We Had A Blast In Our Nations Capitol!

So, our latest adventure was Washington D.C. and we sure had a great time! We saw so much and learned even more. Every turn was something new to see and a piece of history to take in. Here is a little of what we experienced.

Of course you know what this is...the Lincoln Memorial. The first day that we arrived we picked up our friends from their airport and after checking into the hotel we went on a bus tour of the city which included some of the monuments.

The following morning we went to the top of the Washington Memorial and this was one of the views from the tiny windows. That is the Capitol building at the end of the grassy area (mall).

This is inside the Capitol which was our next stop. Sandy, our friend set up the tour through Jon Kyle's office which is the only way that it can be done. Mark was real excited about the tour but I didn't think much of it. Didn't take long to change my mind. Ended up being one of the best things we did. Getting to sit in the very chairs that congressmen sit in was a great experience.

Every state submits two statues for display in the Capitol and they are anyone of their choosing. Arizona had a Catholic Priest I had never heard of whom apparently helped settle the state and the other was a politician that I had never hear of. Here I am with Brigham Young representing Utah of course.

Here we are in front of Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington (the only president who did not live in the White House due to the fact that it had not yet been finished). His tomb was also on this property just a short walk from the house.

Here we are with our friends Sandy and Daniel Shields. Sandy owns two UPS Stores in Queen Creek and we went through a lot together while I ran my store. We met in the beginning and went through training and grew close. We were excited to plan this trip together. We saw the sights for four days and then they went their separate way to Pennsylvania for a family reunion. This picture is dinner at the Mt. Vernon Inn.

This stop was indeed a highlight as well. Arlington was a beautiful, peaceful place and the ceremony of the changing of the guards was quite amazing. Every movement was extremely precise and with meaning.

It's a bit dark but that is an elephant behind us. We are at the Smithsonian of Natural History.

While on our trip Mark and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary! Love you Mark! We took a 3 hour dinner cruise down the Potomac river.

Before taking this picture we went through the White House visitor center and then after we made our way over to the Daughters of the American Revolutions building and toured some of the rooms there.

This is the room that houses the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence among other documents in the National Archives building.

A much anticipated stop, here we are at the Smithsonian for Air and Space. Above is the Wright Brothers plane from their first flight in 1903.

As we generally do, we made our way to the temple and it was beautiful.

We left the temple and headed North a couple hours to Gettysburg. There we spent time in the museum and then purchased a cd that plays in the car taking you on tour of the battlegrounds. We happened to run into some characters who participate in reinactments. This fellow has been on the History channel several times.

We took a tour through the 28th president Woodrow Wilson's home. Then, we went through the Smithsonian's museum of the history of the Post Office. Ha, that was a bit weird for me.

Do you know your art?
We stopped by the Art Museum which had lots of paintings from the greats in history. Here is the original Ginera de' Benci c. 1474/1478 painted by none other then Leonardo Da Vinci.

This was the night before we were leaving and decided to take one last walk through the World War II Memorial (my favorite) and the Washington Monument (Mark's favorite), which just happen to be next to each other.

One last sight before catching the plane, we visited Lincoln's Cottage just three miles north of the White House. This is where most of the Emancipation Proclamation was written.

It was what seemed to be a very long trip and we were glad to get home and slow down a little. We did however love Washington D.C. and are so thankful that we had the opportunity to explore this great city.