I got up early for a bit of a wander and went shopping to buy some tools. Boring, I know, but they're cheap here and we still have capacity left. A bit of eBay horse trading the tools will help to make a teeny dent in the bill! Last minute pack, of into the freezing cold for Wendys (Pancakes for most) for breakfast then back to the apartment to extend my arm length getting the suitcases down the stairs. 8 of them are at their 23kg limit. Plus all the hand luggag...

Up at a reasonable time for a final packup and cleanup. The basement apartment we stayed in was magic - we just needed to put it back in order (Beds everywhere). We lugged all the suitcases to the street (Chilly but not icy) and chatted to our host until the Taxi turned up. We had warned them about the volume of luggage - and the cavernouse Suburban car took it with ease. Those things are huge - three rows of seats and still plenty of space for luggage. Our last...

After all this time I felt it was important that the girls had some time off as we near the end of the trip - and the 30 seconds it took to take the picture of our (tired) feet was just about all they needed, I reckoned. We've taken a few of these 'gathered feet' shots - and this one was late in the day as we stood on the spot where Martin Luther King's immortal 'I have a dream' speech was made. The girls dream at that stage was to sit down - cheated again! Bac...

Finally! One by one the credit cards maxxed out, until there was only one man standing! Oh, and the 'This shopping is too heavy' lines started coming.... Why didn't this happen 6 weeks ago????? Backtrack - We started the day as normal, but with a few less clothes - forecast for 14 C max, but with rain. Better than the 3 C Max we had yesterday. The rain joined us for our wander to the subway, but it was light, was a novelty (It's the second rainy day we've had) a...

Booked tour of the Capital Building to start the day. No Presidents sighting today, but blue skies and icy cold. Public holiday here today - Dr Martin Luther King Day. The tour was good and took us through some impressive areas. some of the models and interactive things were good. after the tour we wandered along the Mall to our first museum of the day - the Newseum. All based around News and events that shaped the world - 6 floors of exhibits and interactive th...