All images are originals taken by the author

Hi all. So happy to be back with you for another Wednesday Walk. This is the third of my four posts about my trip to Washington D.C. back in August of 2022.

• Post 1: The Museum of the Bible
• Post 2: The National Mall Part I
• Post 3: On a Panda Mission <- You are here
• Post 4: The National Mall Part II <- Come back next week

The Panda Connection

I first visited Washington D.C. when I was a teenager (I was in 7th grade). My mom, dad, sister, then brother-in-law, and I took a trip along the eastern sea board that summer - spending several days around Washington D.C. One of the highlights of that trip for me was getting to see the pandas at the National Zoo.

Fast forward more than a decade and my niece - who we've called Amanda Panda throughout her life - was so excited for her trip to finally see the pandas at the National Zoo that called me soon after to recount her experience. She and I have always had a special bond - and the pandas have always been a part of that. I can't exactly put my finger on why - it's just always been that way.

And, there is a story about my mom that makes this place a little bit more poignant, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start our journey.

Getting to the Zoo

The National Zoo is a good bit out of central hub of D.C. so I decided to enjoy some time on the D.C. metro. I love good public transportation and I think D.C.'s is one of the easiest to navigate in the U.S. - although I did make a couple of wrong turns this day on the metro.

I got my route planned out and grabbed my metro pass and hopped on my train. Very soon I was at the park station - one of two stations that the zoo sits between. I like this one because it's at the bottom of the hill when you come out of the zoo at the end of your visit.

As you exit the metro, you are faced with an enormous escalator - which I'll share more about at the end.

All images are originals taken by the author

You emerge and very soon you find signs pointing you towards the zoo - and some very artistic pandas.

All images are originals taken by the author

I made my trek up to the main entrance at the zoo.

All images are originals taken by the author

It was a little later than I'd planned to arrive - and my entire mission was to see the pandas. If they weren't out and playing, this entire adventure was for naught. I made my way through the entry gate and tried to see a few other animals as I followed the signs to the pandas.

As I made my way through the zoo, I saw almost no other animals out and about - I had a very, very bad feeling about my adventure.

However, as I made my way around the corner of the panda viewing area, I saw a crowd starting to form - two pandas walked out JUST AS I WALKED UP!

All images are originals taken by the author

This one sat down for an immediate fresh snack on what I assume are fresh bamboo chutes.

All images are originals taken by the author

Her companion joined her. The two of them stayed in this yard for quite a while - probably about 10 minutes. If you watch the video at the end of the post, you'll see our friend who is standing up in this shot playing with some sort of enrichment item the zoo staff had placed in the yard for him. It kind of looks like he was doing sit ups in the video. (And, to be clear, I'm making guesses as to which panda is which after consulting https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/news/three-bearthdays-panda-family-fete. You are absolutely welcome to disagree with me - I'd love a friendly "which panda is which" debate in the comments!)

Gotta keep that cuddly physique in fine shape!

All images are originals taken by the author

I walked along the glassed in area of their habitat and saw a third panda on the other side of the enclosure. By size I'd say this is the young male Xiao Qi Ji. He was quickly joined by who I think is his mom Mei Xiang.

All images are originals taken by the author

They interacted for a moment but then she decided to start eating some more bamboo.

I had tried to video call my niece Amanda right as I walked to the habitat and realized I'd get to see the pandas. She's busy running a large suburban school district's nutrition programs so I had no idea if her schedule would allow her to call but - but she did! So we video chatted for a moment - both of us with tears in our eyes - as I got to share the pandas with her this time.

Here is a video I put together combining my photos and the best of the video I shot from the Panda habitat that day.

All images and video in this is taken by the post author. The music is licensed from Epidemic Sound.

The Escalator

What goes up...

All images are originals taken by the author

Must come down...

As I noted, this escalator is MASSIVE! When I visited here for the first time in 7th grade, my mom (who we lost about a year and a half ago now and who just this week celebrated her second heavenly birthday) was terribly scared of escalators. I learned from my sister that mom had undergone hypnosis earlier in life to try to help with her weight. After the hypnosis for some reason she then had a fear of escalators. She avoided using them whenever she possibly could - in particular down escalators.

On the day we visited when I was a kid, the elevators were out at this station and she had no choice but to take the escalators both up and down! I remember her holding onto my dad on the way up but on the way down we had to essentially have her sit down on a step and we made a circle around her so she didn't have to see where she was going or how she was getting there.

It's a story I told in her eulogy so I knew that seeing the escalators and riding on them would bring back that memory - and thankfully it did in a good way. I remember her with so much love and so much joy.

I hope you enjoyed this week's walk and I'll be back next week to finish up my visit to Washington D.C. with a few more photos from the National Mall.

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