Tuesday, June 5, 2012, we drove from Palmyra, to Niagra Falls, and then on down to Virginia, passing through some Amish country. Everyone was in good spirits.
It was about 10:30 p.m. when we finally pulled in to Kleet and Holly Barclay’s house in Woodbridge, Virginia. Kleet grew up in Aberdeen, Idaho with Linette and was chaplain in the Air Force. They let us stay in their boys' rooms, and were very easy-going and gracious about it.
It was great visiting with them. Holly and the two oldest boys were going to New York the next day for the rest of the week, so that night was our only chance to talk to Holly. She was very kind and made sure we were well taken care of.
Wednesday: Bureau of Engraving, Smithsonian. Wednesday morning, June 6, 2012, we drove to Washington, D.C. and our first stop was the Bureau of Engraving, where they print paper money. I dropped Linette off to get us tickets, and then parked at the free lot at the Jefferson Memorial (narrowly escaping an unwanted bonus trip back over the bridge). Then we hiked over to meet Linette. There is a lot to see in Washington,
D.C., and everything is pretty spread out, so you end up walking miles every
day!
At the Bureau of Engraving, we met the Secretary of the Treasury, whose signature is on all of the current money. So she signed a dollar bill for Sienna.
Wilson is on the $100,000 bill.
At the Smithsonian Museum of American History, we saw a bunch of cool stuff. Here is one of the "sun stones" from the original Nauvoo temple.
And this Apple II computer held some nostalgia for me.
Here Jared and Erika are waiting for the train with Mrs. & Mr. Statue.
Sienna enjoys an amazing doll house.
Here Sienna pretends to step on the painted-on step.
I thought this picture of Lady Liberty weeping at Lincoln's coffin was poignent.
We went from the American History museum to the Natural History Museum.
At the Natural History Museum, I loved these four pictures from a photo contest:
I was also fascinated by how microscopic organisms worked.
On the way back, Jared hung out with George Mason:
It was a great first day of exploration of our nation's capitol. (Here you see the Jefferson Memorial).
Thursday, June 7, 2012, we did a tour of the capitol building. We had to throw away all of the snacks we had packed for the day, because no food was allowed inside. :(
An intern from Utah showed us around the building and it was an interesting tour.
In the rotunda, you can't help but look up at the painting way up there.
Abe seems to be saying, "Pardon me, but do you have my hat?"
The Library of Congress is an entire building that was created as an integrated work of art. Here the family poses in front of a ceiling fresco that says "Family".
Everywhere you look is another work of art, with some uplifting motto, lesson in stable government, field of study, or some other symbol of greatness.
We also waltzed through the Air & Space museum, but my family wasn't as in to that as some are.
At Arlington National Cemetery, we watched the changing of the guard.
We got a personal tour of the grounds with an LDS army chaplain who was assigned to Arlington, and who was also staying the the Barclays temporarily. He had performed a funeral on the grounds just that day for some soldiers who died in a helicopter crash.
Afterwards we went to dinner and then a movie, arriving home after 10:30 p.m. again. "Man," our host said. "You party hard!"
Friday, June 8, 2012, we went to Mt. Vernon, which is where George Washington lived. Here is Jared wearing a 1960's shirt, 1860's hat, and hanging with a 1760's guy.
The gals visited with this nice lady.
And this man claimed to have "a certain frippary with fashion."
Martha Washington was just delightful.
And after touring the home, there's nothing quite like sitting on the back porch, teasing your daughter, and enjoying the view across the river.
Everyone seemed to take a turn with the hat.
I thought the marker remembering the slaves was important to see.
What did the fox say?
As you walk by this likeness of George Washington, he keeps looking at you!
(It is carved into the wall, which provides the illusion).
We weren't sure where the "Mount" of Mt. Vernon was, so these guys walked the 20 feet to the top of this path and declared it the summit.
And that night we enjoyed some awesome Mexican food at Rosa Mexicana (which Adam and the little kids had pizza).
Saturday, June 9, 2012, Kleet Barclay lent us a van and a whole trailer full of bikes for us to use. We parked at the Pentagon and then went on an epic tour of 11 different monuments scattered around the D.C. area. It was an absolutely beautiful day, and we really enjoyed it (until the end when everyone had had enough.
Mounting up...
Lindon B. Johnson Memorial, near the Pentagon in a grove of trees.
Navy/Merchant Marine Memorial.
(Holding up "2" fingers, to show how many monuments we've been to. This will be a constant theme...)
We stopped to climb a tree along the bike path that went along the Potomac River.
Memorial 3: Theodore Roosevelt Memorial (on Teddy Roosevelt Island)
We stopped there to eat our lunch in the shade.
We wondered if this was the president doing "the thing?" (buzzin the Lincoln Memorial, like in "White House Down.")
4: Lincoln Memorial
We were only at the 4th memorial, but already we were wearing down. It was too bad we took a wrong turn and had to ride through Georgetown.
When we looked across the empty reflection pond towards the Washington Memorial, we saw a gazillion people there. And there were another gazillion where we were. It turned out to be the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouts, and there were 250,000 girl scouts on the mall!!
But, off we went...
We got off our bikes and walked part of the way because it was so crowded.
Then we decided to take refuge in the Museum of Natural History, where it was cool and relatively quiet.
Erika loves a good platypus.
5. Washington Monument (after things calmed down outside a bit).
The ice cream treats were heavenly on this warm day.
6. World War II Memorial
7. Viet-nam War Memorial
8. Korean War Memorial
9. World War I Memorial
10. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
11. Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial
For this one we got our own personal guide. We were all pretty done, so we asked for the 10 minute guided tour.
And 11 ought to do it!!
Then we had to find our way back. When I went the wrong way, everyone got cranky. When I stopped to look at the map, they said "Why are we stopping!?" We might have overdone it a bit that day. We saw really cool fireflies along the river on our way back.
Finally we reached the van, unloaded the bikes, gave our rears a rest, and got back to Kleet's after dark yet again.
It had been an awesome adventure in the nation's capitol. Now when we see scenes on TV from Washington, D.C., we all point and say "I was there!"
Sunday, June 10, 2012, we attended church with Kleet in Virginia, and then had a big roast beef dinner that Linette put together. Afterwards I decided to stand up, hit my back on their spoon collection, and send them crashing down in a slow-motion never-ending cascade of clanging silverware. It was quite well done, I thought.
In the next episode, we finish out the trip with a visit to the Big Apple!
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