The Merry Marsden Travels

Tuesday, November 8/11 Sunny 67 degrees Metr o to L"Enfant Plaza and walked over to Capital Building and did 9 AM tour. Beautiful building - incredible tower. Had very knowledgeable tour guide - older woman from Pennsylvannia who treated our group of 20 like she was a sargeant major - but in a nice way. Then back down the street to the National Botanical Garden Greenhouse and Gardens. Blitzed the Museum of the American Indian and enjoyed the temporary exhibit there entitled "A Song of the Horse Nation". It is a beautiful new building on The Mall shaped like a Southwestern Mesa. Walked over to Union Station for lunch in the Food Court ther e. Toured National Postal Museum after lunch and heard about the Pony Express and Owney the Postal Dog- now stuffed there. Interesting place. Then back to Th e Mall and visited the National Archives - to see the original Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Next stop was the Natural History Museum -...

Yesterday was our hottest day in Texas. We considered putting on our air conditioner in the trailer but we knew a cold front was coming in and by the time we went to bed the temperature had dropped to 70 and was 60 by the morning. Check out the thermometer in our trailer in this picture. Not much difference from inside to outside. I spent most of the day at the pool. Today Don and I went on a Tour of the La Sal Del Rey Wildlife Tract. This is a tour offered by the Valley Nature Centre with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. We had to be at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge at 7:30 AM. We were loaded in a 12 passenger van and drove with a park naturalist for an hour north to one of 3 natural salt lakes. El Sal Del Rey, Spanish for "Salt for the King" was first located by the Spaniards in 1697 and quickly claimed for the king. They harveste d salt here that was hauled out by ox carts to the Gulf, into Mexico as far away as Mexico City, and to all the Missions in Texas. Sal...