Travelogue -- Dr Bob's US50 Motorcycle Ride
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5 May 2012, 3:00 PM ET, Falls Church, VA

OK, I'm back with you. Forgot to give you my miles yesterday. It was 281 miles. Less than the days before, but all on non-Interstate roads, and with stops for photos. I figure 300 miles is a lot on a day like yesterday. Today was much less, just running around town. Only 43 miles. I have now accumulated 1,316 miles since leaving home.

So, like I said, I didn't do much riding today, I was busy doing touristy things. But first I had to take the grandkids on a bike ride. Not Sam, though, he has his own ride. He has really developed that mean biker look. I'm really proud of him.

I instructed Sophie and Nick on how to get on the bike and how to hold on while we were riding. As we were going around the block, I realized that this was the first time I had a passenger on this bike. Here's Sophie.

And Nick.

After the rides, I headed to downtown Washington DC. First stop, still in Virginia, was the entrance to Arlington Cemetery.

Then on to get a picturer of the old DC City Hall. It is used as a DC court house now. Darryl had convinced me that I should take this picture, because it is the closest thing to a state capitol that the District of Columbia has. So, here's Old City Hall. The statue out front is Lincoln.

And new City Hall. I prefer the old one.

In my wandering around, I passed the National Museum of the American Indian. Hanna and I are charter members of the museum. It is new, built since we left the DC area.

And our nation's Capitol. When I was here on the bike two years ago, I took a picture of the front side, I thought I would do the back side this time. I always take a tripod with me so I can take pictures like this one.

Did you ever wonder what the statue is atop the Capitol? Did you know it faces away from the Mall?

"The bronze Statue of Freedom by Thomas Crawford is the crowning feature of the dome of the United States Capitol. The statue is a classical female figure of Freedom wearing flowing draperies. Her right hand rests upon the hilt of a sheathed sword; her left holds a laurel wreath of victory and the shield of the United States with thirteen stripes. Her helmet is encircled by stars and features a crest composed of an eagle's head, feathers, and talons, a reference to the costume of Native Americans. A brooch inscribed "U.S." secures her fringed robes. She stands on a cast-iron globe encircled with the words E Pluribus Unum, the national motto at the time of her placement atop the dome." Taken from the web site of the Architect of the Capitol.

The statue was removed from the top with a helicopter in 1993, while Hanna and I lived here, restored, and replaced.

Just next door is the Supreme Court.

As long as I was in DC, I thought I would ride past my old offices. While I was in Washington DC, I was the Executive Director of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC). The ATSC offices were in the building of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) for a while. Here's the NAB Building.

Then sometime later, we moved the offices to the building of Richard Wiley, Chairman of the FCC in the 1970s and chairman of the FCC's Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service in the late 1980s and first half of the 1990s. Dick's office is in the corner, high up with a great view.

To wrap up today, I want to show you the three most important homes in the DC area.

The homes are not necessarily shown in the most important order, the first being the home of the US President, the second being my former home, and the third being my son's home.

I was invited into my old home. Looks much the same. The landscaping is nice, and updated significantly by the current owner. I am staying at my son's home. As to the third home, I was not invited into it. In fact, I was told get back on my motorcycle and move on by a bicycle cop.