TravelBlog: Oh Say, Can You See?

When I write a TravelBlog post, such as this is, I like to begin by opening four windows on my computer screen.  One is for Blogger, one is for Facebook, one is for iPhoto, and one is for researching dictionary.com, google maps or Wikipedia in an effort to attain some sort of accuracy in describing whatever it is I'm attempting to write about.  Then I scroll through my photos and my Facebook status updates in order to remember where we went and what we did before compiling them all together into a nice, tidy, blog post!  So, now you know.  For this post, just imagine we're sitting down together, looking at a photo album of our family's vacation to Virginia, and I'm telling you all about the pictures, and what we were doing in each one.  

May 30th, we left after Justin finished work on a Thursday afternoon.  We caravanned with Chris, Allison, Ella & Kaestli.  Our kids swapped cars at every pit stop.  We drove through a rain storm.  We saw a rainbow.  We stopped somewhere in Kentucky for the night.  Kentuckians are extremely friendly.

The drive to Virginia was BEAU-TI-FUL!  Truly.  I have never been in more awe over the breathtaking magnificence of the land than on the drive east.  The misty Shenandoah Valley with its lush, green mountains, old red barns and charming farm houses...so picturesque!  I could absolutely see myself happily settled just about anywhere along I-64 between here and Nokesville, VA.  Such pretty country!

In Virginia, we stayed with Justin's Uncle Paul.  He lives in a tranquil forest fairy garden, adorned with an adorable white farm house and his lovely wife, Nancy.  I could've lounged about on his shaded back deck and listened to the cicadas hum the entire week we were there.  Unfortunately, that could not be.  We had places to go!

Saturday, June 1st, we visited the Marine Corps Museum.  There, they had exhibits for each major war throughout our nation's history.  In the WWII exhibit, we got to visit with a veteran who was in the battle at Iwo Jima.  He was fascinating to listen to, and I felt honored to be able to meet him and hear his stories.  

Sunday, we went to church with Paul and Nancy, and spent as much time as possible lounging in their fairy garden.  I fell asleep reading a book on the deck.  It was vacation at its finest.

 Monday, we took three hours to drive 40 miles into Washington, D.C.  Traffic was unreal.  Once we got there, we drove in circles trying to find a parking spot.  The parking garage we were attempting to park in was too short for our Suburban, so we ended up pulling into a hotel to valet park.  Finally on our adventure, we decided to skim the surface of three Smithsonian museums.  We went through them with a 3-year-old attention span, picking only the exhibits that looked the most kid-friendly.  

We started with the American History Museum.  There, we learned about the evolution of transportation from horses & carriages, to automobiles, trains & planes.  We saw Dorothy's red slippers from the Wizard of Oz, a sunstone from the Nauvoo temple, and a beautiful exhibit displaying the inauguration gowns of our nation's first ladies.  Super neat!

  
Next, we visited the Museum of Natural History to see lots of dinosaur bones & the infamous Hope Diamond...

 We made sure to take time to smell the roses on our way...

And terrorize some pigeons...

 Last, was the Air & Space Museum.  Lots of airplanes, rockets & telescopes.  Super cool!

That was one busy day.  We were worn out!!!

When we got back to Paul's, Nancy made me a birthday cake and we ate it.  Yum!


On Tuesday, we were back at it, walking all around the National Mall to visit some of our nation's most impressive landmarks!  This time, we were smart and brought a wagon...

WWII Memorial

Lincoln Monument

Pictures just don't do this guy justice!

I loved the Korean war memorial.  The expressions on these statues' faces were so real and so moving.  Really beautiful.

 Finally, we finished up with a tour of the Capitol building.  It was so much bigger and more beautiful than I ever imagined.  We were so tired, and quickly running out of steam by this point, but I'm really glad we took the chance to see our Nation's Capitol!  The inside was chock full of beautiful artwork and statues commemorating many elite men and women who helped to make this nation what it is today.  It was definitely an experience I won't soon forget.  Awesome. 

 The walk back to the car was a long one for all of us...

 

I was so impressed with our kids on those long days of sight-seeing.  They endured hours and hours of walking, not running, looking, not touching, staying together, holding hands while crossing, and being respectful of the places and people we were visiting.  By Wednesday, we were all ready for a change of pace.  So, we drove to Virginia Beach, checked into a beachfront resort hotel, and let the kids play!

Thursday, we stopped in Historic Williamsburg for lunch.  We weren't planning to buy admission tickets, but as we were walking into the visitor's center, a kind family pulled up and handed us their unexpired multi-day passes to use.  Little did we know how much more walking was in store.  I guess our day at the beach didn't leave us very rested for more sight-seeing, so we were pretty miserable.  I'm afraid we might have tainted any return visits to Williamsburg that might be in our future.

Thursday night, we met up with my Aunt Pat and five of her six kids and their families for dinner.  It was wonderful.  I hadn't seen any of them in a dozen years, and many of them I had never met.  None of them had ever met Justin or my kids.  It was just a really sweet reunion with all of them.  I wished it could have lasted longer.  It turns out that I'm related to a whole bunch of really great people.
 

 
Friday, we took our time loading up and leaving.  Saturday, we made it back to Jefferson City.  That afternoon, after driving 2,000 miles in our gas-guzzling Suburban, we decided to buy a minivan.  Nice timing, I know.

Now we're all set for our next TravelBlog adventure.  Wherever that may be...