DC - Days 7 & 8

Friday was our biggest day in DC, possibly a little too much so! We woke up early to walk 2 1/2 miles to the Capital to get in line for tickets for a free tour of the building. After getting our tickets for a noon tour, we went another 1/2 mile or so to the Library of Congress and toured that building.

In front of the Capitol:

In front of the Library of Congress:

The view of the Washington Monument from the Capitol. (This is pretty zoomed in.) Notice how dreary it was! We were thankful that it wasn't hot, though!

This is the President's Book from National Treasure 2 in the Library of Congress:

The tour of the capitol was really just a view of the decor and architecture in a few main rooms. There was a very suspicious guy in our group who kept me praying as I kept my eye on him, so I was a little distracted. It was not very bright inside and my pics didn't turn out well, so I don't have many to share.

Here is the ceiling of the rotunda:

A little lower on the ceiling:

After leaving the Capitol, we stopped for sandwiches under this quaint bench:

Here is the DC tree pic!

Next, we walked about 3/4 mile to the Museum of Natural History. Although much of it was based on Evolution and we laughed at the obsurd thoughts, some was neat.

We saw the Hope Diamond, though I was not as impressed as I thought I would be!

We also got to meet Rexie:

We left there and went across to the Smithsonian Castle - so pretty!

We continued on and walked to the National Air and Space Museum, which was much like the Kennedy Space Center, so we didn't spend much time in there. But, they had a Boston Market and that was as close to home cooking as we've had for a while now, so baked chicken, mashed potatoes and corn was on the menu for lunch!

Our next part of the walk took us about another mile to the Jefferson Memorial and around the Tidal Basin:

Thomas Jefferson (or TJ as we call him!) was an amazing man who did so many great things and said so many great things. He had a firm belief in God's hand on our country and the futility of government without God in it. Our leaders today could learn alot from him.

Us on the steps of the Memorial for TJ:

So, moving on. We had a tour scheduled for 7 PM to go up the Washington Monument and it was getting close. Now, let me be real. This is Friday, day 7 of walking, learning, walking, looking, walking, viewing, etc. with more walking. On this day, we have already walked about 4 1/2 miles, not counting walking through the buildings and we have to walk about another 3/4 mile to the Monument. Everyone was pretty much hurting everywhere! But, walk we did to the Monument for our tour. It was worth it! The ride up 550 feet to the top gives a beautiful view and at each of the four sets of observation windows (N, S, E, and W) there are pictures showing what the site looked like from that view in 1885, then about 30 years later and then in 1999 to show the changes in the landscape. Here are some of the views.

The White House:

The Lincoln Memorial:

The TJ Memorial - notice how far we walked and this is a little bit zoomed!!

George Washington was another leader that our government could learn from today. I love this plaque about him in the monument:

Here we are safe back on the ground ready for the mile-ish walk back to our hotel and some much needed rest after so many miles of walking!!

Saturday, we decided to take a light day. We had contacted Mark's brother who is stationed in the DC area and they were coming into town to meet up with us. We went to the Daughters of the American Revolution for a tour of their building and a unique perspective on history. Mark's brother Lonnie, our sister-in-law Kelly and their son Trey toured with us. Then, we went to the White House Visitor's Center, since we were unable to secure tickets for a tour to the real thing. This was supposed to be the next best thing and we were pleased with the "tour." It was nice to get to visit with family, too:

In the Daughters of American Revolution Museum, Caleb liked this room that was made completely from a sunken ship:

The docent who gave us the tour was wonderful with the kids - she even got on the floor to spin tops with Caleb!

We came back to our room early and packed up as much as we could. You are now caught up to today! Tomorrow, we leave early to go to visit Monticello - TJ's house! That is the last official stop of our vacation! I'll try to tell you all about it tomorrow night!