Our space was waiting for us at Patapsco Valley State Park, Hollofield Area. It's a rugged, natural, truly beautiful wilderness barely 3 miles from I-695.
Rt 40 and I-70 actually pass through the park. But the park is big enough that you can enjoy it without even knowing the highways are there. This is the first time we've stayed there that we did not see deer. AND it's less than 4 miles to Bill and Bobbie's (Carol's sister) house.
Here is a map of the area
And a Google Earth view
You can click on the images and see them enlarged in a new window.
We enjoyed a gathering of Bill's family and just hanging with them over the weekend. Bill had to go back to work Monday but Bobbie did not so we went to the the National Zoo in D.C.
We drove to Silver Spring and took the Metro from there. Didn't drive because we were meeting my Goddaughter Erin and beau for dinner in Rosslyn and the Metro really is convenient.
Another visitor to the Zoo took a picture of all of us.
Lots of animals, of course
I did say it was HOT, didn't I?
National Zoo is in Rock Creek Park and is built on a large hill. Start at the top, see things on the way down and then have to climb back to the top again. We were all feeling the heat on the way back when Emily insisted that we go into the Invertebrate House.
Whoopee - lobsters, spiders and cockroaches. Oh My!
But it was air-conditioned. So we went in.
One of the first things we saw was a giant octopus being fed by a keeper. While we all thought it was interesting, Bobbie went absolutely crazy over it. Like she was back at Disney or something. "I NEVER thought I'd EVER see a live giant octopus IN MY LIFE." We left her to enjoy and continued our tour.
She caught up to us after awhile, still bubbling. On our way out, we walked past the work area behind the tank where we had seen the octopus. Donna, the keeper was there and Bobbie told her how she had made Bobbie's month - maybe year. I chimed in with, "She can cross that off her lifetime bucket list now." Bobbie gushed, "Oh No. That was so unbelievable that it wasn't even ON my list." They talked for a little while about the octopus - her name is Pandora. She does change colors like all octopi but pink/orange is her "happy" color. Then Donna looked around and said, "There aren't too many people around right now. Would you like to feed her." Bobbie was just speechless. She just stood there gasping for air. I said, "Well YEAH." Bobbie finally said, "Ah, ah, ah, yes I would."
So behind the scenes we go.
Here is Bobbie getting ready to put the stick with the shrimp head into the water
Here is Pandora grasping it in one of her tentacles
Looks like she's going to eat it.
Whoops. No. She's wrapping her tentacle around the stick 6 inches or so above the shrimp. She's not interested in the shrimp at all. Bobbie said, "Oh Donna. Am I doing something wrong? She's not taking the shrimp." Donna said, "No. You're fine. She can see that you are not me. She thinks if she takes the shrimp you'll leave. And she wants to play. She loves attention."
So Bobbie and Pandora played a gentle game of tug-of-war. Bobbie said,
"She feels really strong." Donna said, "Yes. If she wanted to and you
hung on to the stick, she could pull right over the side of the tank." But she really did just want to play.
If Bobbie stopped tugging, Pandora would sit (lay? float?) motionless for a few seconds and then tentatively tug a little to see if Bobbie would tug back. And they'd start all over again.
So our newest bestest BFF from this trip was a giant octopus. All because Bobbie took a minute to thank Donna and tell her how wonderful the experience they had provided was. Of course, Donna LOVES her job and was just happy to share her love with someone else who was so interested. We got talking about her tiny work space and lack of equipment. She told us that the Invertebrates are a tiny part of the Zoo and the Zoo is a relatively small part of the Smithsonian so their equipment budget wasn't large. I said, "They skimp on equipment so they can pay you the big bucks, right?" She just laughed. So I asked, "OK. You come in every morning and work all day doing many different things. Which of those things would you refuse to do if they didn't pay you?" She thought just a second and said, "None. I'd do all of them anyway." I told her, "So you are either a very poorly paid employee - or an incredibly well reimbursed volunteer."
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
― Confucius
― Confucius
To the top of the hill, a short walk to a Metro station and off to see Erin and Kent. We got talking and didn't even take any pictures. But here's a recent one of them.
A short drive got us to the campground and we headed home the next morning.
