Today we departed on a month-long adventure to Quebec, with a goal of seeing whales in the Gulf of St Lawrence.

Wandering, in short steps, brought us to Washington DC for a picnic lunch with Beth’s cousin Barb. We brought the blanket and Barb brought wonderful food and drinks. What a delightful treat!

Where does one park a camping van in DC?  Giving this problem to a superior researcher, Barb recommended meeting at the National Cathedral. It was a brilliant idea! We had no trouble parking, for free no less, on a Sunday afternoon in our nation’s capital.

Having never toured the cathedral before, we enjoyed seeing the statues and architecture. The modern stained-glass art was different from most traditional cathedral windows.

This alter area had just cleared from a wedding photo shoot.

Opened in 1912, the scaffolding doesn’t frame new construction. An earthquake in 2011 damaged the building sending of the angels and gargoyles tumbling down. The front towers have been stabilized, but these towers are in the process of being restored.

This finial fell from the southwest pinnacle of the central tower during the quake. It now rests in the bishop’s garden.

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The gardens are a popular spot for picnics. Flowers were attractive, but I enjoyed the medicinal herb garden where labels explain what ailments the different plants are used to treat.

Thank you Barb for a fun, delicious, quick visit!

Originally planning to overnight in DC at Green Belt Park, we decided to head a little further north in order to miss some of Monday’s morning traffic. Nightfall had us settled into a site at Patapsco Valley State Park in Ellicot City, Maryland.