Washington DC

On top of Little Round Top, we heard a park ranger talk about the battle for the hill. Through the window below you can see Devil's Den, a place where the Confederates took cover as they tried to cross the opening between the woods and the round top.

The Pennsylvania Memorial

These are part of the unknown soldiers of the battle of Gettysburg.

The battlefield at Anteitam in Sharpsburg, Maryland

" The Sunken Road" where the Confederates laid waiting for the Union to come over the hill in one of their last attempts to regain a victory.

The Jefferson Memorial

WWII Memorial

The Washington Monument

Julia Child's kitchen at the American History Museum.

Inside view of the Old Post Office which is now used as a food court and mall with entertainment. There is an elevator that goes up 11 stories to an observation deck.

We watched a play at Ford's Theatre called "One Destiny" which depicted the happenings of several key characters and events on the day president Lincoln was assassinated.

Chinatown where,of course, they have the best Chinese food ever. We chose the restaurant based on what we heard a rick shaw driver tell another couple was the "place to eat" called Eat First Restaurant. We had some great refreshments of beer and tea and appetizers of crab wontons. Then we had pork lowmein and breaded jumbo prawns. MMMMmmmm.

A shot of the longest escalator in the metro (that we found anyway.)

The National Cathedral. It was 8 AM Sunday monring and we encroached in a local girls school graduation ceremony. The mistake we made was taking the metro which according to the map looked as if it was in close proximity to the cathedral but was about a 1 1/2 mile walk each way in too warm of weather. We were trying to accomplish all this before a church service in Virginia where we were going to visit an old friend. It made for a good morning exercise which ironically not necessary because there was free parking in the cathedral lot.

Lee's house at Arlington National Cemetary. We visited here after church and a great pizza lunch on Sunday afternoon.

The eternal flame at JFK's gravesite

The tomb of the unknown soldiers

Iwo Jima

The Korean War Memorial

The Vietnam War Memorial

Our hotel was gorgeous. The Renaissance Mayflower Hotel is one of the oldest in the city.

The Library of Congress. I could spend days here.

A lovely little spot to have a nice dinner. It was quaint and picturesque but the outside shot is all I could get. I had the lobster and Mike had a plate with quail, lamb, and rabit sausage. we ended the night with a little dish of hand made vanilla icecream and homemade cookies. I think we inspired the people next to us because they had the same dessert.

Inside the Metro Center

A view from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, one of the leading arcitechural wonders of the world. It has two tunnels that total 17 miles of underwater travel. Toll =$12.

Our view from our hotel in Kitty Hawk, NC. We arrived late aroun 11 PM and sat out on the balcony to enjoy the Atlantic Ocean while we could. The next day we had Duck Donuts and wlked along the beach a little ways before we noticed that no one else was walking along the beach like we do in Oregon. They were planted at their site with umbrellas and all the floaties and sand toys necessary for an enjoyable day. We said good-bye to the coast and headed down the highway to see the Wright Brothers Monument. We drove east 6 hours to the Ballentyne Hotel again arriving around 11 PM.

The lighthouse at Currituck Beach

We spent 3 days of golfing in the heat, but it seemed like a break compared to our endless sight-seeing days in DC. The golf carts provided us with a hint of a breeze after each shot. It was the putting on the green where you had to stand still to aim your shot and you could feel the penetrating heat and humidity surrounding you. We made up for the torturous heat with a dip in the pool after each round.

The hotel was pure luxury and we enjoyed every minute of it!

The turndown service was especially nice with fine chocolates and a weather forcast card for the next day.

Our Backyard

Zion/Grand Canyon

The minivan was rented, the car was packed both inside and topside, the seat belts buckled and after a good hot breakfast at St. Charles, we took to the open road heading east toward Ely Nevada. Arrival time was 9:30 PM only 13 hours after leaving Bend. The hours in the car were pleasant enough listening to children's books on tape, children's music, radio thater and Odyssey. The portable DVD player was well used and Corinne played for hours with a Sesame Street flannel book. We stopped at a park to play and make a pinic lunch from the cooler. We spent that night in a hotel which was a relief that we didn't have to set up camp in the dark and the freezing cold. We had hopes that the weather would be warmer further down the road.

Driving just 3 more hours the second day and we were there. . .at Zion National Park (just missing by minutes the annual St. Patrick's Day parade and festivities that would have blocked the only entrance road). It was breathtaking being surrounded by enormous rock formations in the midst of the canyon. It left a feeling that I was a really small being in this great universe that was created. We flashed our National Park Pass and checked out the visitors center and then planned a couple small hikes for the afternoon.

The road into Zion National Park. The red roads "are so peculiar."

This is the furthest that we could hike the Narrows.

Corinne hiked all the way back 1.2 miles. Elijah was a true hiker now and hike both ways. Well, it was a nice change from being in the car for a day and a half.

The Weeping Rock

Elijah catching some of the weeping rock's tears.

a view from the upper pool. . .wow that waterfall is TALL.

Our campsite in the snow. The lows each night were around 23 degrees. We planned for cold nights when we purchased a propane heater that could be used inside our tent, but the mornings were COLD and none of us wanted to stay outside and cook breakfast. The kids seemed to wake up at 6 AM every morning and would warm us with their laughter. They would play games in their sleeping bags and thier stuffed animals would be flying all over the tent. They would read/quote their favorite books of the napping house and the itsy bitsy spider and laugh some more. Every morning we'd boil water for some wonderful starbuck's microground coffee and we'd eat our continental breakfast of bagels, yogurt and hardboiled eggs in the warmed-up minivan. It was a system that worked pretty well.

The kids found that nature has the best toys. All sizes of rocks were chosen to throw into the snow banks to make "decorations" at the campsite.

Listening to the sounds of the Grand Canyon at the bookstore.

This is Corinne taking a picture of her big brother at the Grand Canyon.

Corinne peering out of the watchtower window. . .one that was just her height.

Taking in the sunset at Lipan Point. . . just breath taking!

This was our view from the Bright Angel Trail. We hiked about 3/4 miles down until we ran into too much packed ice that was too dangerous for our hiking outfit.

Majave Point

Pima Point

Playing around and enjoying the warmer weather at Lake Havasu.

Trying to stay clear of the prickly cactus.

Sunset at Lake Havasu.

The historic London Bridge now resides at Lake Havasu City.