Potomac Fever

Every once in a while I have to be reminded to step out of my routine, to get out and take another look at some of the sights and neighborhoods of our nation's capital. The continually evolving scene on 14th Street and a certain famous image of the new president-elect came together to provide one of those reminders. An exhibit at Irvine Contemporary gallery featured a number of anti-war works, and, interestingly, extended from indoors through the back door and into the alley, where several images were plastered along the brick wall. People lined up in the alley with their cell phones to take pictures of it all. The image of Barack Obama also appeared on the side of a building on 14th street, with the work "Progress," and also on a wall above the CVS Pharmacy on nearby P Street. The exibit, and probably the wall art as well, extends to December 6. Besides the gallery, other points of interest along 14th, between U and P streests, are the Artfully Chocolate shop, and...

Wait for it! Somewhere en route from Toronto to Vancouver on Canada's VIA Rail Train # 1, the Trans-Canadian.

What do you do for three days on a train? For example, if you were going from Toronto to Vancouver on Canada's VIA Rail Train # 1? This question and more were answered by your correspondent last June. The answer is: you read a lot, look at vast forests, rivers, lakes, and other long trains passing. The dining car was always a chance to talk to new people, mostly Canadians. The Trans-Canadian was 25 cars long. Can you see the end of it in this video?