Doing DC, part 1

After enjoying the morning at Mt. Vernon, we headed to Washington DC to pack as much as we could into the rest of the day.

We first went to Union Station hoping that there would be someplace there to park an RV. There wasn't, but Dennis dropped us off there anyway before taking off to try to find a place to park (good luck!). We met up with him later (much later - he is a saint and a great driver!) He didn't miss much because we decided to peak into Union Station and Derek tore part of his toenail off in the revolving door (my fault - sorry buddy), and then we had to do some first aid and find a band aid and all that. But it was an adventure to do it in the hustle and bustle of DC's Union Station.

Finally, when Derek was all patched up we headed out. It was not hard to know which way to walk - we followed the Capitol dome.

First we stopped into the Postal Museum which was in an old post office. Derek had to get a pressed penny. Cool old building.

Then we headed over to where the action was.

The capitol dome is beautiful. This may sound strange, though, but I thought it would be bigger. It is so hard to judge it from the TV. But still, it was quite exciting to finally be in DC! Washington DC was one of the main destinations we had for even taking this trip (there were 4: DC, NYC, Palmyra, and Nauvoo) so this was the first big one! I have always wanted to see DC and I couldn't believe I was finally here!

Between all the monuments in DC are most of the various Smithsonian museums. And in case you did not know it, they are all FREE! How fantastic is that? When you are traveling with a huge clan like us it is a true blessing to have free access to some of the best museums in the world! Thank you, DC.

We only had time to fit in one museum that day, and of course the one that all the boys wanted to see first was the Air and Space Museum. This sculpture is right outside.

All of THE great historical aircraft are here on display (not replicas), like Lindbergh's Spirit off St. Louis, the first private space craft, and the first plane to break the sound barrier.

It is an exceptional museum! The exhibits are all very unique and all first class!

There was a great exhibit about early aviation that we enjoyed.

And another about jets and commercial aviation.

The kids rally loved the WW2 airplanes.

Another exhibit looked like the inside of an aircraft carrier and the kids got to pretend to help land a fighter jet on the deck of the ship.

Every kind of aircraft you can imagine was here.

I think the coolest one of all, for me, was the Wright brothers original Kittyhawk airplane. All of aviation history started with that flimsy wood and canvas aircraft made by a couple of bicycle makers with a dream! Since the beginning of mankind, I am sure that people have dreamed about what it would be like to fly like a bird, and these guys were the first to make that happen. How cool is that? Now we take it for granted. That was only about 100 years ago. It is completely amazing for me to think how far we have come in that time.

My boys thought that the lunar landing module was pretty darn cool too. It is. Again, I was kind of amazed that this rickety craft of metal and tin foil was floating up in space. Brave, brave souls.

We all really enjoyed the Air and Space museum. They had to kick us out.

When we came out, it was just getting to be dusk so we decided to sit for a while and enjoy the grassy lawns connecting the Capitol and the Washington Monument.

Unfortunately, we were pretty disappointed with the state of things there. It really looked terrible and unkempt. This is what we saw around the reflecting pool at the Capitol. Really? How hard is it to get someone to pull some weeds? There was broken concrete, tall weeds, the grass was dead in places, and there was trash everywhere! It looked really bad and I was embarrassed that this was the showpiece of our nation's capitol. When we talk about cleaning up Washington, maybe we should start with this. Isn't this exactly one of the shovel-ready projects Obama was talking about? Lets put some of the unemployed to work pulling weeds and picking of litter.

We were joking that Nathan could make it his Eagle Scout project to make this place actually look nice. It really was a shame. I was not prepared to see that. I wonder if the state of our National Mall is any reflection of the state of our great nation? Hope not.

Luckily, when the sun goes down you don't see the weeds and trash so much.

Back to the reflecting pool where we waited for the sun to set so I could try to get some good pictures.

It was worth waiting for! As the sun went down and the monuments were lit up is was like magic! The sky turned a deep blue over the capitol and the reflections in the pool were so colorful!

But the Lord had a special treat for us in the sky over the Washington Monument - First the sky was gold...

then all the colors of sherbet...

then deepened into dark pinks and purples! Yep, the sky really did look like that! Yippee!

I love the fushia and violet tiger stripes with the golden monument slicing right through it! This is why I love photography! How many times have you seen an incredible sky and wished you could capture it? It is so great when I can!

Thank you, Big Guy! I own you one.

DC is a beautiful place in the evenings when all the debates are over and all the politicians go home. We couldn't wait to come back and see more of it all tomorrow.