View of the canal along the way to the trail. April 30, 2006 5:01pm

In the above pic, notice how your eyes follow the treeline from the upper left down to the right side. Am I right? Thought so. Things to keep in mind when "framing a shot."

Bridge leading to da trail to Great Falls Overlook. April 30, 2006 5:03pm

Looking over the side of the bridge. April 30, 2006 5:04pm

At first glance of the whitewater, I could immediately feel the tension and stress rushing out of my body...

This is da other side. April 30, 2006 5:04pm

Reward for "hiking" the trail: inspiring view of the Falls. April 30, 2006 5:13pm

Wanna guess how much water passes through? Several thousand gallons a minute? A million? Here's a video (Windows Media 0.5 MB) to give you a clue. April 30, 2006 5:13pm

Just like this bird, don't you ever feel like finding some calm amidst the rapids of your life? Interestingly the constant violent whooshing sound of the rapids has a calming effect. I could doze off here.

Lucky bird. :-) April 30, 2006 5:16pm

Here's what the sign says: "Potomac River Fall Line...Where you are standing, the Potomac River was wide, flat, and slow-moving about two million years ago. Then came the Ice Age. Sea level fell as much as 300 feet, forcing the Potomac to carve a deeper channel to reach the ocean. Because of the difficulty in cutting through bedrock, the Potomac created waterfalls and rapids. The most dramatic drop occurs here at Great Falls. The Potomac river drops some 60 feet at Great Falls. In a series of rapids, it falls an additional 85 feet to tidewater at Washington DC ten miles downstream."

Info sign. April 30, 2006 5:35pm

Despite all the signs advising us to stay on the trail, we climbed down the rocks to get a closer look at the water. Hehe.

April 30, 2006 5:45pm

Against my better judgment, I actually climbed further down for the thrill of being just inches away from the water. Kind of humbling to know that the water has been flowing here for several million years patiently carving its way into the rock.

A close-up to illustrate the power of the rapids. April 30, 2006 5:45pm

April 30, 2006 5:45pm

Aww, isn't that purty! April 30, 2006 5:46pm

We got away from the pesky tourists, ugh, and just chilled here awhile. A picnic would've been nice but I'd definitely lay off the alcohol. You have to very careful when climbing these rocks!

April 30, 2006 5:48pm

Checkout my "hiking shoes." Such a city boy am I! :-) April 30, 2006 5:55pm

Gettin' back to civilization...

Calm water of the man-made canal. April 30, 2006 6:04pm

Construction of the canal began in 1785 at the suggestion of George Washington. It took 17 years to complete.

One of many locks in the canal. April 30, 2006 6:11pm

This is a landscape artists' paradise. American artist Frederick Edwin Church would've loved this view. Some of his works are on display at the National Gallery of Art. April 30, 2006 6:11pm

Walk back to the parking lot. April 30, 2006 6:12pm

One last panoramic view. April 30, 2006 6:12pm

One last "purty" shot. April 30, 2006 6:16pm

I got home a short while later and was ready to call it a night, when another friend called inviting me out for a movie. Why is it that on a day that I seriously needed some rest, I get calls to go out? Oh well, it's nice to feel wanted. :-) So I topped off my evening with dinner at Cheesecake Factory and some highbrow cultural entertainment. We were the only ones in the theater and by the end of the movie I understood why. :-)

April 30, 2006 9:41pm

Just heard from da owner of Cafe Citron that (for this week only) the Monday night show has been cancelled. There's an immigration-related protest going on around the country and it turns out most of the employees are taking the night off to participate so sorry, no Cafe Citron tonight. But please come back next week!

Since I'm off tonight, I'm going try to seriously catch up on sleep---yeah right, I always say that and I end up staying out late anyway. We'll see. Ciao for now!

Update: it's 8:26pm on Monday and can't stand staying in the house anymore, so I'm heading towards Dupont Circle to check out what's going on.