I've still not reserved a hotel room for 6 of the 7 days we'll be in the Washington, DC area. I'm waiting to see what'll turn up on hotwire.com. I don't know why this is bothering me. We're fairly used to traveling without bookings. In fact we generally spend a month or longer per year on vacations without any. Hardly any of our annual trips require planned hotel reservations. Perhaps, this is why I find travelling in Europe or Asia more spontaneous. To me, that equals fun. We're always assured of finding accommodation near a train station in most countries. I like knowing there are people in every city willing to rent me a bed. Simply showing up and asking for a room seems easy and normal.
So, I'm not sure why I think hotel rooms have to be made months ahead when travelling in the States. It does seem that Washington, DC doesn't have many inexpensive stays. So, I'll wait for a while more but will probably pounce on my mouse at least a week before we arrive in the District of Columbia on the evening of March 21st.