Glen Echo, MD (USA)

[Mollie and I got out of the house to enjoy a warmer than normal day (following a COLD snap) - we left the house around noon and drove (via I-495) to Maryland, where we got off on the Clara Barton Parkway and found the the namesake's home in Glen Echo - we had been here before (see APR 2006) but the kids hadn't completed a Junior Ranger booklet there - plus, Mollie had only be a few years old last time, so she wanted to see that place for herself - we had a personalized tour of the home and learned a lot about the American Red Cross and its founder - Mollie got another badge - since it was only around 1430 by this time, we decided to visit Great Falls National Park (which we have tried, unsuccessfully, to enter before...) - this time, the crowds were much smaller (though there were still plenty of other folks taking walks on the sunny, brisk afternoon) - Mollie had just enough time (roughly one hour) to get all the items in the Junior Ranger badge book completed - the tasks included taking a hike along the river and a muddy trail that followed the old Potowmack Canal - we saw kayakers in the roaring rapids (lots of snow melt) and even rock climbers - we could see plenty of people on the other side of the river, too, where we had viewed the same falls in 2006 - Mollie proudly displayed another great pin before the Visitor's Center closed at 1600 (and she saw a wall of pins from the hundreds of other parks she has yet to visit, which she said inspired her to take more trips) - on the way back to our house, we stopped at Mollie's favorite store (Petsmart) to pick up fish for the tank she got for Christmas - we picked out one Silver Molly and three Neon Tetras and took them home to our (and their) home]