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华盛顿周边一日游 2023-06-03 纳雄耐尔港（National Harbor） 🎡

Junxiao Shi

美国首都华盛顿，与北京、上海一样，外围有着高速公路环线。 北京有七环、上海有四环，华盛顿面积比较小，只有一个环，称为 I-495 公路“首都环线”（Capital Beltway）。 该公路的南端有一座横跨波托马克河的大桥，以美国第 28 任总统命名，称为伍德罗·威尔逊桥（Woodrow Wilson Bridge）。 大桥以南、波托马克河以东，是马里兰州佐治王子县的纳雄耐尔港（National Harbor）。

The Awakening

这个地方最著名的是一组“The Awakening”大型雕塑。 雕塑位于一小片公共沙滩上，看起来像似一个刚刚醒来的巨人要从沙滩里面钻出来。 2019 年 12 月，我曾请一位相熟的地谜藏宝玩家送我来此完成地谜藏宝游戏任务，但是因为此地不能停车所以我必须在 10 分钟内离开，没能参观 National Harbor 的其他区域。 2023 年 4 月，妈妈独自参观了 National Harbor，回来给我看了照片，我也馋馋的想自己看一看。

2023 年 6 月 3 日中午，我说走就走，决定去一趟 National Harbor。 那里不通地铁，进出只有一条公路、两条公交线路、一条轮渡线路。 这两条公交线路都以 National Harbor 命名，其中 NH1 线从 Southern Avenue 地铁站始发、每 40 分钟一班，NH2 线从 King St 地铁站始发、每 30 分钟一班。 我根据实时导航，决定到 Southern Avenue 乘坐 NH1，顺便还参观了地铁站旁边的华盛顿东南 5 号界碑。

坐车近 1 小时，下午 14 点多到达 National Harbor。 这里主要的商业街称为“American Way”，街上布满了公共艺术，看得我目不暇接。 我们可以看到华盛顿、林肯、亨利·福特等名人。 这位捧着面包的妇女，远看还真看不出来是个雕塑。 河边的广场地面上，绘制着华盛顿、波托马克河流域的地图。

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华盛顿周边一日游 2023-04-09 查尔斯县，一日五公园

Junxiao Shi

mom finding a geocache

马里兰州地谜藏宝协会每年春季都会举办一次“地谜藏宝走遍马里兰”（Cache Across Maryland，简称 CAM）活动。 活动主办者会在马里兰州 23 个县中选取 10 处风景秀丽的地方，设立新的宝箱。 如果玩家能在两个多月的活动期间找到全部 10 个宝箱，就可以解锁“CAM 秘密聚会”的地点，并在聚会上领取纪念币一枚。 因为阳光男孩没有汽车，所以想在两个月内走遍马里兰是基本不可能的，因此我从来没想过完成 CAM。 但是，我知道 CAM 选取的是马里兰州最漂亮的地方，所以我打算去访问其中的部分地点。

2023 年，CAM 地点之一是 Smallwood 州立公园。 这座公园位于马里兰州南部的查尔斯县（Charles County），距离我的住处 60 英里，需要驾车前往。

4 月 8 日，我从 Nextcar 租来一辆全新的蓝色 Corolla 轿车（里程表只有 5 英里），当日访问了马里兰州北部的一些景点。 4 月 9 日清晨，我与妈妈 07:30 出门，一路往南。 途中，我们停车三次，观摩了哥伦比亚岛游艇码头（Columbia Island Marina），瞻仰了周围丢满垃圾的西南 7 号界碑，并喝了星巴克冷萃咖啡。

Smallwood State Park

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华盛顿周边一日游 2023-07-01 Kenilworth 水生植物园、华盛顿界碑、加拿大日烟花

Junxiao Shi

lotus

华盛顿有两条主要河流，西边的叫波托马克河（Potomac River），东边的叫阿纳卡斯蒂亚河（Anacostia River），两者相交呈“Y”形。 Potomac 之西南的土地，本来属于华盛顿，但是在 1847 年归还给了弗吉尼亚州，变成了亚历山德里亚（Alexandria）市。 Anacostia 之东南的土地，至今还是属于华盛顿，居民以黑人为主，经济比较落后、治安也比较差劲。

东南区的 Anacostia 河畔有一条 3.5 英里长的步道，连通周围的绿地被称为 Anacostia 公园，由国家公园局管辖。 步道的最东端是 Kenilworth 水生植物园，是华盛顿最大的潮汐沼泽，居住着数百种动植物。 那里最著名的是每年夏天盛开的荷花与睡莲。

lotus

根据公园网站的介绍，荷花、睡莲盛开的时节是每年 6 月下旬至 7 月下旬。 网站还说，观荷必须要赶早，因为荷花会在午后的高温中合上自己的花瓣。 7 月 1 日星期六，估摸着荷花已经开了，我赶上清晨 7 点的头班 78 路公共汽车，经过 2 个小时的公交、地铁、走路，上午 10 点到达 Kenilworth 水生植物园。

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华盛顿周边一日游 2023-03-26 马里兰州最深的湖、美国国歌诞生的地方

Junxiao Shi

马里兰州有一百多片湖，但是所有的湖都是人造的、没有天然湖。 有的湖是在河流上建造堤坝形成的水库，名称往往带有“reservior”。 马里兰州最深的湖是 Quarry Lake（采石场湖），顾名思义这里曾经是采石场，采石场关闭后不再抽水，积水就形成了湖。

3 月 26 日，正值妈妈前来探亲，我决定带着妈妈去一趟位于巴尔的摩以北的 Quarry Lake。 清晨 7 点出发，步行 10 分钟到达 201 路长途汽车在盖瑟斯堡的起点站，乘车 70~85 分钟可以到达位于巴尔的摩市以南的 BWI 机场。 8 点多到达机场，我先带妈妈观察了她返回中国将要乘坐的 Delta 航空公司柜台在什么地方，然后就开始向巴尔的摩进发。

从 BWI 机场前往巴尔的摩，一般是乘坐轻轨，但是那天是星期日，从机场发车的轻轨首班车是 10:40、太晚了，所以只好搭乘慢吞吞的 75 路公交车进市区。 75 路是 24 小时运营、每小时一班、按理有固定时间，但是这天车辆严重晚点，我们站在寒风中等候了 40 多分钟才坐上车，妈妈很不满意。 到达市中心后轻轨已经开始运营，我们坐上轻轨到 Mount Washington 站。

根据地谜藏宝游戏软件中的介绍，轻轨站旁边的停车场地面上有一处称为“labyrinth”的艺术品。 Labyrinth 形似迷路园（maze），但是里面只有一条路径，不会让你迷路。 沿着这条弯弯折折的路径步行，可以起到集中思想、减轻压力的效果。 可是，这里的 labyrinth 是迷你型的，不能在里面走，只能看一眼。

Mount Washington light rail labyrinth

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在？吃过树上的知了么？

Junxiao Shi

蝉，俗称知了，是一种昆虫。 每过17年，在美国东部地区，数十亿只【Brood X Cicadas】知了从地下钻出，开始交配繁殖。 只要有树木的地方，就可以听到知了大军日夜歌唱、没完没了，声强达到90分贝以上，令当地居民烦恼不已。

两只知了停在树枝上

知了虽吵，但对人畜无害，且具有丰富的蛋白质。 6月19日，阳光男孩前往附近小树林，捕捉知了，补充营养。 知了不会咬人，飞行速度很慢，只要被看见，就插翅难逃。 可是，这天已经接近【知了季】的尾声，所以阳光男孩在齐腰深的草丛里钻进钻出两个小时，也只捉到24只。

知了躲在草丛里

回来在水池里略作清洗，然后下油锅爆炒30秒，加少量盐调味。 透明的翅膀入口即化，金黄色的身体鲜嫩清爽，别有一番风味。

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Geocaching in 2020

Junxiao Shi

I started geocaching in 2013 when I lived in Tucson, Arizona. I moved to Montgomery County, Maryland in late 2017, and became a Premium Member on Geocaching.com at the beginning of 2018 so that I can find thousands of Premium-only caches around here.

The Normal Months

Since 2019, I hooked up with Georick402, Maryland's top hider, to go geocaching together on weekends. I have no transportation, and he has no brain, so I solve the mystery caches, and he drives me to them; it's a win-win partnership. This relationship, of course, continued into 2020.

2020-01-26 yoursunny and Georick402 at GC2HT7Q

In January and February, we went out together almost every weekend. We completed a few high-difficulty Multi caches such as the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Challenge, found Virginia's top-rated Letterbox hybrid Roo's Runaway, took the Historic White's Ferry, and attended Leap Day event(s) on February 29.

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Quarantine Foods

Junxiao Shi

The year 2020 started normal. Every weekday, I go to office. Three times a week, I pump those muscles at the gym. Every four days, I visit the grocery store to pick up a loaf of bread, along with other ingredients. Every Friday evening, I have a video chat with my family.

🕒 12 Timezones Away — 3 Timezones Away — Oops, It's Here

The first sign of problem occurred on Chinese New Year's Day. Traditionally, my mother's extended family would have an annual gathering during the holidays. However, my mother informed me that their gathering has been canceled, because there's a Coronavirus outbreak in parts of China. I thought, well, this doesn't affect me, because I live in Maryland USA, 12 timezones away from China.

The next week, China entered a lock down due to the spreading virus. My father found himself relying more on grocery delivery services. A difference from what I observed in 2017 is that, the gated community is not allowing delivery persons to enter the neighborhood, and my father has to collect his deliveries at the neighborhood entrance. At the same time, I heard on Twitter that the Coronavirus has reached the Chinese community in Seattle, 3 timezones from me.

In early March, the Coronavirus reached Maryland. A week later, public schools are being closed. This is when things started to get serious.

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PO Box 3943

Junxiao Shi

PO Box, or post-office box, is a uniquely addressable lockable box located on the premises of a post office station. There is a wall of PO Boxes in the University of Arizona's Student Union Memorial Center, where it costs $25 to rent one for a semester. I found them interesting, although I didn't use one because I could receive mail in my apartment, and the Tucson heat did a good job to keep the grounds dry so I didn't have to worry about packages.

When I first came to Maryland, I rented a room in Orchard Place neighborhood. It rains often, and the house does not have a porch. Seeing the post office right outside the neighborhood, I thought it would be the perfect chance to try a PO Box.

Opening My PO Box

Rental fee for a small PO Box at Diamond Farms post office is $54 for six months, or $30 for three month. I would live at Orchard Place for two or three months, so the 3-month option seems more reasonable. However, it is cheaper to choose the 6-month option, because the post office offers a ½ refund if I close the PO Box within three months, so the final price is only $27.

PO Boxes at this location include "premium service": every PO Box comes with a street address, and can accept deliveries from non-postal carriers. This is an important factor for me, because most items I buy online are not shipped via USPS, and having a street address allows me to receive them at the PO Box.

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Orchard Place

Junxiao Shi

I moved into Mr Argoti's house on the afternoon of Oct 29, 2017, and became a resident of Orchard Place neighborhood.

The Tiny Bedroom

My assigned bedroom is incredibly small. There are five pieces of furniture: a BED that later turns out to be a sofa, a four-drawer DRESSER, a big glass DESK, a nice office CHAIR, and a small wooden end TABLE. My room also includes a small FRIDGE and a MICROWave. The following diagram shows their placement.

+--------------------------------------E------------------+-------------------------+
| [HEAT]            +-----------------------------------+ |   =====   |             |
| +-------+         |                                   | |  | TOI |  |   SHOWER    |
| |       |         |                                   | |  | LET |  |             |
| |DRESSER|         |                BED                | |   \---/    \____________|
| |       |         |                                   | |                  |      M
| |       |         |                                   | |S                 | SINK I
E +-------+         +-----------------------------------+ | TC               |      R
|                                                         +D            /-+------E--+
W                                                                  /DOOR            |
I                                 |CHAIR|                      DOOR         CLOSET  |
N                                 \-----/                                           |
| +--------+ +-----+    +----------------------+                      DOOR+---------+
| | FRIDGE | |     |    |         DESK         |                          |
| | MICROW | |TABLE|    |                      |             DOOR         E
| +--------+ +-----+    +----------------------+                 \DOOR-\  |
+------------------------------------------------------S--D             \-+

<--- SOUTH            E=electric outlet  S=light switch

The existing furniture took up more than half of the floor space, so that everything I have must fit into the other half. When I moved from Arizona, I had four roller bags, two small bags, and a large box of cookware. Half of my clothes already filled the dresser and the space on top of it, so the other half had to stay in the luggage. The desk obviously belonged to my computers and other gadgets. I managed to squeeze the cookware box and a smaller roller bag into the tiny CLOSET. One of my roller bags could fit under the bed by opening it to two halves. The last two roller bags had to stay in the open in front of the WINdow. After settling all my belongings, I only have an open "hallway" between the desk and the bed, just enough for doing a few push-ups.

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