Jay’s Final Journey with Us—Washington DC with Molly and Sarah Emily

We have decided that this will be our final RV trip with Jay.  Health, age and time make this a necessary bitter-sweet decision.  At a yard sale in early June we “sold” Jay on the contingency that he wouldn’t be available until August 1st.  So we embarked on a 12-day journey to Washington DC with our Charlotte granddaughters, Molly, aged 11 and Sarah Emily, aged 9, from July 9-21, 2016

Day 1— Knoxville to Concord, NC—Saturday, July 9, 2016

On the road at 9 AM, we had an uneventful trip to Concord, NC.  We’d taken a “shake-out” trip in April overnight to Townsend, TN just to make sure everything was working well, since we’d not done a trip this year.  We arranged for an adjacent Concord campground than last year when we’d done this same trip with grandson, Jimmy, because our previous campground was having a festival.  When we arrived at 4 PM we heard the preliminaries of the festival and wondered how well we’d sleep.  Our first challenge was the air conditioning.   We made the mistake of overloading the 30-amp service by trying to run the hot water heater and A/C at the same time.  NOT!!!  We called the campground manager who had personally parked us in a spot under a tree for “coolness” as the temp was 92!!  He gave us the name of someone who might come to repair the A/C on a Saturday night!!  Fortunately after waiting a few minutes after resetting the circuit breaker, the A/C came on; no need for repair!  Yeah, first hurdle overcome!!

Our campsite "under the trees" for coolness in Concord, NC.

  

We called our son to arrange dinner at Cracker Barrel along with transfer of our granddaughters.   By 8 PM we were arranging their clothing in their “buckets” which we use to hold our clothing and making plans for a 9 AM departure on Sunday, thinking it would be a 7-hr trip.

The festival noise did not disturb our sleep.






Day 2-Concord, NC to Fort Belvoir Travel Camp, VA—Sunday, July 10, 2016

We were on the road by 9:04 AM; Molly and Sarah Emily were “johnny-on-the-spot” cooperative in getting up, eating and being ready!! Due to LOTS of construction on I85 and I95, and lots of traffic when we got to Fredericksburg, VA, ~ 70 miles south of Fort Belvoir, it took 8+ hours to get there.  We stopped at a rest stop for lunch and fixed peanut butter/jelly and hazelnut spread  and ham and cheese sandwiches and lots of fruit for lunch at a lovely rest stop with picnic tables under the trees. 

We set up camp and were having chicken nuggets, rice,  and broccoli/cheese casserole with wine (for the adults) and Dr Pepper for the girls by about 7 PM.  Dessert was cherry cordial/chocolate chip ice cream.  Everyone was tucked in to bed, (with Sarah Emily sleeping on “the table”—the banquette converts to a bed) by 9 PM.  The girls initially alternated sleeping on the "table".  I doubt the girls were asleep as quickly as Grampa Dave and Grannie Annie, though.

 

Cheers!  with Dr Pepper.

Day 3- Recon of metro and Mount Vernon—Monday, July 11, 1016

We were up having breakfast by 7:30 and on the road to the parking ramp at Franconia/Springfield next to Metro Stop by 8:30.  We found this Metro stop to be very convenient last year for our trips into DC with Jimmy.  We’d learned from campers next to us that a free bus transport would be needed between two Virginia stations due to “Safety Surge”, the Metro’s maintenance upgrade being done over the next 6-12 months, maintenance that has been deferred for >15  years. It’s a rolling repair with free street-level buses provided to transport people between shutdown stations.

We learned that to be certain of enough time to get to our 8:15 AM reservation at the Bureau of Printing and Engraving on Tuesday that we should allow two hours.  Ugh!! that means up at 4:45 AM.

From there we decided to tour Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home overlooking the Potomac River.  General Washington’s estate was over 3000 acres, much of it in wheat, fruit and vegetables.  He considered himself a farmer first and foremost.  Washington inherited the home of his father, and he enlarged it, adding a wing on both ends and raising the roof.  All of this was done to his design.  George Washington was self-taught as his father could not afford to send him to college.  He was a voracious reader.  While George Washington relied on slaves to staff his estate, he did not believe in slavery as a long-term labor solution.  George and his wife, Martha Dandridge Custis, were not able to have children, but George “fostered” many children, including his wife’s children, Patsy and Jack, from her first marriage. 

George, Martha, Jack and Patsy welcome North Carolinians, Molly and Sarah Emily

Molly especially liked watching the period-costumed blacksmith make nails which were to be used in making a boat from Washington’s era.  Sarah Emily liked the stables the best and seeing the horse and mule.  Grampa Dave and Grannie Annie liked the mansion the best.   George Washington wrote very specific instructions about his internment and it took  years for a final resting place to be built.  Today there are 26 Washington relatives in the crypt.  Soldiers would visit the tomb and carve their initials into the bricks.  Molly and Sarah Emily had a book of 10 questions to answer as we traversed the grounds. Their “prize” at the end was a Mount Vernon imprinted coin. 

Sarah Emily is dwarfed by the mural of George Washington in the Visitors Center

Mount Vernon is constantly undergoing maintenance

Beautiful view of the Potomac River from the patio of Mount Vernon

George Washington and 26 relatives' crypt on the estate

George's original crypt

A favorite stop was the stable, especially the smell!

Following the tour we went to shop for hamburger and buns to grill.  Grampa built a fire and oversaw the grilling while a spinach salad and watermelon were prepared as accompaniments.  We had
'smores for dessert.

Up even before sunrise

Sleepy ride on Metro

  
           Day 4—Bureau of Engraving & Printing and Capitol Tour—Tuesday, July 12, 2016

We arose before the sun without many grouchy comments, had a quick cereal breakfast and were on the road to the parking ramp by 6 AM!!!!  We learned from a man who overheard our confused discussion, about which train to take at the Franconia/Springfield Metro, that it would be wiser to take the bus at the Franconia station to the Pentagon as it was faster.  It turned out to be an Express bus which drove the Express Lanes of I 395, from which we could watch the long lines of cars and brake lights in the “regular” lanes.  Because this bus was so fast, we got to the next Metro stop VERY quickly and transferred to the blue line METRO which goes to a station very near our destination, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. We got there by 7:15, an hour ahead of our reservation!!  Then there were groans!!!  Good lesson learned, though, as the Pentagon express bus saved us lots of time and money.  

The tour of the BEP was most interesting, but there will be no photos and no free samples, either.  Over $1 million of paper money is printed a day. We watched $5 bills being final scanned and sorted.  The BEP was formed August 29, 1862.  It makes the paper currency for the Federal Reserve, Treasury securities, military commission and award certificates, postage stamps, White House invitations and other specialty documents .  Currency is printed via dry intaglio method which utilizes special paper and non-offset inks.  In 2013 the Bureau delivered 6.6 billion notes at an average cost of 10 cents per note.

  

We finished our tour and browsed the gift shop where Grampa Dave bought a hat (he’d left his at the trailer) which has $50 and $100 bills all over it.  It garnered some extra glances from folks on the street as we browsed the Washington Monument and the World War II Memorial. 

The Washington Monument was the brainchild of Washington City Planner, Pierre L’Enfant, but its construction was halted in 1854 when funds were depleted.  It was then only 150 feet tall.  Construction resumed in 1876 but with a different design to today’s 555 foot obelisk.  The top half of the monument is a slightly different color as the original stone was no longer available.  The Washington Monument was damaged in an earthquake in 2011, necessitating repair which included installation of a high-speed elevator and new windows.  50 US flags surround its base.

The World War II Memorial was opened in April 2004 to honor the millions of people who served in the war.  It has 56 granite pillars, each 17 feet tall arranged in a semicircle around a plaza with two 43-foot triumphal arches on opposite sides.Two-thirds of the 7.4 acre site is landscaping and water.  The wall has 4,048 gold stars, each representing 100 Americans who died in the war.  In front of the Memorial is the message, “Here we mark the price of freedom.”

Molly & Sarah Emily looked up the citation for their maternal great grandfather's service in the Army. 

Sierra, Sarah Emily and Molly in the Rotunda of Capitol Bldg

We Metroed our way to Union Station where we bought tickets to take the trolley around DC and walked to the Dirksen Senate Building for lunch in their cafeteria.  VERY NOISY, but a great place to watch people.  Our Capitol Tour was at 2 PM from the office of Senator Bob Corker, one of Tennessee’s Senators.  We had enough time to visit Senator Lamar Alexander.  His office has a lot of antiques on loan from the Museum of Appalachia because he is a close friend of its curator. 

Our very personable guide, Sierra, is an intern from Johnson City. She took us to the transport in the tunnel, something we’d not used in last year’s tour with Jimmy.  There are two tracks  for the “commoners” and one track for the Senators and their staff.  The latter transport is covered somewhat  like the “Popemobile”.  Ours was an open car seating four.  We zipped to the Capitol via this underground transport not having to contend with the 92+ heat and humidity of Washington DC. 

In the Capitol we made our way to the Rotunda which is still under renovation so there was scaffolding obscuring much of the statuary.  Sierra explained the history, stating the rotunda is the symbolic and physical heart of the Capitol building.  It is 96 feet in diameter and rises 48 feet.  The rotunda has been used for ceremonial events such as funereal lying-in-state of honored people.  Topping the Capitol Done is the Statue of Freedom.  On the interior of the dome is a fresco painted in 1865 by Constantino Brumidi called “The Apotheosis of Washington”.  There are eleven statues in the rotunda.  From the rotunda we whisked through the Old Senate Chamber which had been shared by the Senate and the Supreme Court early in our history.  The ground floor of the Capitol is called the Capitol Crypt because it was to have held the remains of George Washington.  As per Washington’s will, however, his remains are entombed at Mount Vernon.  There is a stone in the center said to represent the center of Washington DC, but it is not actually in the center of the City.  Within the crypt is the massive head of Abraham Lincoln done by Gutzon Borglum, creator of the Mount Rushmore Monument.  The head is missing the left ear supposedly to symbolize Lincoln’s unfinished life. 

Sierra gave us passes to go to either the Senate or House gallery to watch a session of Congress.  We went to the Senate side and watched counting of votes for a bill about which we were not informed.  Then we watched as the chamber emptied while various Senators read their comments into the record.  We heard Lamar Alexander make an impassioned speech about greater funding for nuclear energy research and the ending of wind turbine subsidies a year earlier than planned as it has not proven to be as cost effective as promised.  We listened for about 45 minutes until nearly 4 PM and wanted to leave but we were told we could not leave.  The Capitol was on Lock Down!!!!  We later learned three gunmen had been stopped near the Capitol and the police were still looking for some of them.   Finally at 5 PM we were allowed to leave.

We Metroed back to camp and Grannie prepared hot dogs and watermelon, an easy meal after such a long day.

Day 4—Monuments and Arlington Cemetery—Wednesday, July 13, 2016

We were on our way at a more reasonable hour today, knowing a bit more about how the Metro works.  We Metroed to the Smithsonian exit where we boarded the Old Town Trolley to do the memorials and Arlington Cemetery. 

First stop was the Thomas Jefferson Memorial on the Tidal Basin.  It is built in the Neoclassical style, designed by John Russell Pope, and built between 1939-1943.  Jefferson’s bronze statue, 19 feet tall and weighing 10,000 pounds, was added in 1947.  The monument has circular marble steps and is open to the elements.  Thomas faces towards the mall, so “he can keep an eye on Congress” according to the trolley driver/guide.  She had a running narrative about the buildings we were passing as she drove.  Thomas Jefferson was the author of the Declaration of Independence and father of the University of Virginia, according to his headstone at Monticello, his home.  He was also the third President of the United States.  There are many quotes inside the Memorial from his speeches as a statesman, diplomat and visionary.  Critics have cited many “adjustment,/additions” to these speeches done to save space.  Jefferson loved music, science and technology. 

Our second stop was at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Martin Luther King Memorials.  I chuckled when the trolley driver pronounced Roosevelt’s name because I had had a discussion with Molly about the pronunciation of his middle name, saying the accent was on the first syllable which is how the driver said it!  Roosevelt was our only President to serve four terms, serving during the Great Depression and the start of World War II, and dying in office.  There is a statue of a man sitting on a chair listening to the radio to one of Roosevelt’s “fireside chats”.  There is also a statue of Eleanor Roosevelt, the President’s wife, the only First Lady with a statue in DC.  She was also the first delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. 

At the Martin Luther King Memorial, opened in 2011, his image is said to have been drawn from his “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered only 800 yards away on the mall at the Lincoln Memorial.  There are 14 quotations on the Inscription Wall stressing his primary themes:  justice, democracy, hope and love. His leadership, patience, and faith have created a legacy which continues to inspire the quest for civil rights around the world. 

Our next trolley stop took us the Lincoln Memorial and a park service lunch stand which we used to get four ice cream bars to sustain us for a switch in plans.  We’d intended to wait until the end to go to the Arlington Cemetery, but the trolley driver advised going before 1 PM as it got very crowded in the afternoon.  So we used a trolley to cross over the Memorial Bridge and Potomac  River to enter Arlington National Cemetery.

Grampa Dave, Molly and Sarah Emily pose at the Kennedy Eternal Flame (behind them)

There are over 400,000 graves holding bodies and cremains from all American wars from the Revolutionary to our current Middle East wars.  There are 15-30 caisson-bearing burials each weekday at the Cemetery and a large expansion for more cremains is underway.  Our trolley train climbed the path to the John F Kennedy grave site with its Eternal Flame.  It overlooks the Mall and is a very solemn site.  The land the Cemetery is built on was co-opted from the Lee family for a pittance price in 1864;  the Lee family sued for better compensation for the prime real estate after the Civil War, but chose not to return to the land, after winning the suit, as there were already thousands of graves on the land. 

The most impressive aspect of the Arlington National Cemetery is the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  This very solemn military ceremony occurs every 30 minutes during the summer hours of the Cemetery.  The commander comes out to inspect the sentinel’s weapon and uniform and each sentinel takes 21 steps across the black carpet in front of the tomb, turns and faces north for 21 seconds, executing a sharp “shoulder-arms” movement to place the weapon on the shoulder closest to visitors to signify that the sentinel stands between the Tomb and possible threat.  Twenty-one was chosen because it symbolizes the highest military honor that can be bestowed— a 21-gun salute.  The Guards at the tomb maintain a rigorous code of attention to their uniform and precision of marching. 

We saw the Iwo Jima Memorial from the trolley.

After touring the rest of the Cemetery with our guide pointing out the various important military people buried there, we drove back to the Lincoln Memorial.  There we had lunch prior to visiting the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial Wall, Korean War Memorial and the Vietnam Women's Memorial. 

Grampa Dave wanted both granddaughters to read the Gettysburg Address

The Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in 1922, a symbol of civil rights.  Looking at the statue of Lincoln, one sees one of his hands clenched in a fist, symbolizing strength and determination in saving and preserving the union.  The other hand is rested and relaxed, showing his more compassionate side.  The Memorial is in the form of a Greek Doric temple and contains a large seated sculpture of Abraham Lincoln and inscriptions of two of his well-known speeches, The Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural Address.  Martin Luther King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963.

Lincoln’s statue stands 19 feet tall from head to foot.  The Georgia white marble sculpture weighs 175 tons and had to be shipped in 28 separate pieces.  It rests on a pedestal of Tennessee marble10 feet high, 16 feet wide and 17 feet deep. 

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is made up of two gabbros (dark-colored coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock) walls 246 feet 9 inches long.  The walls are sunk into the ground.  Stone for the wall came from Bangalore, Karnataka, India and was deliberately chosen because of its reflective quality.  The 58,272 names are inscribed chronologically; approximately 1200 of these are listed as missing in action, denoted with a cross. 

The Vietnam Women’s Memorial honors the women, mostly nurses, who served in the war.  Grannie takes exception to the placement of the three women, providing care to a soldier, in a sandbagged area, as she doesn’t believe women were actually on the front lines in Vietnam where she served as a nurse from April to September, 1968.  It is still a very moving sculpture!

The Korean War Veterans’ Memorial is in the form of a triangle intersecting a circle.  The walls are 164 feet long, 8 inches thick and made up of more than 100 tons of highly polished “Academy Black” granite from California. More than 2500 photographic, archival images representing the land, sea and air troops who supported those who fought in the war are sandblasted onto the wall.  Within the walled triangle are 19 stainless steel statues designed by Frank Gaylord, each larger than life-size, between 7feet 3 inches and 7 feet 6 inches tall; each weighs nearly 1000 pounds.  When reflected on the wall, there appear to be 38 soldiers, representing the 38th parallel.

We wanted to follow the trolley route to see the other sites but by then it was after 3 PM and traffic was atrocious.  So we jumped off, found the Metro and rode back to Jay.  Grannie fixed a spaghetti and meat ball dinner.  As we were eating, Grannie informed everyone that the meat was chicken.  Grannie wondered what part of the chicken we were eating.  Then we decided it was probably a rooster!!  The granddaughters were especially humored by the concept!!

"Rooster balls" and spaghetti sauce

                                                                                                                                                                   Day 5—Smithsonian Castle and Air & Space Museum—Thursday, July 14, 2016

We were up early enough today to catch the Express Bus again on our route to the Smithsonian stop.  Sarah Emily especially wanted to go into the castle where we’d never been.  It houses a lot of administrative offices and information center.  It is constructed of Seneca red limestone in the faux Norman style (c 12 century combination of Romanesque and early Gothic motifs).  We asked its computers where to locate some of Molly and Sarah Emily’s favorite things to see. 

Riding the Express Bus between closed Metro Stations

Beautiful gardens at Smithsonian "Castle"

We rapidly moved on to the National Air and Space Museum, NASM, which holds the world’s largest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft.  NASM has 6.7 million visitors per year, the fifth most visited museum in the world!  The girls wanted to see the two Einstein theater presentations first—The Dark Universe and Journey to the Stars.  These movies are shown in the  full-dome, digital theater which surrounds the viewer with the exploration of our universe.  Then it was lunch time before further exploration. 

Prior to their simulator ride, Molly & Sarah Emily practiced "controlling" their craft

Sarah Emily was commander until they got stuck upside down (note the back half of craft is rotated "upside down"), so Molly helped to get them right-side up!

Sarah Emily and Molly saw the sign for a simulator ride.  It had to be and was “AWESOME”.  It simulates flight with initially Sarah Emily at the control stick, but when they got stuck upside down Molly helped to correct their flight.  They both came away wanting to do it  again.  We browsed the rest of the displays doing many interactive activities demonstrating the effects of flight and America’s space flight history.  Neither granddaughter has ever flown in an airplane so it affected their appreciation of what they were seeing.

We Metroed back to camp and ate the panko-breaded shrimp and cornbread (prepared by Molly) with veggies for dinner.  Again we were ready for bed by 9 PM. 

Day 6—The Spy Museum—Friday—July 15, 2016

One of the identities a "spy" could chose to assume

Lots of interactive opportunities to ply "spy" skills

Today the only thing on our agenda was the Spy Museum.  Both granddaughters really were enthused about this museum because their brother raved about it after his visit last year.  It was a really late morning for us as we arrived there at 10:45.  There was a long queue which it took us over an hour to wade through.  The girls decided on their secret identity, but took cell phone pix of the description.  Later they had to answer questions about their identify which they both liked a lot.  At the end, Molly was able to depart her country into which she’d gone for a spying activity because she remembered the answers.  Sarah Emily was kept in detention because as she was answering a passing child pushed one of her keys giving a wrong answer.  There were lots of interactive displays about spying activities.  They had the opportunity to have their pix taken in front of the Aston Martin car used in the original James Bond movie and it was sent to their email address.  The museum finished with many clips of James Bond movies and a message from the President about the threat of cyber wars in the future which could shut down our electric grids and destroy crops and other potentially disastrous results.

We went to Johnny Rocket’s 50’s cafe in the Union Station for a very late lunch at 3 PM.  Grampa and Grannie had root beer floats with their sandwiches while Molly and Sarah Emily had M&M shakes which came in a tall coke glasses and had an extra pour in the mixing canister.  From there we Metroed back to camp and relaxed for the evening until the hungries hit us at 7:30 when we had leftovers. 

Day 7—Laundry and THE POOL—Saturday, July 16, 2016

Grampa Dave is the chef, serving the pancakes as they come off the griddle. 

We’d agreed to have breakfast at 9:30, but the girls were wide awake at 7:30!!  So we gradually started making pancakes and bacon about 9 AM.  Grannie began doing laundry while Grampa Dave took the girls to the pool, but it didn’t open until 12 Noon.  Again the girls were very patient while waiting for the pool to open.  Their afternoon was spectacular, though with lots of sun, fun and swimming.  Even Grampa and Grannie got into the pool for about 45 minutes  It was very sunny.  We had lunch at the pool and came home by 5 PM, stopping by Dominoes to order pizza for delivery at 6:30.  We went straight to the showers and came out as the sky started to fall.   We had our first thunderstorm since arriving, but it cleared out by 9 PM.

We were treated to a rainbow after our rain shower. 

Day 8—Basilica of the Immaculate Conception—Sunday, July 17, 2016

Waiting for the Metro on a Sunday.

Today, being Sunday, we went to church.  Actually we attended a Catholic worship service at the  Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Catholic church in America.  It seats 3500 people in the upper church and another 2500 in the lower church or crypt area.  As it is dedicated to Jesus’ mother, Mary, there are many chapels throughout the building with statuary of Mary from places all over the world.  The worship service, a Catholic high Mass with three Monseigneurs officiating, was an hour long and included lots of incense, bells and beautiful music by the organ and choir.  Grannie told Molly and Sarah Emily that not only did they attend their first Catholic worship service in the largest Catholic church in America, but the worship was a high Mass!!  We had lunch in their cafeteria and Metroed back to camp by 3 PM. We stopped for steak at the grocery on our way back to camp which Grampa Dave grilled.. Yum! Yum! After dinner we watched Kung Fu Panda III and ate popcorn.  The movie was fun and even had a moral--believe in yourself and don't give up. 

Grannie added garlic bread to be toasted with the steak.      

                                                                                                                                                             Day 9—The Smithsonian National Zoo—Monday, July 18, 2016

As rain was predicted for tomorrow, we’d decided to “do the zoo” today, again after a lazy wake-up and eggs, bacon and fried potatoes for breakfast.  Both girls have discovered they like poached eggs which Grannie has 'most every day for breakfast.  They prefer theirs hard-cooked though like a hard-boiled egg, while Grannie likes her yolk a bit runny. 

When we arrived at the Metro we needed to add fare to our cards.  Both girls were very proficient at this process.  Initially when we’d gotten the cards on the Monday after our arrival, the clerk at the kiosk actually came out to help us get the money installed.  By the third card she had the girls do it because the grown-ups were slow!!  We also calculated how many more Metro rides we’d make and to where to ensure there wasn’t too much fare left!

Throughout the zoo, these very colorful sculptures of creature are on display.

The sand cat  lives in deserts of North Africa, Southwest, and Central Asia. It weighs 3.3-7.5 pounds and is 15-20 inches from head and body plus tail of 9-12 inches.

The Metro stop nearest the zoo is a four-block walk.  By our arrival time at 11 AM the temp was already pushing 90 degrees with what felt like about the same percentage humidity.  Grampa Dave has kept up very well with us, a concern about this trip as his Parkinson’s Disease causes a bit of instability to his balance.  But we were proud of how well he’s done and he rests when he needs to, and Grannie and the girls do on, which is what we did today.  After lunch, Grampa rested near the entrance while the rest of us went on to the farthest portions of the zoo.                           We all got to enjoy the pandas, however, who were inside where it was cooler.  Did you know a female panda is only fertile two days of the year?!  It’s amazing they ever reproduce, but Mei Xiang has had two babies with Tian Tian, Bao  Bao, born 8/19/13 and Bei Bei, born 8/22/15.  They all were rather lethargic due to the heat, even indoors.  Our trek to the far side of the zoo past the elephants, the endangered przewalski horses (which Grampa and Grannie had seen in Germany a year ago near the kaserne where they’d lived from 1975-78)to the farm, apes and and small mammals.  It was a long, hot walk, but very interesting with several species of animals  Grannie  had never seen.   The smallest ungulate is the mouse deer which is 16-30 inches long and weighs 1.5-17.6 inches.                                      Both Molly and Sarah Emily enjoyed the prairie dogs.                We watched as storm clouds began to build and rain was predicted by 5 PM per our weather app.  Grampa Dave also texted us that the weather was threatening.  So we headed towards a short-cut route only to discover it was closed.  Grannie asked at an information kiosk about a trolley as we’d seen one earlier.  Fortunately it came quickly and got us back to the entry where Molly and Sarah Emily wanted to browse the gift shop.  Once done with that we speed walked back to the Metro (four blocks) as the wind got stronger and the rain cloud was over us.  We got into the Metro just as the first rain drops began!!

We Metroed back to the truck and stopped for a special Grannie treat  for dessert (blueberry pie and ice cream ) after dinner of leftovers.                                                             We didn't have rain, but the clouds were spectacular. 

Day 10—The Museum of American History—Tuesday, July 19, 2016

There was a special display honoring Prince.

Sarah Emily was very excited to see the dresses worn by the Presidents wives during today’s journey to the Museum of American History.  There was a question posted about what happens if the first female presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, is elected.  Would the museum display her husband’s tuxedo??  Likely not!  The ivory gown, worn by Michele Obama for her husband's first inaugural ball, was displayed in a separate case.  The red dress was worn by Laura Bush, considered quite risque for a First Lady to wear red, but her husband especially liked to see her wear red.  The gowns all displayed haute culture for their times.   Sarah Emily especially liked the ones with purple colors.                                                                                           

There were also exhibits about American enterprise over the years, American wars particularly the first gun boats, American food industry, inventions unique to America, and the one which the girls especially enjoyed, a projection of different clothing with each girl standing into the dress projection and able to move her arms about.  We browsed the gift shop, anticipating not too many more opportunities to buy stuff. 

Back at camp, we cleaned up leftovers for dinner, reminisced about all we’d seen during our past ten days, and had the last of the 'smores' makings.  

Day 11—Trolley Tour, National Cathedral and Twilight Tattoo—Wednesday, July 20, 2016

After breakfast, we drove our truck to Joint Base Myers/Henderson Hall in anticipation of a late evening and not wanting to walk the mile to the Metro after our evening Tattoo. 

We had Trolley Tour tickets which took us to the northwest sections of Washington DC.  We listened to the narration of the driver/guide as he pointed out highlights we were passing by.  Our only exit was at the Washington National Cathedral, an Episcopal Church.  It is the sixth largest cathedral in the world, second largest in the US and fourth tallest structure in DC.  It took from 1907 to 1990 to complete.  State funerals for three Presidents, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Dwight Eisenhower, have been held there.  Reverend Martin Luther King preached his last sermon there just before his assassination.  It was damaged by the earthquake and now collects an admission to offset the repair costs.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Besides the overwhelming immensity of the building, there are many inspiring stained glass windows.  One of particular interest is the Space Window which commemorates the moon landing mission of Apollo 11 and includes a piece of moon rock brought back by the crew.                                                                                                                                                     There is a Children’s Chapel, built to the scale of a six-year-old.                                                        

Molly hugs the young Jesus.  

Molly and Sarah Emily observed Grannie, lighting a vigil candle after paying an offering and saying a prayer, and followed her example by offering some of their money, lighting a candle and saying a prayer. 

 For Grannie the most awe-inspiring was a demonstration of the organ, including the Star Wars theme!

Embassy of Lesotho

We had lunch in the Cafe at the Cathedral Close before re-boarding the trolley, this time manned by a jovial black man whose accent made his narration a bit difficult to understand.  We were amazed as we drove through Embassy Row as he named off all the embassies we were passing, including the Embassy of Lesotho, the country where Grampa and Grannie served as missionaries from 1993-99.      

The Embassy of Saudi Arabia is not with other embassies, however.  It occupies prime waterfront real estate not too far from Watergate.  We drove through Georgetown noting the high-end shops, bars and restaurants.  It was once a slave-trading area.  There are now several elite universities located in the Georgetown area. We got off the trolley near the White House, where we visited the Gift Shop located across the street from the White House.

Then we Metroed back to Ft Myers to have dinner at their bowling alley—very good burgers and too many fries.  Next we went to Summerall Field for the Twilight Tattoo.  We were very fortunate to be able to attend this live-action military pageant put on by the 3rd US Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard).  It was their first performance in July, following a three week break.  Both Sarah Emily and Molly were very excited to interact with some of the horses used in the performance.  This performance was quite different from the one we attended last year with Jimmy.  There was much more music, but just has much history of the Army which is 300 years old, older than the United States. 

The soldier riding this horse said he was 24 years old and would do two more performances and then be put up for adoption.  Sarah Emily wanted to adopt him!!

 
There was a Humvee on display which the girls practiced driving. 

The program ended about 8 PM, and after some initial misdirection by Gypsy, our GPS, we got on the freeway to Ft Belvoir.  It was a very special end to our time in DC.

Day 12—The Road home—Thursday, July 21, 2016

We set a target of 9 AM to be on the road and, once again, Molly and Sarah Emily were ready and willingly got up at 6:30ish, showered, breakfasted and helped with Jay’s final travel prep.  We made our target with four minutes to spare!!  Thankfully the return to Concord was not as lengthy nor hectic as the trip up.  We paused for lunch at a rest stop, but ate in the trailer, mostly consuming leftover cherries, PB&J sandwich for Molly and Hazelnut bread for Sarah Emily.  Regarding the cherries, we came up with a contest to see who could make the cleanest pit—Sarah Emily claimed the prize!!  We arrived back in Concord at about 5 PM, set up camp and went to Steak-N-Shake for dinner where several of us enjoyed a mint/Oreo shake—yum yum.                                                  

 

From there we returned to the trailer so Molly and Sarah Emily could pack their clothes into suitcases and we drove to their new home.  They were most warmly welcomed by their dogs, Tennessee and Shadow, and their brother and parents, too.  Grampa and Grannie got back to the trailer by 9:30 and were sound asleep by 9:45 PM. 

Day 13—Back to Knoxville—Friday, July 22, 2016

It was an uneventful trip home, without severe traffic or road construction.  Home by 4:30 PM, blessed and grateful for a wonderful adventure.  

Today is July 28 and at noon we said good-bye to our travel trailer, Jay.  He has a new owner now and who knows what other adventures we will get into!!

Good-bye, Jay!!