Washington DC Trip Day 6

Wow, so as usual I'm a day late..I'm lots of dollars short, but oh well.

Yesterday we had our final day in Washington DC. We got back to Kansas City last night, picked up Oliver from my mom's and picked up Jon's truck from Blue Springs..needless to say, by the time we actually got home we were exhausted. So I have a post today.

After much deliberation we decided to go to Arlington Cemetery yesterday.

It was overcast all day, and pretty chilly. We opted to ride the tour bus around the cemetery. It stopped at 3 places, the Kennedy grave site, the Tomb of the Unknowns, and Arlington House.

I could not believe how many headstones there were.

250lbs of marble.

John F. Kennedy, his wife, and 2 of his children are buried here, under the eternal flame.

This is the marble amphitheater where they hold important ceremonies.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. There are 3 buried here currently. The 4th from Vietnam was identified using DNA testing, so he was removed, as per the family's request.

There is a group of soldiers that guard the tomb every day. During the summer they change the guard every 30 minutes, and in the winter they change every hour. During non-public times they change every 2 hours.

We got to see them change the guard.

They walk back and forth, and everything is based off 21 (like the 21 gun salute) 21 steps across, 21 seconds facing each way, etc.

This is the old amphitheater. It was in use until 1920. It was just outside Arlington House..which we have no pictures of...can you guess who had the camera?

It was a pretty good way to spend half a day...even though it was freezing.

Well now that our trip has been documented we'll return to our regularly scheduled programming, hopefully some time this week.

Jessica

Washington DC Trip Day 5

Today Team Rodgers put on their fancy pants and got chauffeured in a town car to the other Air and Space Museum. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. It's about 40 minutes away from our hotel, and there's really no good way to take public transportation...so we upgraded.

It's more air than space, so Jonathan loved it. There were planes everywhere, as you can see.

But this one, the SR-71, I've had to hear about all week. I think this was the only thing he wanted to see on the whole trip. I've been informed that this is the fastest plane ever.

I like space better, it's like a mobile for the nerdiest baby on the block.

It's crazy to think that this computer used to be top of the line, not that long ago.

A Mercury capsule. I'm convinced that people were tiny then. There is no way I could sit in there for very long.

Here are more examples of why I can't be an astronaut. This is what people really want to know about space travel. Pee and poop collection is on everyone's mind.

I mean you really can't top bodily functions...I freaking love planes!

A flying car..

Ok, this is for all you wildlife majors. There is a group of people that teach cranes how to migrate. The fly the little things in the picture in the back of the display case, and they wear the white suit. They are not allowed to talk in the presence of the cranes. They travel from Wisconsin to Florida...it looks like it sucks. I'm pretty sure there's no texting either.

This plane..I learned, dropped the atomic bomb on Japan.

The Space Shuttle

It was a pretty big place, we saw a lot. This was our last full day. We had Chinese food delivered from a local place, it was ok, but nothing can hold a candle to Kin Lin.

We head back tomorrow. We've got about half a day left here before we have to catch our plane, we're not sure what we're going to do.

Jessica

Washington DC Trip Day 4

Today we visited the Air and Space Museum.

Jon loved the rockets. I think that because he's an engineer, he thinks he's a rocket scientist...this is the V2 rocket, the first guided missile.

The Spirit of St. Louis, was the first plane to cross the Atlantic in one trip. Oh there were tons of little tidbits all day...I'm not sure where he keeps this info, he can't remember a 3 item grocery list, but he's got tons and tons of history facts.

I was most saddened that they have kicked Pluto out of the Solar System. On several of the exhibits he was just blocked out. I'm proposing a movement to NEVER FORGET PLUTO!! Poor guy.

The museum is divided into 2 sides, space stuff was on one side, and planes were on the other.

There is no way I would every fly in this. Ever.

Space capsule.

I don't think it's my size.

After the museum we headed to the Botanical Garden. It was really neat. They had different areas, like Jungle, Desert, etc. We loved this pool...I got to see a reflecting pool anyway!

Log bridge.

This was in the desert area, I thought it looked creepy..

We made a hummingbird friend.

I'm an ivy arch monster. The Butterfly Princess declined to have his picture taken in the foliage.

They had a whole room full of orchids. I love orchids.

Pretty.

Team Rodgers loves fountains. We stumbled upon this one on our way to the subway station.

We had dinner at an Italian place tonight. It was recommended by the hotel staff. The food was OK, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Tomorrow we're headed up north to see the other Air and Space museum. It should be an interesting day.

Jessica

Washington DC Trip Day 3

Day 3 ended up being a very long day. Fun, but long.

We probably walked 3.5 trillion miles today.

We started the day off with breakfast in the hotel. A quick metro ride, and we were back down in the National Mall. The weather seemed to be nice, so we were going to walk and see all the monuments.

Spirits were high. I have a hat.

They are currently working on the Washington Monument because there is a crack in it from the earthquake that happened about a month ago. You know if a woman were in charge of that project it would be finished and the fine people of America could go up inside the monument, like our forefathers intended.

The World War II Memorial was next on the circuit. It was really nice, I'm partial to fountains.

Each end of the memorial had these big wreath things..they were neat.

Next would be the famous Reflecting Pool...oh no wait..it's a giant mud hole. Way to go America, no Washington Monument, no Reflecting Pool...geeze, why did we even bother? The length of the pool probably wouldn't have seen like it took an eternity if there was some water to look at, but alas...no water. It was almost lunch time, and my feet were feeling like bloody stumps.

Chillin' with Lincoln.

The Vietnam War Memorial.

There are no happy faces for Jon.

But because of his excellent photography skills, I am a magical unicorn!

The WWI Memorial..not at fancy.

We saw the White House. I hate to say it, but I was a little disappointed.

The Library of Congress.

It was a really pretty building.

However, my traveling companion told me that the Constitution was housed in this building..it is not. To see that particular document, it will require another trip..to a different building.

On the bright side, there was a beautiful fountain out in front of the building.

We got the thumbs up for our Capitol building.

The Rotunda. We spent entirely too much time to just get a picture of this. We had to be part of a group, and walk with the group and wait for the group to get to the elevator...I really just wanted to take pictures and leave. Our "guide" wasn't really a guide at all. All we wanted was to take the remnants of our bloody foot-stumps back to the metro station and back to the hotel.

We were so exhausted that we ate in the restaurant at the top of our hotel. We're turning in early tonight. Slated for tomorrow is one of the Air and Space Museums, the U.S. Botanical Gardens, and the National Archives...where the Constitution lives.

Jessica