Yep, I went and did it again! Got separated from Caitlin and crew following our debauchery and jumbo slice feast in Adams Morgan this past Saturday, walked the wrong way for a bit only to arrive at the metro after it closed. The only cabbie that offered to pick me up wanted $35 to go not too far, which I declined. A cell phone would have been a great thing to have, but I stuck mine is Caitlin’s purse at the beginning of the night. NEVER AGAIN.<br/><br/>After around 3 hours of walking, I found myself at Dupont Circle, so I wasn’t making very good time with my directions (Dupont is only a mile or so from Adams Morgan). That sucks, but I saw some really cool stuff that you don’t normally see in DC (embassies and such). I hailed a homeless guy for direction to Georgetown and wouldn’t ya know that he’d take me there?<br/><br/>Rodney and I had pretty good conversation; he told me how he grew up in DC and was 46, he told me how he became homeless, where he now lives, and the steps he’s trying to take to get everything back together. It was unfortunate how he got in the situation… It kind of scares me because I can see it happening to so many others… He was not 100% mentally, had a poor job, and then his mother grew sick and died… He spent all of his money trying to save her… How does one get out of such a rut? There’s nobody to help him (he couldn’t just walk in to a place of business and apply), he doesn’t have any special skills… It just kind of sucks.<br/><br/>Eventually we arrived at the beginning of the strip on Georgetown. I threw him so money for his troubles, he thanked me profusely and then said some things about God and how we were meant to meet and how he’s certain we’ll cross paths once again. Not being a religious person, I didn’t know how to respond to that so I just smiled.<br/><br/>And then I walked… And walked… And walked…<br/><br/>Canal Road at 5am is not a very safe place so I eventually made myself down to the canal towpath. I regularly run on the path so I had a good idea of how long I still had to go. By the time I finally reached the Chain Bridge, I concluded that running is A LOT faster than walking. At this point, it was starting to get light outside. I trudged along the bridge, marveling at the fast waters beneath me. Up the giant hill at the end of the bridge, on to my street, and finally home. Time? 6:40am. The bedroom light was still on, but Ms. Caitlin was dead asleep. She briefly awoke not to tell me how glad she was that I was home, but instead tell me how much she hated me :tongue:<br/><br/>By my estimations, I had lost everybody at 1:45am. 5 hours of walking nonstop at an approximate pace of 4mph? Yeah, my legs hurt like hell right now.<br/><br/>In hindsight, I should have accepted the $35 cab ride or I should have tried harder to find pay phone (they really don’t seem to exist any more). Oh well, I got home, saw some cool sights, made a friend, and burnt a ton of calories.