Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Washington D.C.

This last weekend we got a chance to go exploring outside of NYC with some friends so we went to DC. We did the trip in one day so we got up and left by 5 am to start the day off.

When we first got there we went to the Arlington Cemetery. It was incredible. From what I recall there are more than 300,000 servicemen and their families buried there. We walked around and saw JFK & his family's resting place by the eternal flame that has been burning since he was laid to rest there as well as The Tomb of the Unknowns, and more. The whole cemetery is over 600 acres, so as you can imagine we didn't see everything.






From there we headed over to Washington Monument. You can see it from almost anywhere in the city and it sits center to the State Capital, the White House and the Lincoln Memorial.









Then we treked our way over to the Lincoln Memorial or Monument..whichever it is. It is definitely farther than it looks, but was really neat to see.


Don't ask about the pose, we're not sure either...


Our group for the day; Nate, Jacque (taking the picture), Baby Jaxson in the middle, Jaelynne, Mark, Logan, Deborah, Me & Kyle



On our way to the Holocaust Museum we ran into this. I believe it is a Memorial for the Korean War. Anyways, I thought it was really neat and a great tribute.

The Holocaust Museum was amazing, no pictures though. I took a Holocaust Lit class in high school and since then have been so intrigued with it. I thought it was amazing...very sad to see what happened, but it interests me so much. They had a train car that was used to haul jews, and others away for Treblinka one of the camps, they had brushed, shoes, and other belongings of those that perished..it was just surreal and by far one of my favorite parts of the trip.

After the museum we decided to head over to the National Archives to view the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence. At this point we were exhausted so it was a quick in and out. Because we were so tired we decided to drive past the White House to get a closer look, which ended up not being possible by driving...oh well.

We grabbed some dinner from there then headed home and got back at about 2 in the morning...talk about a long day! Kudos to Kyle & Logan for being such troopers for driving while Deborah & I slept both ways!

Johnston Update:
So Kyle and I are finally coming home!!! We will be back in AZ on Aug. 15th. We can't wait. NYC has been a definite adventure, and we're grateful for the experience but we're both happy being close to our family. So once I get back from my trip to Canada/Montana for my nephew's baby blessing + trip to the lake we will be headed home! So next time I blog I'll be in AZ!