I am planning our last trip to Washington D.C. and I am glad rents are going down substantially. The last time we were there was about twenty years ago. Our room in a small franchise hotel was about 80 dollars a night. No meals or a kitchen were included. In fact it was only one regular sized room.

Since I like to plan our trips and costs down to the dollar, do I figure we can rent a very nice two bedroom apartment in a very nice neighborhood for FIFTY dollars? When EPA Secretary Scott Pruitt did it, the EPA’s inspector general said it was the common rate. So instead of staying in the historic Watergate Hotel for over 200 dollars a night for two nights, we could stay a week with another couple splitting the common rate of FIFTY dollars a night for two weeks. If we cooked our own meals as Pruitt and his intern daughter did, we could stay another week for free!

The only problem is time. I don’t know of anyone who would want to stay for more than a few days in D.C. if they didn’t have a really good reason. Maybe we could stay in the White House on almost any weekend since the temporary residents are usually away. Since it is an old building, maybe it would be less than FIFTY dollars!