A Personal Note

I’ve been considering several potential posts, but all of them revolve around an event in my life and rather than telling it in bits and pieces over several posts, I decided to do one post about it, then do several reflective posts. It will be easier this way. So. Diving in.

A little over a year ago, I received a letter in the mail from my school.  Not a totally unusual occurrence, but I had no idea what it was about.  I only got through the first sentence before stifling a scream.  The letter read:

“Dear Student:

We would like you to consider a semester abroad studying in Canterbury, England…”

And that was the beginning of one of the biggest adventures of my life.

It’s been a dream of mine to travel, particularly to Europe.  There are just so many places to see.  So many adventures.  The little bit of travel I had done, family vacations, China, Seattle, they had only made me fall deeper in love with traveling.  But it was something that I really saw as unfeasible, something that wouldn’t happen for a long time.  It would cost too much, so I’d have to wait.

So when this letter showed up in my mailbox, in was not even an answered prayer, but it was a dream come true.

Getting to live in England for three months was amazing.  Those three months probably rank up as the three best months of my life.  I traveled more than I have ever traveled, made some incredible friends, experienced things I couldn’t have imagined, and grew exponentially.

Basically, I lived with a family in Canterbury, England for three months while studying at Canterbury Christ Church University. As a part of the curriculum, we were bussed to a different location every week that corresponded with something that we lectured on.  On the weekends, I usually travelled with friends or on my own.  I ended up getting to London about 5 times.  The places we visited included Bath, Eastbourne, Margate, Wales, Paris, Rochester, Bruges, and Dover.

I feel so incredibly blessed to have gotten to have had this incredible experience.

And now, with this knowledge, we are ready to proceed. 😉

For Now-

I have stuff to post, but for now, here are some photos from my California trip.  More to come!

 

 

 

Hello, Seattle–Day 2

Saturday was when we did our sightseeing, since we had the full day in Seattle.  And we began it and (almost) ended it with some great food.

So let’s start with some food.

The breakfast at the hotel was pretty awesome, even though it wasn’t included with the room.  We both had the breakfast buffet, which had pancakes (regular and chocolate pancakes one morning, and tiramisu pancakes the next), some awesome sausages, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, bacon (cooked properly, too – nice and crispy!), local smoked salmon, salamis, cheeses (I think some at least were local), fruit, and a bunch of breads (which I totally avoided).  And omelets and smoothies to order – It was amazing!

The first stop we made was to (drumroll)…Costco!  We had some pretty sad luggage (my piece was over 30 years old, and Dad’s luggage had one handle missing, one falling off, and the other might have been cracked).  So we picked up two new pieces at Costco.

Next we had to go to Walgreens, since I had forgotten mascara and I had also run out of lip balm.  (???)  Since I get my mascara online, I had no idea what brands were good, so after some deliberation, I picked one out, making sure that it wasn’t waterproof.  Turns out it was designed to stay on for 24 hours, so I had quite a time trying to take it off.  And it clumped.  😦  Oh well.

Then we were off to Seattle.

First stop was the Space Needle.  I am just amazed that this thing is 60 years old, yet it doesn’t look dated.  Like, at all.  It still totally fits into the skyline.  And the view from the top?  Great.

Next we visited Chihuly Garden and Glass.  Chihuly’s glass sculptures are beautiful!  I love the abstractedness, and the bright colors.  Also, I love that he place several of his sculptures on black Plexiglas, and that they are in dimly lit rooms.  It just adds to the awesomeness of the sculptures.

After Chihuly, we walked over to the International Fountain.  A photo of this fountain had been featured on Bing a few weeks ago, and I thought it would be neat to see it.  It was actually much cooler than I had expected.  There was a water show to Beethoven’s 9th Symphony (Ode to Joy), which was neat to watch.  The water was well coordinated with the music.  At the end, the water went really high!  Shortly after, a group of people came and danced on the other side of the fountain.  Again, great to watch.

I had heard about Pike Place Market that morning (overhearing a conversation at breakfast), and wanted to go.  You can’t get much better for someone like me (local food, local artisans, and, although I didn’t know this to begin with, old architecture).  We walked through the market, but I (sadly) didn’t purchase anything (my #2 biggest regret, but my last regret – unless you count the fact that I got to the airport late for the trip home, and would have liked to change that).  It was great to see the local food movement in another city.  AND THEY HAVE FISH AT THEIR FARMER’S MARKET.  I am jealous.  The architecture of the place is beautiful, and it feels old, in a really good way.  The lights are beautiful.  And the variety is amazing.  There were several shops selling flowers – and all the bouquets were unique and beautiful!  Each one had a special quality about it that I can’t quite put my finger on.  The placement of the flowers, the colors, were different than any arrangements I’d seen before.  And they were gorgeous!

Then it was time for dinner.  Dad had made reservations at his favorite restaurant in the world – The Metropolitan Grill.  I have heard great things about this restaurant for years – and I have wanted to visit it, although I wasn’t sure when I ever would be able to.  And now I was!

Dinner was AWESOME.  The Met also had an heirloom tomato salad, which Dad and I split.  It was completely different from the heirloom tomato salad we had at Seastar, but it was just as good.  Slices of tomatoes topped with a perfectly-dressed green salad, feta cheese, and purple onions.  I got a fun fizzy drink, some ginger raspberry thing which had a fancy name, but I can’t really remember it.  The drink was really good, though!  For my main dish, I got steak (what Metropolitan Grill is famous for).  IT.  WAS.  A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.  Dad got prime rib, which he said was really good.  I believe him.  It looked beautiful.  We also got a side of asparagus.  For dessert, we shared a flourless chocolate lava cake.  Very, very tasty.

We had planned to ride the Seattle Great Wheel after dinner, but I was a little wary of going around and around in a circle after stuffing myself, but by the time we drove over there, purchased tickets, and waited in line, I was fine.  And it wouldn’t be honest to tell you that I didn’t get a little scared on the wheel, but overall it was great.  And the sunset.  Oh the sunset.  It was beautiful, over the Sound.

Then, thoroughly exhausted from a day of walking, we headed back to our hotel.  I drifted to sleep watching the lights of Bellevue from the window.

 

The next day I went home.

 

Seattle was beautiful.  I hope to go back someday and see more of it, as the little bit I saw only made me want to see more.  And taste more, too!  I feel so blessed that I had this amazing opportunity to visit this beautiful city!

(And if you ever get the chance to go, DO IT!)

 

[breakfast – awesome sausages-the one in front is feta, spinach, and apple (I think), bacon, and potatoes]

[breakfast, part 2:  clementine, cheese, salamis, tomato, onion, cucumbers, pineapple, cantaloupe, orange, and smoked salmon]

[heading into Seattle]

Hello, Seattle, I am a mountaineer,

[almost there, crossing Lake Union (I think)]

In the hills and highlands,

[that is Seattle on the right side]

 I fall asleep in hospital parking lots,

[Hello, Seattle!  I’m finally here!]

And awake in your mouth

[buildings]

Hello Seattle, I am a manta ray

Deep beneath the blue waves

I’ll crawl the sandy bottom of Puget Sound

And construct a summer home

[at the Space Needle]

Hello Seattle, I am an old lighthouse

Throwing beams of bright lights

[on the viewing deck]

Red in the morning, blue in the evening sun,

[Puget Sound]

Taking heed for everyone

[Seattle]

Take me above your light

Carry me through the night

 

[Lake Union]

Hold me secure in flight

Sing me to sleep tonight

[walking to Chihuly Garden and Glass]

[glasswork]

 

 

[this is from his collection “Persians”]

[if I remember correctly, this is supposed to resemble a garden.  I think it does.]

 

 

[this walkway has a name.  I have forgotten it.]

 

[Space Needle.  Love this thing.  It’s so photogenic. :)]

 

[the glass sculptures in the garden]

[selfie]

 

 

[walking]

[the Pacific Science Center]

[Mural Amphitheater]

Oh, oh, I can’t even take it in.

[at the International Fountain]

Oh, oh, I can’t even take it in.

Oh, oh, I left my heart in metropolis.

[at the end of Beethoven’s 9th, the water went really high (boy, do I sound intelligent tonight!)]

So far apart, I check but the coast was clear,

[Experience Music Project Museum]

I feel like a postcard,

I wish you were here.

[Going to Pike Place Market]

Subway through the dark, carriage through the park.

Taxi down the street, get out and use my feet

[The fish counter – see, what did I tell you!]

Don’t matter much to me what it is that I do

[the market]

As long as I’m coming home with you

[people, lights, architecture.  love it]

Oh, oh, oh, as far as I can see

You’re the only one, the only one that can get to me

[out in front of the market – aren’t those peppers lovely?]

[The Metropolitan Grill, where we had dinner]

[my AWESOME fizzy drink, whatever it was called – I forgot before I even finished it]

[heirloom tomato salad]

[you know it’s a fancy restaurant when the butter comes like this, looking like ice cream]

[my dinner – steak and a potato]

[and dessert – a flourless chocolate lava cake]

[there is interesting architecture all over Seattle]

Like a hijacked train

[sunset over Puget Sound]

Or a runaway train

[the Seattle Great Wheel at sunset – can’t decide whether I like this exposure…]

Or a speeding bullet

[…or this exposure better.  I can’t believe I let that lamppost be in my picture.  grrr…]

There’s no stopping this!

[the Seattle Great Wheel]

I left my heart in metropolis!

 

[the sky put on a beautiful show for us]

[Seattle]

[blue umbrellas!]

[What did I tell you?  I LOVE the Space Needle!]

[colors]

[sailboat coming home]

 

[lights]

[playing with shutter speed]

Like a hijacked plane,

[going back to our car – street shots]

or a runaway train

or a speeding bullet, there’s no stopping this.

I left my heart in metropolis.

[leaving Seattle]

Oh, oh, I can’t even take it in.

[actually, this picture was taken last.  I just have to let you know that.]

Oh, oh, I can’t even take it in.

[goodbye, Seattle!  I’ll miss you!]

Oh, oh, I left my heart in metropolis!

 

Songs:  Hello, Seattle written by Adam Young and Metropolis written by Adam Young and Matthew Thiessen

These two songs were songs I thought of, listened to, and had in my head while we were in Seattle.

Hello, Seattle–Day 1

“Hello, Seattle,
I am a mountaineer
In the hills and highlands…”

~Owl City, “Hello Seattle”

You’re going to hear more of that song.

Two weekends ago I had the awesome opportunity to visit Seattle, Washington!  My Dad had two separate business trips on the West Coast, one ending Friday afternoon and the other starting the following Monday morning.  So instead of him flying home on Saturday and flying out again on Sunday, he chose to just go straight from one destination to the next.  And I flew out to spend the weekend with him!

So, let’s dive right in.

This was my first time flying by myself.  I was nervous – particularly about taking off and landing.  I get a little nervous about that, and when I flew previously, I had someone’s hand to hold – usually my mom’s or my brother’s.  And unless I had some super nice person sitting next to me, I wouldn’t have anyone to freak out to.  But I did fine, and now taking off doesn’t scare me, but landing still does.  Just a little. 😉

So I flew out on Friday, at 11 in the morning.  I arrived in Seattle at 2-ish Seattle time.  Which put me at almost six hours since my last meal. (I had forgotten to grab some cheese sticks to take on the plane, and so had only had a banana.  And all the snacks that they had on the plane contained grains.  So no luck there.)

My first order of business after getting off the plane was food.  As I walked down the B terminal, I looked at all the restaurants:  Quizno’s.  A Mexican place that was rather small and had a bar – not somewhere I wanted to be.  McDonald’s.  As I walked by each place, I new that there wasn’t a whole lot that I could get at any of them.  So I continued to the main area of the airport, where there was a whole collection of restaurants.  And there they had a directory of all the restaurants in the whole airport.  I spotted, way at the other end of the C terminal, a restaurant that looked pretty promising – Wolfgang Puck Gourmet Express.  The distance I had already traversed, from my gate to this directory, was about the same as the distance from this directory to the restaurant.  Which wouldn’t have been bad at all if I wasn’t hauling a camera bag and my on board bag, which was a backpack, holding my purse, three books (one of them over 1400 pages long), and my sweater.  So pretty heavy.  So I hauled all the way over to the restaurant, stopping on the way to look another restaurant that I was hoping I could get something at (they had local cheese), but all they had were awesome-sounding sandwiches with that local cheese.  I finally made it down to the Wolfgang Puck Gourmet Express, where I got a Greek salad, and then hauled all the way back to the main area of the airport.

Only to then realize that I left my 1 liter water bottle at the restaurant.

And I didn’t realize that until I had sat down, mixed my salad, and gotten all settled in to eat.  So I packed everything back up and hauled back to the restaurant, where they had my water bottle.

*Sigh*

Once I had actually started eating, a young lady right around my age came over and asked if she could sit with me.  I said, “Sure!”  She sat down, and we started chatting.  Turns out she is in the army and was just stationed there, as she had graduated the day before.

After we had both finished eating and she had gone her way, I purchased me a White Chocolate Mocha at Starbucks.  It was pretty good.  I bummed later that I had had it, as I wish I had waited and gotten some more local tasty Seattle coffee.  Oh well.

I sat and read for awhile, drinking my coffee, until it was time to go meet Dad.

Once Dad and I had met up, collected our luggage, and picked up our rental car, we drove out to Bellevue.  (Dad would be staying here for his business trip, so that’s where we stayed.  It’s about a 20 minute drive outside of Seattle.  And beautiful!)

After checking in at our lovely hotel, unpacking, and video-calling Mom and the rest of my siblings, it was time for dinner.  Dad had made reservations at a seafood place, Seastar, that he and Drake had visited when they were in Seattle several years ago.

Dinner. Was. Amazing.

First we had an heirloom tomato salad, which had heirloom tomatoes, pine nuts, Walla Walla onions, buffalo mozzarella, greens, and an awesome pesto vinaigrette.  Dad had a Thai lemongrass shrimp soup, which he really liked, but I didn’t care for.

But that salad.  Oh, that salad.  It was out of this world.  The flavors blended perfectly, and it was the right balance of everything.  That was probably the best mozzarella cheese I had ever had, or at least the best that I had for awhile.  I believe it was actually made from buffalo milk (traditionally, that’s what mozzarella is made with, or so I’ve heard).

For my main course I had pancetta-wrapped grilled white shrimp with garlic aioli and this awesome bacon-y salad.  Again, awesome.  And that’s about all I can say. 🙂

Dad had prosciutto-wrapped grilled scallops with thinly-sliced melon (the melon had a fancy name, which I can’t remember – it was watermelon and cantaloupe, if I remember correctly).  He really liked it, but, again, I didn’t care for his so much.  Which was great.

For dessert, Dad had black and white crème brulee.  He said the chocolate part wasn’t that good, but I believe the vanilla part was great.

I had sorbet – a scoop of lemon and one of guava passion fruit, I think.  It was GOOOOOD.  The lemon was OUT OF THIS WORLD.

And they gave use some caramels, one for each of us.  I ate mine, and it was really good.

(Do I sound like a broken record?  It was really good.  It was awesome.  *Sigh*)

And that was Day 1.  Tune back (hopefully) soon for day 2!

My Greek salad

In Seattle!

With Dad on the way to Bellevue

Bellevue straight ahead!

In Bellevue

There were several walkways like this one across the streets in Bellevue (I saw maybe two or three)

Dad and I were going to walk to Seastar, but it was pouring rain (we WERE in Seattle), so we ended up having to go back and get the car.  But I did get a few cool pictures!

(Remember the sign to this restaurant)

A (cool) walkway

Remember the sign to the Chinese restaurant?  These guys were making dumplings or wontons.  The man with the rolling pin the left corner would throw each wrapper up as he finished it.  (You can forget the sign now.)

Chihuly glass sculpture

Dinner at Seastar – the heirloom tomato salad

(Excuse the bad pictures – it was dark.)

My entrée

Dad’s entrée

My sorbet (Mmmm…)

By the way, check out Cowgirl Dirt for a cool giveaway!  http://www.cowgirldirt.com/  (I don’t know how to do a hyperlink in WordPress).

A Puppy, the Fourth of July, and Visiting

My camera has been woefully neglected.  It has been sitting behind my chair in my room, somewhat out of sight and mind.  I do think about it, but feel uninspired. 

Goal: take out my camera and leave it somewhere so that I can post more.

 

Last week Tuesday we picked up an ADORABLE little puppy for my cousins.  They named him Bosco.  He is a chocolate cockapoo.  We were taking him up north for them, and OF COURSE we had to get him a bit early.  Don’t you think so, too?

I had so much fun with a little bundle of nigh-boundless energy padding/pattering around behind me, attacking my feet and skirt hem.  I loved having a little warm puppy ball that would suddenly decided he was tired and fall asleep right next to me.  He had this adorable way of curling up on your feet to snuggle and sleep.

But Lucy didn’t like him.  At all.

And honestly, I can’t quite blame her.  He stole her girl, her crate, her water bowl, her room, her spots to lay, and her snuggle time.

If Lucy had hands, she probably would have rung his neck.

Every time I talked to him, every time he was following me or I was taking him out, Lucy was watching from a distance.

And then she started giving me the cold shoulder.  When I would talk to her, she wouldn’t look at me.  And if I tried to hug her or pick her up, she would pull away.

Needless to say, she is happy that he is gone.

 

For the Fourth of July, we had some dear friends over.  We have spent probably the majority of the major holidays with this family for the past 5+ years.  So we continued the tradition.  There was food, bubbles, squirt gun fights, paddle boat rides, and pond-swimming.  Bonfires, badminton, puppy snuggling, and kitty snuggling.  And plenty of talking.

It was wonderful.

I hope your Fourth was as lovely as ours.

 

Friday afternoon we headed up north to deliver a puppy and visit.  It was so great to see family, but too short as always.  I got in several games of Rummikub with Grandma, and Pop joined us for a few, also.  I really love that game.

 

And I hauled my camera all the way up there, and, woefully, it stayed in the bag most of the time.

So I only have one photo of Bosco to share.  And a not-to-great one at that.

 

 

Hoping to take more pictures soon!

Love,
Allison

Charlottesville, VA

Our last stop was 10 or so days near Charlottesville, Virginia (we were in Nellysford, specifically).  This is the city where I was born, and we were able to be there over my 18th birthday, which was quite fun.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

We arrived at the rental house (have I mentioned how much I love VRBO?!) at, oh, 9-ish on Wednesday, the same day we’d toured the Capital. 

*Important urgent update*  I can’t remember everything we did and in what order it was done.  We spent some days just chilling, so I will recap the highlights in the order I remember.

The first day (Thursday) we drove by the hospital building where I was born (the hospital has now moved), Dad’s old work building, and Mom and Dad’s old home.  We also stopped by the home of some of our previous neighbors, and my first baby sitter.  🙂  We also did the necessary grocery shopping.

Friday was my birthday.  I chose to spend it quietly at the rental, and not go anywhere.  Dad and the younger children went in to town to get the car looked at, because the brakes were squeaking.  (We were staying up on a mountain, which was a *little* rough on the car.)  I opted to stay home.  I believe I updated my “About” page.  I painted my toenails a cute red.  And I made some AWESOME grain-free chocolate chip cookies, a recipe that I had gotten from a good friend.  They were so good, the batter even was good (one of my tests to see if a recipe will turn out).  We made pizza for dinner, and I made this delicious grain-free pizza crust.  LOVE it!

It had been a rather warm day, and we had had the windows open most of the afternoon.  We also had the front door open, as there was a storm door.  When we were just about done with dessert, Mom looked up and said, “Noah, was that you?”

Noah was loading a dish in the kitchen.

“Did you make that noise?”

Noah was peeking around the corner toward the front door.  “No, it came from over there.”

Mom sent Drake over to look.  Drake took a quick look. “Dad?  You need to come over here.”

Dad quickly marched over to the door and slammed it.  As the front door was glass, we could still see outside.  Dad flicked on the outside light, and it revealed…

A BEAR!

A good-sized black bear had smelled the cooking and had come around to see what was going on.  He had opened the storm door (yes, you read that right) and was standing on the threshold, ready to come inside, but he hesitated and had turned around, which gave Dad time to shut the door.  He stood up on his hind legs and put his paws on the glass.  And pushed.

I must confess.  I was pretty scared.  Yes, my knees were knocking.  So before you peg me as being brave, imagine me standing around the corner, knees knocking, asking if *just maybe* we should call the police.

*cough*

We did call the police, but by the time the police came (they came quite quickly), the bear had left.  While we were waiting for them to arrive, Mom noticed that the lights in the van were on.  After asking everyone, it was ascertained that no one had left the door open.  When the police came, they told us that it was the bear.  The bear had opened two doors on our van, and had rifled through the whole thing. 

There was dirt and pollen all in the car.  On. Every. Chair.

There hadn’t been any food in there, but the bear had helped himself to a few Kleenex boxes, a water bottle, a cup, and the wipe container.  He had put a few rips in the back seat of the car.

Sadly, I GOT NO PICTURES of the bear.  But I did get photos of some of his damage.

One of the Kleenex boxes

Apparently he liked wipes

 

He didn’t get the top off 🙂

The next day we went to Monticello, which was quite interesting.  It has beautiful views.  Given, there are beautiful views EVERYWHERE in Virginia.  But Monticello had beautiful views.

Heading to Monticello – Blue Ridge Mountains

Monticello

The sundial

 

A hallway that goes underneath Monticello.  Monticello is built on a mountain (Monticello means Little Mountain), and things are built on levels as you go down the mountain.  The roof of part of this hallway is the terrace that comes out of Monticello.  Off to the right are the old slaves’ quarters (not down the hallway, but off to the right in the picture).  It’s a rather interesting set-up.  Anyways, down this hall is the wine cellar.

LOVE the blue sky!

The gardens

Some local grape juice that we purchased.  It taste like raisins.  Very…interesting.  I’d get the purple kind next time.  🙂

The next week Mom took us to Montpelier (Dad was working).  Montpelier was my favorite of the three president’s homes that we visited.  It was the least recreated, but it is just gorgeous.  And the view.  Oh the view.  (You’ll see it below).

We stopped at a scenic overlook on the way to Montpelier.  I believe this is looking toward Charlottesville.

More mountains

 

Pansies at the Montpelier Welcome Center

Montpelier

The view from Montpelier’s front porch

If you look very carefully at the horizon, you can see the Blue Ridge Mountains.  They are 20 miles away.  B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L.

Madison’s front door

 

In the gardens

 

Drake’s legs were sore, so he went to chill in the shade.  Meiling joined him.

 

On the way home

Mom took Noah, Meiling, and I to Market Street in Charlottesville to walk around.  It is blocked off so no cars are there.  It is chock full of cute little shops.

Market Street – The Mole Hole was a neat little shop

Mom loves giraffes.  🙂

When my parents lived in Charlottesville, they visited this restaurant often.  It was Sylvia’s Pizza then.  Now it’s Vita Nova.

We stopped at this little gelato shop.  It. Was. AWESOME!!!!

My ice cream.  I had a chocolate sorbet and a dulce de leche ice cream.  Oh my.  The dulce de leche ice cream was SO VERY VERY good.  I got one ice cream and one sorbet, so at least I was HALF good.  🙂

On the way home we stopped at a creek that ran along the side of the road, and I played with shutter speed.

 

On a walk with everyone

You’ve got to LOVE the view

King of the hill 🙂

 

This *officially* concludes all the posts about our trip.  I’m really glad that it’s done now, as I have some exciting things to post!  Well, I hope you enjoyed!

Love,
Allison

On to D.C. – Part 2

On Tuesday we went to Mount Vernon.  It.  Was. Gorgeous.  Mount Vernon is beautiful – the house is well kept, and the grounds are beautifully planted.  Also, the Welcome Center has an AWESOME museum underneath it, and we only got to spend a few minutes in it.

Wednesday we went to the Library of Congress and the U.S. Capital.  The Library of Congress was beautiful.  They had a Gutenberg Bible there, which was really neat to see.  Also, they had some exhibits in the basement, one of which was about the Gershwins.  They had George Gershwin’s piano there!

Next we went to the Capital.  I really enjoyed the tour – seeing all the rooms that I had heard about and (risking sounding cheesy) only seen on T.V.  We were able to sit in the Senate chamber during one of the votes on gun control.  It was fascinating, at least for me.  Meiling didn’t find it that interesting, but she was such a good girl and sat quietly.  I was quite proud of her.  We were in the Senate chamber during several votes, which were so interesting to watch.  The senators were milling about, talking, and then it would be time for the vote.  The lady tallying the vote would look around the room, and the senators would just give a thumbs up or thumbs down.  Then, after a bit, she would read through the votes, and then start calling senators by name, and they would vote.  Then she would tally the votes.  It was interesting how almost disorganized it had appeared, with the senators in their groups talking, and the votes happening.

After we left the Capital, we drove the two hours down to Charlottesville, VA.

And now for the photos.

At Mount Vernon

Heading in

 

A walkway (wow, am I profound today!)

My boys

The view is amazing

Drake

Thyme.  I LOVE thyme.

The 8-sided wheat-treading barn

Library of Congress

 

 

This and the following photos:  The inside was GORGEOUS!

 

 

 

 

 

 

George Gershwin’s piano!

Walking to the U.S. Capital

The rotunda

The Jefferson Davis statue in Statuary Hall

I tried several views of the Capital, so bear with me.  It’s right up there with the Washington Monument.

 

 

On to D.C.

Next we went to D.C.  D.C.  was a whirlwind.  There is SO MUCH to see there.  Let me repeat:  THERE IS SO MUCH TO SEE IN D.C.  If you ever get the chance, go.  If you don’t, make a chance, then go.  It was wonderful.

Anyways, we arrived at our hotel on a Saturday night.  We were staying about 45 minutes outside of D.C., in Herndon, Virginia.  (Yay!  We were now in my home state!  For those of you who don’t know, I was born in VA.)  The next day (Sunday) we went to church, then we went in to D.C. “to see what we could see.”  We ended up walking around a good bit, then we went to The Smithsonian Museum of American History.  Mom and I went to the First Lady’s dresses exhibit.  So many gorgeous dresses!  The boys and Meiling went to the American President’s display while we were looking at the dresses.  Dad didn’t want to go through the First Ladies’ Dresses exhibit again.  (He had accompanied Mom through that exhibit years ago when they lived in VA.)  We took a break to get some refreshments, and then Dad, Drake, Noah, and I went back to the American History Museum, and Mom and Meiling went to the Smithsonian Castle.  Meiling wasn’t really enjoying the exhibits.  🙂 

The next day we spent walking around D.C., visiting several monuments and memorials, The Smithsonian Museum of Air and Space, and Bureau of Engraving and Printing.  Lots of walking.  I’m not sure if I had a favorite part from Monday.  It was all pretty great.

On Sunday we got Thai food from a restaurant a few minutes down the road from our hotel.  It was great!  We ate there twice.  Their fried rice, garlic chicken – I need to learn to cook like that.  Oh. My.  Mmm….it was SO good.  And so very different from Chinese, which is really amazing.  It looks similar, and Thailand is so close to China.  But it’s totally different.  In a totally delicious way.

Anyways.  Now for the photos.  I split D.C.  into two posts, because there is so much to cover.

Going into D.C. – Drake, being Drake

The Capital

 

(Ha ha.)

The Jefferson Memorial

Washington Monument

The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (I think)

 

The Smithsonian Castle

The Capital

One of the inscriptions on the front of The Smithsonian Museum of American History

This exhibit was great!  I could have spent longer in there.  When I saw there was a food exhibit, I HAD to go see it!

 

Monday – the George Mason Monument

 

The Washington Monument – I LOVED photographing it.  And I took lots of photos of it.  So you’ll have to bear with me.

The following photos:  The Jefferson Memorial

 

 

 

Meiling gave me a dandelion…

…and I wore it in my hair for awhile.

 

At the Air and Space Museum

(Read the caption in the photo)  Somebody has WAY more patience than I do.

*Epic*

Meimei…

…and Noah

Oh look!  The Washington Monument!

The World War II Memorial, with the Lincoln Memorial in the background

 

On the Pacific side – I got a foot in my picture. 

This has to be my second favorite photo that I took of the Washington Monument.

Resting before going to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing – I’m not totally sure what’s happening in this photo

Drake, being his normal self

There!  A smile

Pigeon

We went out to Red Hot and Blue for dinner on Monday.  It was pretty good.

Next time…

First Stop: Plymouth, MA

Sorry for the long time (for me) without a post.  We attended the Family Economics last week, and this week we’ve had a cold going around our home, which I now have.

So, yes, I am sick *again.*  (I am starting to think that I just might have a sluggish immune system – I get sick with every cold that goes around, or at least I FEEL like I do!)

Anyways.  Back to the subject at hand.

On our trip East, our first stop was Plymouth, MA.  We rented a house right on the Cape, which was lovely.  The view out of my window was the ocean.  I could hear it when I was lying in bed at night.  It was lovely.

We arrived there late Sunday evening, unloaded the trailer, and headed to bed.  The next day was spent unpacking, grocery shopping, and settling.

 

The view from my window.  Lovely, eh?

Random shot from the car window

Everyone else was having fried chicken for lunch, and I had this – smoked salmon, cultured butter, and rosemary-olive oil cheese (I can’t remember exactly what type of cheese it was).  The grocery store we went to had all this awesome food – cultured butter, cheese, and fun meats.  You see what floats my boat!

Dad took me down to the beach, which was a 3/10th of a mile down the road.  We spent some time walking around, chatting, and I took plenty of photos!  Even though it was rather chilly, it was fun.  And you can’t get a landlocked Midwesterner that close to the ocean without her getting to the beach!

 

 

 

 

There was lots of water running and making pretty patterns in the sand

 

 

Ahh…water…

Ocean!  Please come home with me!

 

 

 

This one’s from the next day, when we all went down to the beach together

Twilight

I decided to get up at 5 one morning to take a picture of the sunrise.  Meiling insisted that she get up with me.  We went downstairs, and sat on the couch to wait.  Meiling immediately launched into this whole story about how Noah took this picture of himself blah blah blah blah.  I just sat back and told her she had WAY to much energy for 5 o’clock in the morning.  In the end, we didn’t get that amazing of a sunrise – it just got gradually lighter.

 

The next three days we spent with the Heroes, History, and Hope tour.  It was wonderful to hear the pilgrim stories and to stand where they had stood.  The first day we visited many monuments and sites in Plymouth.  Thursday was spent visiting the dock where the Mayflower II would have been (it was undergoing repairs, so we didn’t get to see it) and Plimoth Plantation.  Friday we went to the Forefather’s Monument and the pilgrim museum – I can’t remember the exact name.

Plymouth Rock

 

First Parish Church in Plymouth – this was the original church started by the pilgrims when they arrived in Plymouth.  In the 1800s, I believe, this church adopted Unitarianism…

…and then some people separated and started the Church of the Pilgrimage, which is right next door.  The Church of the Pilgrimage – this photo and the next.

 

Pilgrim sarcophagus on Cole’s Hill

 

At Plimoth Plantation

 

The Forefather’s Monument – it was really chilly when we were there, so we only stayed for 20 minutes instead of the two hours we had been hoping to.

Just Got Back

We just arrived home this past Saturday from a long, three-week trip on the East Coast.  We spent a week in Plymouth, MA, 5 days in Washington, D.C., and 9 days near Charlottesville, VA.  It was a lovely trip, and I will hopefully be posting more extensive photo-posts soon.  But, just for fun, I took a bunch of self-portraits at different places we went.  Here they are!

You can’t let a Midwesterner near the ocean, without them making it to the ocean.  🙂

Smithsonian Museum of American History

George Mason Monument

Thomas Jefferson Memorial

At the Smithsonian Museum of Air and Space…

…with my bro

World War II Monument

At the Bureau of Engraving and Printing…

…again with my brother.

Mount Vernon

The Library of Congress

The Capitol

Monticello

Blue Ridge Mountains

Montpelier

 

(If I look like I am only giving a partial-smile in some of the photos, it’s just because I am focusing on taking the picture and not enough on smiling.)