A Little Frustration . . . Tysons Corner

Our vacation here in D.C. and the surrounding area has been a blast! We have enjoyed the many beautiful views and nuances of the East Coast, however, the one thing that has been a constant thorn in our side is Tysons Corner! For the most part we have used the wonderful subway system, the Metro, to navigate our nation's capital but on the rare occasion where a car was necessary we borrowed either Matt or Shelly's. Each time out we were required to use a section of interstate to reach our specific destination that involved in someway or another Tysons Corner. This exit name always seemed to find a way to deal harshly with our navigation creating additional stress and aggravation onto Emily. While difficult to express in words how we really feel about this insignificant occurrences it in no way ruins our overall experience here.

Another Awe-Inspiring Day

Today was another awe-inspiring day! We took a day off from the Metro and borrowed Matt and Shelly's car for a road trip to Mount Vernon - the beautiful home of our first president, George Washington. The drive to his estate via the George Washington Memorial Highway was gorgeous as I was once again reminded of the East and more specifically of Georgia where I served my mission so many years ago. A funny thing happened as we tried to take advantage of the system in purchasing two annual passes in hopes of transferring them to Matt and Shelly since we will not be returning before this time next year . . . the passes of course must include a photo - oh well, a nice $5 souvenir.

Following the well spent time we visited the gift shop and I found the Washington, D.C. shirt. I had been looking the whole trip and decided on one we found in Union Station until I saw the one at Mt. Vernon - anyway, we headed off to Hains Point and the Jefferson Memorial to finish off our day. Things didn't go quite as planned as we struggled to locate the extremely difficult to find Hains Point - after a couple U-turns we found it and located "The Awakening" statue . . . very weird. We proceeded to the FDR Memorial and as we neared the end we surprisingly noticed our battery died and I forgotten the extra . . . stupid me. We postponed our visit to Jefferson and headed home for a well deserved nap!!

The nap was very helpful as it provided the necessary energy for our much needed trip to the Washington D.C. Temple. What a beautiful, gorgeous House of the Lord!! It now is one of my favorite. It has seven, yes seven floors. Another unique part was that Emily and I sat together . . . something that doesn't happen in most other temples. We met a family from Suwanee, GA who helped take a picture of us in front of the temple. As per usual once I come across someone from Georgia, LDS or not, I freeze up and have a difficult time remembering where exactly I served/lived. Maybe it's because it occurred more than a decade ago - who knows.

We finished the night with a late dinner at Chili's in Alexandria.

P.S. I forgot to mention that mom called and reported back that her visit with Sage went well . . . our poor kitty is very lonely and we both our very excited to return home and give her much deserved loves. Hold on there Sagie . . . we coming home soon!!!!!!!!!!! Gotta go, we're off to Harper's Ferry, Antietam, and Gettysburg tomorrow!!!! Hallelujah, one of my dreams will soon come true!

July 4th recap

Our July 4th recap was tremendous. For the first time in both of our lives we have spent the Fourth of July in Washington, D.C. and instead of giving a boring play-by-play I will offer up a cliff-notes version. The day began driving to RFK Stadium to attend a special edition baseball game where the Chicago Cubs were thrashed by the Washington Nationals 6-0!! This was a rare occurrence as the two previous days the Cubbies man-handled the inferior Nats as should be the case the when The North-Siders have a superior record so far.

This day was also the first since we arrived in town where it actually felt like East coast weather with its infamous humidity, etc. The rest of our day was spent in the luxurious and spacious National Air and Space Museum alongside the Mall. A 3-4 hour respite from the heat helped us and in addition spared us from the inclement weather in the form of heavy rain and severe thunderstorms (it was so severe that the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning) and the mall was cleared! Thank goodness for the immense museum :-)

At or around 7 or 7:30 we ventured out and enjoyed the cool evening in preparation for the magnificent and world famous fireworks show. What a site to behold with the "bombs bursting in air" behind the Washington Monument brought goosebumps and grand excitement. Emily and I will never forget this day.

A Non-Smokers Peril

Hey all! Just returned from the Capital Fourth Fireworks on the Mall in D.C. Both Emily and I had a very enjoyable time sitting on the grass between the famous Washington Monument and the Capitol Building . . . a sight to behold!!

After a long day beginning with the Cubs vs. Nationals baseball game and on through our methodical yet intriguing visit at the National Air and Space Museum we ventured out to grab a spot for the fireworks. To our consternation after a brief few minutes of taking pictures and talking we smelled the raunchy, dangerous smell of cigarette smoke! Who would have thought a smoker would have found us amongst the thousands upon thousands of people there - but it happened and we weren't to pleased.

The wind was blowing in just the right direction and we took in more smoke than that particular smoker. Emily's asthma condition will feel the affects of the inconsiderate addicts, so let this be a warning . . . don't frequent public parks and stand downwind if you wish to be free of second-hand smoke! If one wants to be free of such nuisance move to Utah where public parks are free of smoke!!

Our night was not ruined so see our July 4th recap.

How To Begin . . .?

The question that surrounds me at this particular time is how does one begin a blog and what should be included? I have had numerous suggestions from veteran bloggers, however, for some reason there are lingering doubts within . . . is that wrong?