April 13, 2016

Today we spent our last full day in DC, except if there is a traffic jam in the morning and then it might be another full day to get our of town.

We spent the first part of the day touring the pentagon.  No pictures except for the visitors center.

Grammie with another photo-op at the visitors center.

Grampy taking a turn.

The Pentagon Memorial is around the end of the Pentagon. Each individual memorial consists of a platform that was meant as a place to sit.  Underneath is a small rectangular pool of water representing a reflecting pool, with the name of the person on the open end.  The end faces a year marker identifying the year the person was born.   If the end points to the Pentagon, then the person was at the Pentagon when the crash occurred.  If it points to the sky then the person was on the plane.

The Pentagon is a building that combined the different branches of service except for the Coast Guard which is part of Homeland security and would only be included if a war was declared.
The Pentagon employs 23,000 military and civilians.

After the Pentagon, we returned back to the Newseum to finish the last 3 floors.  Of particular interest were winning Pulitzer Prize pictures.  One in particular, was one of a lineman that had been hit with 6000 volts.  A fellow lineman climbed the pole and began resuscitative procedures.  The lineman lived.  Be careful out there.

Even though we didn't get a White House tour, we did visit the White House Visitor center.  The first picture depicts children of a President sliding in the "front yard"

Once it is determined that a President will not be returning to the White House, all of the remaining furniture is loaded and taken to his private residence.  In the picture below on the right, Lady Byrd Johnson is seen dancing on the table top.

Walking around the city we saw the Boy Scout Memorial

We didn't get in but we did pass the Ford Theater.

Thanks for keep an eye out for Grammie, she is special.

April 12, 2016

Yesterday and today we took the subway into the city to see the sights.
Our focus over the last 2 days was to visit the Capitol, The Supreme Court, the Library of Congress and the Newseum.

First we went to Senator King's office for a planned tour.  It originally was to be at 2 in the afternoon but we arrived early and they changed our time to right now.  We had a private tour with Andy, one of his interns, that went from his office to the Capitol by way of underground tunnel.  We had the advantage of not only a private tour but also escaped the tour groups with multiple people in a group.  A bonus was that we got into both the House Chamber, and also the Senate Chamber where Sen McConnell spoke for a bit about some Commerce Bill followed by Senator Reid who admonished a group for not "getting the job done".

Senator King's Office was the first door on the left.

The Old Supreme Court Chambers

Remember when I put a  picture on that was taken of George Washington's burial place at Mt Vernon? A Crypt in the Capitol was supposed to be his burial spot but because he determined the location of his body by a Will, he was not interred here.

The inside and outside of the Rotunda is undergoing repairs and upkeep.

In the Capitol, 2 statues from each state are allowed, but may be changed.  The 2 from Maine are, immediately below, the first Governor of Maine, William King,

and Hannibal Hamlin, a Vice President.

The Hall of Statues

 A replica of the statue on top of the Capitol

The Library of Congress is the library of Congress and also the peoples library.  In the picture below is the Gutenburg Bible, a manuscript done in 1452-3.  It took 15months to complete in 3 volumes.

A picture of the main Reading room of the library.  There are 21 other reading rooms.  The library is not a lending library.

We got to the Supreme Court early enough to be in the first lecture of the day in the Supreme Court Hearing Room.  No pictures allowed at any time.  In the picture below, the person on the left at the top of the stairs is qualified to be a Supreme Court Justice.

We spent the last part of the day today in the Newseum.  It is a museum about news people and news organizations.  We only saw a part of it today but our tickets are good for tomorrow.  One of the non- permanent displays was the War in Vietnam... again no pictures.

Freedom of the Press

Parts of the Berlin Wall

The Tower that was on top of the World Trade Center that was destroyed on 9-11

From the section on Freedoms.

Tomorrow, one more day in the city and then closer to home.

April 10, 2016

Yesterday, the 10th, we left McGaheysville on the way to Fort Belvoir, we visited Mt. Vernon...President Washington's home.

For those that have been there before as we have, there have been more things added.  The home is kept up.  Presently they are painting the wood and then applying sand to create an older look. Pictures are not allowed inside the home.  He died at home in December, 1799.

According to Washington's will, he was buried on his property.

Several years later, his remains as well as 30 other members were moved to a new location, still on the property.

Washington was always experimenting with farming techniques.  This is the upper floor of a wheat threshing experiment.  First, wheat is laid on the floor and then horses trotted in a circle to thresh the wheat that fell between cracks in the floor.

Grammie enjoying Tea with Martha.  What a sweet knowledgeable lady.

Washington had full dentures made for him before he took his oath of office.  Not made of wood.  Human and Cow teeth, and Ivory. 

The Potomac River

and his flower gardens grow on.

April 9, 2016

This week we have been staying at a timeshare resort in McGaheysville, VA.  It is a very large resort that is advertised as a 4 season resort.  There is a ski area, 2 golf courses, pools, water slides and activity areas for kids.  It is west of the Shenandoah National Park that includes the Skyline Drive that was created by the National Park Service with the help of the Civilian Conservation Corps. President FDR was instrumental in the building of the Parkas well as generating the economy.  Skyline Drive

Early in the week we went into Harrisonburg to scout the area.  Grammie had her ideas on what we should see.  The quilt museum was in an older house that survived the Civil War.

Featured were many quilts.  The ones below are the Chicken quilt and an I Spy quilt. 

 

Can you find the wishbone?

On Friday we went up to the Luray Caverns.  The deepest spot was 164 feet below the ground surface.

The next several pictures are from the caverns.

In this picture there is a pool of water that is only inches deep but the reflections on the lower part of the picture make the appearance of the water a lot deeper than it really is. 

 Growth of the stalactites is thought to be only about 1 inch per 100 years.

Yes, you can even get married down below. This is the location of only stalactite organ in the world.

If you look carefully you can see a familiar figure.

Also in the Luray Caverns location there is an automobile building featuring cars from the beginning of their development up to 1941.  A surrey with a fringe on top.  Grammie would have loved a ride but not allowed.

A 1910 Ford Model T Touring car

A 1927 Mecedes Benz.  With 220 HP it is capable of 110 miles per hour, the strongest of its day.

There was also a toy museum and a ropes course that seemed to be the attraction of the day.

Flowers are even in bloom: however, the trees really haven't started to bud yet.

Off in the distance is part of the Shenandoah mountains.  The Red Bud tree is very common in this area.

This is the 2nd Bell tower that we have seen on this trip. This one features 57 bells with the largest approaching 4 tons.  Again we missed the playing of the Carillons

On our drive through part of the Skyline Drive we were treated to some great sights but the colors weren't really rich yet.

We traveled about 30 miles from the Thornton Gap back down to Elkton VA

The mountains are generally in the 3000 to 4000 feet in height.

We stopped at the Byrds Visitor Center along the Skyline Drive and learned more about the history of the development of the park. Below is a real man beater.   Along many miles of the park is a rock wall similar to the one in the above picture.  Because a lot of the roads were made on the side of mountains, a lot of the construction was centered on erosion control.

While at the center we met 3 hikers that were headed for Mt. Katahdin.  I told them that they might meet Gary in Monson as they passed through.  They started early in February to beat the traffic.

Tomorrow we are headed to Washington D.C. for 3 days. Our plans for visiting the White House fell through as we were not selected for a tour due to many spring requests.

On our way back we hope to bring more sunshine.

Tom couldn't help taking this picture in a gift shop in Luray.  One of our daughters asked if we had any burial plans. Tom said no so she said good, we can have fun with that.  If any ideas are needed, here is one.