So this is what the end of my tether looks like. I had no idea it was so frayed.

It's hard not to be overwhelmed by DC. The architecture, the size, the cleanliness and the abundance of one way streets make one very dependent (almost too dependent one might say) on the GPS.

We were off early to DC and went straight to the Zoo. It was really the perfect afternoon. The weather was cold and wet and at times it was unpleasant, but it really cut down on visitors to the zoo so it felt like we were having a much more intimate experience with the animals. It really felt like they were looking at us looking at them. Very cool.

It was so cold even the wildlife were trying to get inside.

We saw this in the zoo parking lot. We believe in home schooling--just not this much.

My good friend Shawn met us at the zoo and we went out for some great Indian food down the street. It was my first time eating Indian and it helped to have someone I trusted to guide us through the experience. He works for PBS and his wife, Sarah, teaches photography. There was so much to catch up on and talk about that, between the excellent food and great conversation, we barely had time to breathe.

Tuesday night was the first time we had a little trouble getting a hotel room. After a couple of tries, though we secured a place right next to some road construction. Not the best sleep of the trip, but a little better than the car.

Wednesday started off with a couple of meltdowns. It wasn't the meltdowns that were telling, it was how I dealt with them that was the main indicator that we were approaching the end of our journey. I believe what I said was, "If you can't stop your whining and be happy, so help me, we will all pile into that van and drive home right this very instant!" I felt like one of those parents you see at Disney World. You know the ones that bring their kids to the happiest place on earth and then berate their children if they're not having fun. The only difference between me and those parents at that moment was that I didn't have a passel of bystanders looking on to judge me.

Finally, after Julie smoothed everything out (she's really handy to have around for that kind of stuff), we found a metro station with available parking and caught a train to the Smithsonian.

In retrospect, it might have been better to limit ourselves to one or two buildings. We did a lot of walking and rushed through some of the exhibits a little too quickly. In many ways, it felt like a primer trip. We'll do much better next time.

Shawn met up with us as some of the exhibits that were closing down and walked us over to the White House for a better look at the snipers positioned along the roof. It's hard not to feel spoiled at having so many friends spread across the country. The nice thing about Shawn is that he's so wired in that it's easy to stay in touch with him.

Do we look like a happy couple here? It's amazing what you can do with photoshop.

Originally, we were going to go to see an old friend in New York on the way home, but, out of a selfish desire to actually look like a kind and loving parent, we decided that it might be best to make for Canada. We did one last overnight marathon drive and made it to Maine for breakfast.

Thursday was a day of decompressing. We did a little shopping in Portland and then Freeport, and then checked into a hotel in Bangor early enough for the kids to enjoy the pool and for Julie and I to get our heads around the fact that tomorrow we'll be home. I'm not ready to right the trip retrospective yet, but even with the fatigue and stresses we endured, I really think we're all going to look back on this as one of those moments that defined us as a family, and I can't begin to express my thanks to everyone on both sides of the border who helped to make this possible.