Mar 2009

Again… a drive home in snow. Good news though, we made it back home in time to snag a meal with Michi. Michi is an old friend of my moms from Japan, and it had been the 80s since we’d seen him last. He had spent that short week with my mom, and was headed back home the next morning, a very quick international trip. He’s a very interesting and friendly person who has great insights and attitude about people and traveling.

Off again… in the snow… this time to Omaha. The temperature gauge says negative 12!

The day we got in happened to be Hailey’s 1st birthday party, and we were glad to be able to be there celebrate, catch up with family and meet new member Dakota.

For Daniela’s high school graduation present last year, we gave her a trip to Washington DC. It took nearly a year for our schedules to jive, but at last moment, we decided now was the time to do it.

It has been years since we’ve seen Chad and Megan and the kids. They live in the Baltimore area, so we drove over to see them while we were close. The kids have grown so much and it was great to get to see them again. We all grew up together and had some crazy and hilarious times in high school. It’s amazing we are all still together and in one piece. Chad and Curtis were each other’s best man at the weddings, must be good luck.

Washington D.C. - where even the license plates have a platform.

The White House

The National Cathedral was such a beautiful place full of rich history. There are over 200 people buried inside, they host all types of events and speakers, not only the daily Episcopalian services, but also the Reagan funeral and the Dalai Lama. One thing our guide impressed upon us was that they welcome people of all faiths, or no faith at all.

All in all, we had a great experience on the metro. Only once did we (read Cujo) panic and get off the train, then realize that we were in fact on the right train, and rush back onto the train. The worse part of it (besides the amused looks) was that after walking miles and miles your feet and legs tend to get sore, and we had given up our precious seats.

The exhibits were so in depth and so haunting, as you would expect from the Holocaust Museum. The highlight was that day there was a survivor speaking at the museum telling her story during that time. She was just a child but still has pretty strong recollection paired with documentation. Her final thoughts were to pass on that it really did exist and it really did happen, she doesn't understand how some people think it's a myth.

This has to be our best picture of the Washington Monument ever, and check this out – a girl walking by us took it while laying down on her back on the cold ground just so she could fit the top in.

The WWII Memorial is new, but fits in just perfectly – it’s not too big or overwhelming and it looks just like it’s always been there and belongs.

It’s quite the moving feeling when you stand at the Lincoln Memorial and you realize so much that has occurred at this very location. My personal favorite phrase from the north wall is ‘…malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right…’

Cujo found a Vlasak this time at the Vietnam Wall – not sure why we never found it before.

Arlington

The Supreme Court wasn’t sitting that day, so we got to look in the courtroom. For the separation of church and state, there were an awful lot of biblical statues in there.

We took a guided tour of the Capitol with Idaho’s congressman Walt Minnick. Well, not Walt Minnick himself, but his office representation. And come on, but is it seriously too much to ask that that person BE from Idaho? I would imagine there are plenty of young people in Idaho that would jump on that experience. Especially when she didn’t make the best impression by explaining that Pocatello is in western or northern Idaho, right before proclaiming her knowledge of the state. We were also a bit nervous and curious when we had to tell her exactly how to get to the Capitol entrance, and having to wait a half hour for our tickets we needed to ‘just run in and pick up’ the day before. However… it wasn’t all bad, we did like the fact that with her, we got to take the underground tunnel from the Capitol building back to the office – the walls along the tunnel are adorned with artwork from kids from each state. The really cool thing about the Capitol was getting to go into the Gallery and see some people we actually recognized – Barney Frank, Ron Paul, and the rep from Nebraska Lee Terry. Later than night we saw the actual argument we witnessed first hand, and no it wasn’t on CSPAN - it was on CNN. Barney Frank has got to be one of the most entertaining speakers, no matter how you feel about him. The room would laugh whenever he’d make his jab – that’s not something you see or hear on CNN.

We got to take a tour of the Diplomatic entertainment area of the State Department. This is where the Secretary of State and other officials host diplomats. There were only seven or eight of us actually on the tour, and we had 3 guides and 2 security guards. I never thought I’d be able to steal that candlestick, go figure. As for the flags, they hang US flags on each end, and flags representing countries we have affiliations with in between. When those affiliations or ties are broken or reestablished, the flags then go up or down. The rooms were magnificent, and it felt like we were in an episode of Antique Roadshow. One poor guy on the tour actually had the balls or ignorance to sit down on an antique couch during the walk-through. He was told very nicely to stand back up, while the rest of us giggled to ourselves. Being in this building doesn’t create instant maturity, sorry. The plate was among others that had been around hundreds of years, and belonged to Martha Washington. The items they have here are just remarkable - that they still exist and are in such great condition. There was one rug that was a hundred years old that weighed 6000 pounds, I was shocked they still let feet walk on it. And that it still was holding up. I swear I bought a rug last year that looks like shit and is fraying and holey. I sound like an old biddy but it’s true about quality of years ago versus products today. The bookcases were hand carved by young men and each had their own style and signature. Antique Roadshow in the flesh, I tell ya.

Chinatown

The Library of Congress is one of the most beautiful buildings ever, so ornate and detailed. The magnitude of information it contains is no less incredible. They had an exhibit which held part of Benjamin Franklin’s personal library, which was just amazing to be surrounded by books so old that had belonged to someone so influential.

Oh yeah baby, we travel in style. And yes, that is a beer in a bag.