Hidden Workout

When visiting the monuments on the national mall with children you might not want me to lead the way.  Why?  Well first of all I don’t mind “winging it”, no plan no problem.  Secondly we are going to walk at a good clip and I am not going to get tired.  Third I have no idea how far we are walking and I expect my kids to make it anyway.  Can yours?  Sure we can stop for photos here and there, that’s a must with me but are there restaurants on our route?  That wasn’t part of my research.  By the way did anyone know the reflecting pool was being renovated?  Bummer!

How far did we go?  I had read that the length of the mall was something like 1.3 miles end to end but I did not realize this was just near the museums.  It did not include the trek from the Washington monument all the way up to Abe’s chair and everything in between.   It was not until we got home from vacation that I decided to map out our Friday adventures and figured out that a group of eight of us, (two eight year olds and two five year olds) We walked at least seven miles before attending a baseball game that night.  No wonder everyone was tired and cranky as we watched the Yankees lose at Camden yards that night.  I felt a little bad about it but I also was pretty proud of my kids.  And now I don’t feel so bad about the Big Mac Meal and the ballpark hot dogs. 

To be fair we were trying to salvage a trip that would be shortened due to Hurricane Irene barreling up the east coast.  Our five day trip would now be three if we were to see what we wanted, attend two baseball games and get on the road before the storm hit.   And I knew my kids could do it.  No worries.  If you are traveling with another family it is another story.  Ooops!  Sorry!

I hope everyone is safe and dry.  I know I am grateful Irene went easy on us here in the Hudson Valley.