pass on some travel bugs. Then, inside the museum we enjoyed the Treasures of American History exhibition, which included the shoes Judy Garland wore for the filming of The Wizard of Oz. We also enjoyed looking at some ofthe space exhibits, including the Apollo 11 module, which I remember watching land on the moon in 1969.

After lunch and shopping at the museum, we headed up the National Mall towards the Washington Monument. This gave Caesar another opportunity for snow frolicking.

Once we reached the monument, we collected a free ticket and made our way to the entrance. We were searched and then waited a while for a lift to ascend the obelisk. Whilst in the lift we were told that no cement was used in the construction of the monument, it merely comprises of interconnecting blocks, like Lego! Too late to worry by that stage! We made our way out of the lift and enjoyed the views to the S, towards the tidal basin and Jefferson Memorial, W, toward the WW2 Memorial and Lincoln Memorial, E towards the Elipse, White House and beyond and finally, N along the Mall towards the Capitol Building.

We spent the evening at the hotel, admiring the dozens of photos we took today, having dinner and getting ourselves sorted out for a busy day tomorrow.

Tuesday 6th February, our first task of the day was to locate a veterinary surgeon who can complete Caesars' passport on Thursday prior to returning to the U.K this weekend. Easier said than done, we had to make a few phone calls before we located a wheelchair accessible veterinary clinic :o( So, we have an appointment for 10am Thursday at a vets on Capitol Hill.

After a walk for Caesar, we headed off in a taxi for Arlington Military Cemertery. As we crossed into Virginia we could see the Potomac River was partly frozen, a beautiful sight.

At the cemetery we bought tour tickets and they had a great wheelchair accessible bus which I could even board (via a lift) with my trike, we had our own tour guide who ensured we got to see some of the more popular sights the cemtery has to offer. As it was a bitterly cold day, there wasnt much opportunity to wander and wonder ... our minds were constantly drawn to the cold.

First stop was the Kennedy graves, then on to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for the Changing of the Guard ceremony, that was very poingnant. At this stop, we also saw the memorial for the Challenger and Columbia space shuttles, the memorial for the USS Maine and Audi Murphys' grave. Next we visited Arlington House, the home of General E. Lee, the original tomb of the unknowns and the cairn to the victims of the Lockerbie disaster (Pan Am flight 77). We saw numerous other noteable graves and memorials along the way, but by far the most impressive were the rows and rows, acres of uniform headstones and cenotaphs.

The last memorial we saw was that of the United States Marine Corps (Iwo Jima), truly inspirational.



















We headed back to our hotel by taxi and had an evening thawing and relaxing at the hotel. When we took Caesar out last thing it was snowing ... quite heavily, we returned to the hotel looking like snowmen. Caesar loved it though, and was running around like a puppy in the snow on the grass just near the White House.




















Memorial to the Space Shuttle, Challenger

Monday 5th February, after breakfast, Karen felt like she needed a days rest, so Wendy & Caesar headed to the museums along the National Mall, just around the corner from the hotel.

Our first stop was a geocache just off the Mall which blended so perfectly into the street scene in plain view, it left me with a big grin on my face when I found it, which was almost immediately!

Next stop, was the National Museum of the American Indian, a fantastic piece of architecture and truly fascinating museum. After almost a couple of hours there we headed out into the cold again and did another geocache at the back of the Capitol building. Then back to the National Mall to start another one, but it was soooooo ccccold! Next stop was the Air & Space Museum, so many things to see here, we only really got a flavour of what they have. Great shops and good food hall too ;o)

We the headed back to the hotel to meet up again with Karen and we had dinner in the hotel restaurant in the evening ... a truly forgettable experience ... sadly we cannot recommend the restaurant!

A couple of todays pictures ...





















Caesar at the National Museum of the American Indian
















Caesar with the Breitling Orbiter capsule at the Air & Space museum

Sunday 4th February, after a good nights sleep and a hearty breakfast we set off out today with several layers of clothing on, including our thermals and fleeces. We'd decided to walk round the Tidal Basin and take in the Roosevelt and Jefferson Memorials. It was a very scenic circular walk, which constantly afforded us brilliant views and reflections. Both the memorials were geocaches and we also gathered a few benchmarks along the way. Caesar was very glad of the opportunity to run freely off the lead in a few places too.

Phwaaaar, the water looked freezing, and at times we came across frozen fountains and pools. We visited every gift shop in the memorials, mainly as they had heaters ;o)

The really striking thing about Washington DC is the accessability of all the public buildings, it is a pleasure to sightsee here ... although I did spot one naughty today ... a sign at The Washington Monument said "No Pets (except Guide Dogs)". I seem to remember noticing this last year too, about time the National Parks Service got up to speed!

Here's a selection of photos from today.




















Karen with The Washington Monument in the background
















Caesar at the Roosevelt Memorial















Wheelchairs have moved on some since Roosevelts' time!















It was cccccccccold today!




















Karen has an eye for a good picture!




















At the top of the Jefferson Memorial

Saturday 3rd February, after a hectic week of meetings, conferences and a rather vicious tummy bug, we were pleased to be leaving Baltimore. The much promised freezing weather didn't really materialise, maybe that would have helped kill off a few of the germs :o(

We'll play catch up over the next few days to explain the events of this past week, whilst trying hard to keep everyone up to speed with what we're doing now.

Karen, Caesar and I all travelled to our hotel in Washington DC by a charter shuttle. It was a pleasant enough 55 minute drive, but the irony of the drivers radio blaring "Proud to be an American" while we passed homeless people huddled out in the cold in the suburbs wasn't wasted on us.

After settling in at our new hotel, we took a walk round to the front of The White House, past the National Christmas Tree, the Zero Mile marker, along through the World War 2 Memorial, along the Constitutional Gardens to the Korean War Memorial, The Lincoln Memorial and The Vietnam War Memorial and retraced our steps back towards the hotel. It was a pleasant 3 mile walk until perhaps the last half an hour when we started to feel the cold. We made our final stop at Starbucks for hot chocolate before we returned to the hotel. We treated ourselves to room service for our dinner in the evening and last thing took a pleasant moonlit walk back to see The White House by night while giving Caesar one last toilet opportunity before bed.