Washington DC is the federal capital of the United States, and therefore unlike any other city in the US. It is a showcase city, with its many museums, clean streets and huge monuments.
I stayed in a downtown hostel, visited the Air & Space Museum, the Arlington National Cemetery, the Marine Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, Foggy Bottom and the Navy Museum.
Vancouver is a beautiful city surrounded by sea and mountain. Spent some time on the UBC (University of British Columbia) campus, visiting the Museum of Anthropology, the Japanese Garden, and the Botanical Gardens. Cycled the Stanley Park seawall, toured downtown, and visited the Maritime Museum.
Seattle is a busy port and a high-tech industrial city. Its most famous exports are Starbucks coffee, Microsoft software and Boeing aircraft.
I went north to the Boeing factory, south to the Museum of Flight, downtown on the Underground tour, east to Redmond, Microsoft's HQ, west to Bremerton. Up the Space Needle, and to a Titanic salvage exhibition.
Austin is another high-tech city, with the headquarters of a number of computer-industry related companies. I visited the State Capitol, and 6th St, the only remainder of historic Austin. Saw the green flash in sunset over Lake Travis, a dammed portion of the Colorado river.
We Visited San Antonio, a city south of Austin. Texas history starts with the events around the Alamo, where a group of Texans, including Davy Crockett, were besieged by the Mexicans, and all killed in the battle.
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