Friday July 10, 2015
We planned an early trip to the District and, after
negotiating crappy D.C traffic were able to get a parking spot. It was supposed to be a hot one, and we knew
we were going to be putting on some miles.
Luckily Sheba offered to take us to D.C.
This was a godsend because I don’t know anything about the place as far
as parking or where to go to be centrally located (if there is such a thing).
It was a beautiful morning when we hit the National Mall
area. Plenty of spunk in the old legs as
we walked to the Washington Monument to start things off.
I was able to get a nice shot of the White House from the hill near the monument with my zoom lens.
The WWII fountains and memorial. Yes, the travelling bikers on their surly LHT's were visiting too. Of course I got them in the shot!
Then on the way to the Lincoln Memorial it was a long walk down the reflecting pond and by the time we got there it was hot. It was still early though and we were able to get all of our pictures taken of the War Memorials and Vietnam Wall before proceeding to the Smithsonian Institutes. The Lincoln Memorial was crowded but an incredible sight to see. Avery was rattling off facts about the ceiling and the stained glass tiles so as not to let sunlight erode the sculpture over many years.
By the time we reached the Vietnam Memorial Wall, it was getting really hot--the beautiful black marble sculpture was compounding that fact. This was a sad sight, especially for the kids as they realized how small the names were and how long the wall was. A very sobering sight. Also saddened by this patriot flower vase commemorating those who lost their lives. Made me thankful for the vets that made and continually keep our country free.
The kids in front of the White House. Maybe one will be inside it one day!
The first Smithsonian was the Museum of American History. Would I turn down a pic of the first BREEZER Mountain bike from 1977? Of course NOT! The bike was incredible. What a work of art.
From there we checked out the 'other' transport methods. Thought this old School bus was cool, as well as a full Locomotive Engine. Whoa. or should I say WHOO, WHOO ChooChoo.
From there we were able to hit the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Although we missed WHOLE WINGS of this place, we were able to see the breathtaking Hope Diamond and read up on it's history, including how big it used to be! It's only about 1/3 the size of the original through the years. I'd put it on Babbs' finger or around her neck but the curse tells me not to. I left it alone and put my little hammer back in my pocket. ha. Didn't want her to end up like the mummy below.
I then took a pic of Jen in front of her favorite amphibian species, the FROG. Frog skeletons make her happy, as they cannot jump on her or suck the life out of her. Her frog phobia dates to her childhood years. We like to work on 'desensitizing' her with props and continual pics of frogs. My buddy also likes to leave them hidden all over our house--these little frog plastic thingies--I think we've found about 8 so far. Every now and then we'll uncover another one. Keeps it real.
Not long after we visited the Museum of Natural History, it was time to eat so we could try to garner some energy for the 'final push' to the Art Gallery and Air/Space Museum. Found out they got ya by the cajones in DC as I think we paid close to $50 for 4 slices of pizza, a large water and two cookies. It wasn't even loaded pizza. Cheese and Pepperoni. I scream corruption in the food court. Can't have a monopoly unless it's in D.C. where the only competition is a 5 mile walk and drive in traffic to a local city, where stuff is still expensive. Go D.C. What happened to competitive markets?
After getting our 'fill', we headed to what ended up being our final destination. The Smithsonian Art Gallery. Wow was all I could say. I was blown away by artwork by the Italian, Giotto from the 12th Century, as well as views of Matisse paintings. There was also one by some guy named Leonardo--I can't even remember what I used to study on that guy, and there was a crowd around the painting. It was good but these paintings below moved me more. The detail was astounding in the "asks the sun to wait' painting. I was wowed. I'd have taken more pics in the gallery, but these are things to see in person, and as usual, my battery in my phone was dying. We already had the battery to the camera die, so that pretty much ended our pic session. I was also intrigued by some of the frames in certain periods, which I think may take more time to create to display the pieces. Exquisite. Still didn't get to see everything but was able to figure out the map and galleries and see what we definitely wanted to see. Lots of sculptures in this place too. Lots of nudes, which Garrett didn't really appreciate. He just kind of looked at the ground and sat on chairs in the sculpture galleries. "Mom, I'm really not into art" was his response to this gallery or sculpture.
Everyone I’ve talked to is absolutely correct. A single day in D.C. can suck and there is NO WAY to see everything or take in everything, so we were happy with our accomplishments this day. My Achilles tendon was killing me and it got hot rather quickly. This coupled with Avery’s knees and a grumpy GT (“Mom, I’m really not into Art”) helped us make our decision to skip the Air/Space museum and get out of town. We were able to get back to the house around 4:30, which wasn’t bad considering DC traffic, and the rest of the evening was spent hanging out with our friends, telling stories, and getting some swimming in.
We bought bacon that had pizza in it. I don’t’ think I’ve ever seen so much bacon
on a pizza in my entire life, but it hit the spot after a long day. Apparently Jon doesn't like frogs either as Sheba told stories of the ones that burrowed in their New Mexico yard, and how she had to be the one to throw them away. Also learned about hiking and how they got 'off the trail path' and how they had to survive. Ha. There were some pretty funny stories that were told. Between that and a couple older Seinfeld episodes, we were readying ourselves for bed.
Another early night after deciding we were
going to leave by 5AM for the longest leg of the trip yet. The fifteen hour ride home.
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