Hellos & Goodbyes

~~ Just a note of warning . . . this turned out to be a much longer post

than I had planned, so get some coffee and get comfortable! ~~

WOW! The past week has been a bit of a whirlwind, but it has been a wonderful time. So much has happened, I'm just gonna write a little about each day to go along with the pictures.

Tuesday

Tuesday afternoon, I got to say 'hello' to my Dad & Papa Joe as they arrived in Virginia for a short visit during the last week of my contract. After getting away from the airport, we stopped for a quick dinner, checked them in to the hotel, and headed downtown for the Navy Band Concert. Since we arrived a little early, we took in a couple of the sights on the way (or at least in the same vicinity) to the Navy Memorial. The top picture is of them standing on Freedom Plaza along Pennsylvania Ave. with the Capitol in the background. After a quick supper at the Old Post Office building (the building behind them with the clock tower) food court, we headed over to hear the concert. It was completely different from the concert I went to with my sister last month, but it was still completely amazing! They have such talent!! After the Metro ride back to my car, we called it a night so we could all get rested up for a Wednesday full of sightseeing.

Wednesday

Wednesday morning, we headed downtown for some serious sightseeing! We started out at the White House (as seen with Dad & Papa Joe here). It was a little overcast that day, but it definitely kept the temperatures down. In fact, it was pretty cool in the shade making me very happy that I had brought a jacket!! From here, we walked around the Treasury Department on our way to the Washington Monument. I had never been up to the viewing deck of this before, so I followed a friend's advice and reserved some tickets online. After picking them up, we had about 45 minutes to kill (no where near enough time to visit another attraction), so we just sat on the benches around the Monument to watch the geese playing around on the grass.

When it was our turn, we rode the minute and a half elevator ride to the top for our look out. It is truly an amazing view of the area! This picture is of the WWII Memorial, the Reflection Pool, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Memorial Bridge (off to the left of Lincoln). Thankfully, by the time we got to the top, most of the clouds had dispersed making for a clear view of the sights. :-) (yea!! more pictures!!) After looking out the four sides, we went down one level to look at some of the pictures of the construction and history of the Monument. It was pretty amazing! If you're wondering why it looks like two different colors of stone on the outside, it's because there was a huge 'time out' during the construction due to lack of funds and/or workers (or something like that . . . don't remember the details). :) On the way down from the top, they slowed the elevator every once in a while to let us see some of the artwork and messages on the inside of the Monument. I took a short video clip of one portion of these, but I've somehow messed up the disk and can't seem to download it to my computer. Maybe some other day!

From here, we went to the WWII Memorial. This picture of Papa Joe is taken by one of the places he went during WWII. We hit this Memorial just after one of the Park Ranger guided tours had started, so we just attached ourselves to this group to hear about the Memorial. FINALLY, I learned about the "order" of the states on the columns. In case you haven't seen it in person, there are 50+ columns with state, province, and country names on them surrounding the huge fountains in the middle. Just looking at them, there is no rhyme or reason to the order of their placement (or so I thought!). Here goes: If you stand in the middle facing the Washington Monument (with your back to the wall of stars), the "order" starts on your right. The names on the columns are in order of their entrance into the Union. The catch is that they alternate sides . . . #1 is the 1st column on your right, #2 is the 1st column on your left, #3 is the 2nd column on your right, and so on. Once we received the explanation, it made complete sense!! (shocking, huh?!?) :-) I'm the first to admit that I don't know a lot about history and the wars we've fought in, but going through the war memorials with my Papa Joe (a person who studies and reads constantly about wars . . . especially the Civil War and WWII) was very special. He knows the names of not only the battles but of the generals, who won, how many soldiers were lost, etc. in each battle!! For example, as we walked around the WWII Memorial, he was telling me about one of the battles we "should have never fought". It was amazing to me to hear his perspective on all of this! We went on to the Vietnam Wall after a short lunch break on the way. Again, I was brought to tears listening to both my dad and my Papa Joe talk about the boys lost and still missing from that war. They have such a different perspective on these memorials than me having lived through the wars memorialized and having friends that were lost in them. Don't get me wrong, going through these is an emotional experience for anyone with the least bit of patriotism, but going through them with a veteran and someone who lost childhood friends in Vietnam puts a whole new light on them!!

Moving on, we next went to the Lincoln Monument

(my FAVORITE!!) Here, I got to hear more Civil War history and Lincoln history from Papa Joe. He's VERY MUCH the "power of the South" type person and can tell you exactly how, when, and why the South lost the BIG WAR, but he has great respect for Lincoln and the great man that he was.

The funniest part of this day (in my opinion) was the fact that we stood and watched the tile layers in front of the Lincoln Monument for at least 20 minutes before moving on to the Korean War Memorial. The workers are making a beautiful, stone tile floor to an area between the Reflection Pool and the Lincoln Monument, so my dad & Papa Joe stood and discussed their technique for a while. With all these huge monuments, memorials, and historical attractions surrounding us, we stopped to watch this. It's like my "lamppost obsession" (taking pictures of all the ornate lampposts downtown) . . . I guess I come by it honestly!! :-)

Onwards . . .

We then made it to the Korean War Memorial. I pointed out my favorite statue to them, and my Papa Joe asked me why he was my favorite. I said it's because of his facial expression. Then he said, "Oh, I thought it was because he's the medic." How strange is that that I picked the medic as my favorite?!? (at least I thought that was interesting) :) We ventured on around the Tidal Basin to have a look at the Jefferson Memorial. We didn't spend as long here because we were all getting tired and hungry at this point. I snapped a few more pictures for my scrapbook, and we headed back to the Metro station. That morning, we had caught the train during rush hour, & they got to see the "locals" on the train . . . NOT overly social! (to say the least) My Papa Joe found this funny, so on our way home that evening, he pretended to be a "local" with his paper. :-) He's TOO FUNNY!!!!

Thursday

So, Thursday was the last day for me to work during this contract. This left my dad & Papa Joe on their own . . . They caught the shuttle from their hotel to the Metro and headed downtown for some more sightseeing. They started out at the Holocaust Museum . . . an amazing & emotional experience!! (NOT for children or the weak stomach for sure!) They then got to tour the Bureau of Engraving & Printing. They enjoyed that tour and even asked their tour guide for a few free samples. Amazingly enough, they were told "NO"!! :-) (If you didn't know, this is one of the places that prints money.) On some of the printing machines pumping out sheets of $20 dollar bills or $50 dollar bills (you get the idea), someone had hung a sign reading, "If you feel bad being this close, think of how I feel. I print out my entire year's wages every few minutes!"; or the one reading, "So close, yet so far!" Great to see they have such a sense of humor with their job!! :) After a quick bite to eat, they went on the the Natural History Museum (or the dinosaur place as my little 'nephews' refer to it!). They thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the dinosaur skeletons as well as the rocks and jewels. I met up with them at the mall near my apartment after work so we could have supper and make a plan for our Friday activities. Then, it was home for everyone to rest up for our last full day of tourism!

Friday

We started out this drizzly day by visiting the National Cathedral. If you've never been, I HIGHLY recommend going the next time you're in the area! It's not really close to a Metro stop (unless you want to walk a mile or two to get there), but they do have pay parking for the visitors. The craftsmanship that the stone carvers, steel workers, and carpenters show in this amazing structure is indescribable! You really just need to see it to believe it. We went up the west towers to the observation deck to look around. Even inside here, the attention to detail was outstanding!! They had miniature replicas of some of the gargoyles stationed along the outside of the cathedral so we could see how ornate even these small parts were. Unbelievable!! They also had signs explaining the steps of building the cathedral over 80+ years it took to build. Here, they also had original (or what appeared to be original) blue prints from the late 1800's/early 1900's . The top picture is from inside this walkway looking at the 1st & tallest tower constructed over the center of the cathedral. The second picture is of Dad & Papa Joe in the walkway that surrounds the two western towers. After exploring up here, we went downstairs & joined one of the tour groups. This gave us more insight into the construction - like the fact that the entire cathedral is in the shape of a cross with the 'high altar' at the "top" of the cross, and the auditorium with all the chairs/pews is the long part under the cross beam. The tour took us down into the basement near where construction was started over 100 years ago. The original chapel . . . appropriately called the "Bethlehem Chapel" was the 1st to be built and may very well be the smallest. It was interesting to see the different architecture styles from the different periods. For the most part, the cathedral is in traditional "cathedral style" (tall ceilings, pointed arches, stained glass, etc.). A few places have rounded arches and mosaic tile work instead. It's now run by the Episcopal church, having daily services and prayer times as well as church volunteers on site to give free tours to all of the visitors.

From here, we drove over to the Spy Museum to have lunch at the little cafe there & then tour this most amazing museum! It's not free ($18/adult), but it's a small price to pay to see all the fun spy gadgets. (If, that is, you like spy/mystery stuff.) :)

Next, we went to the Marine War Memorial (also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial) near Arlington Cemetery. It, too, is an amazing tribute to the Marines and to the guys that raised the flags at Iwo Jima. Here, I played with the timer on my camera to try and get all three of us in a shot. Confession time: Yes, I've had this camera for 3-4 years now, and No, I'm still not sure how to work all the 'special features'. :) But, on this particular day, it worked (at least on the second attempt!), and we got all three of us in one picture. Yea, Me!! After this, we were all tired of touring and tired of getting rained on, so we went to supper and then home so they could pack up their hotel room.

Saturday

After a hearty breakfast, we went to one of the Civil War battlefields just down the road from my apartment. The week I moved in back in June, workers put up an orange fence around the entire park giving off the distinct "you're not welcome in here" message. So, I didn't go! :) But, a few days before Dad & Papa Joe arrived, they took down the orange fence. Papa Joe, obviously, knew immediately which battle this was, who the players were, which ones were killed, and which side won. He kept telling us that if the South had done . . . (I can't remember exactly), then they could have taken Washington and won after the 1st battle at Manassas (or Bull Run for my fellow southerners). It amazes me how he knows all of the details inside & out like he does! The county has done a remarkable job in restoring the park - new pathway, new informational signs, benches, fences, etc. We spent quite a while here walking through this park before taking Papa Joe to the airport for his return trip to Texas.

After taking care of some 'moving out details', Dad & I went to my favorite state park in the area - the one with the Great Falls. It's been SO cool in the area, many of the trees have already started changing colors and dropping leaves. This made for some nice pictures. :-) (As always . . . it's ALL about the pictures for what I've now termed the 'never-ending scrapbook of travel nursing'!!) Instead of messing with the camera timer again, I just asked some unsuspecting tourist to take our picture here. On the way back to the Metro station, we passed a little hole in the wall restaurant called "Papa Joe's Pizza". Of course, we had to stop & eat there! It was possibly the most unusual pizza I've ever had, but it was good. We then hopped on the train to meet one of my good friends from North Carolina. He'd come to the area for a day or two at the end of his vacation and was going to the Washington Nationals' game with us that night. They have a beautiful, new, high-tech stadium in Southeast (which is why I've not gone to a game before by myself!). It was a good game - going into extra innings, and the home team won. What more could you ask for?!? A good time was had by all (except possibly the Atlanta Braves since they lost the game). :) After the game, we were all herded like cattle back onto the Metro trains for the ride back home.

Sunday

Dad & I went to church Sunday morning (my last time at McLean Bible for a long while) and then to lunch at one of the best burger places in the area . . . Five Guys Burgers & Fries. Then, Dad 'got' to load all my heavy stuff into the back of Roony, and we headed to Roanoke. My dad, the master packer!! Yep, I know I took WAY TOO MUCH stuff, but that's why I drive an SUV, right?!? :-D

So, I said goodbye to the DC area. :(

We left earlier than I thought we'd get to, so it made for a very pleasant drive. Just about an hour & a half from my apartment, we reached the 1st of several mountain ranges we would pass through during our trip back to Texas. We decided not to take the famous Blue Ridge Parkway and stick to the main highway, but we were able to see some beautiful scenery. One thing that I wasn't expecting was all the corn fields. And I'm not talking about a couple hundred acres here and there. I'm talking about the majority of the 200+ miles between my apartment & Roanoke (our stopping place for the night).

Sunday night, we stayed at Hotel Roanoke. When I made the reservations, I just picked the cheapest hotel in the chain so that I get more 'frequent flyer' points. Little did I know that this particular hotel has an amazing history! It was built back in the 1800's and has housed several US presidents, foreign dignitaries, and other VIP's (including me & my dad!). :) It is a beautiful hotel design. Inside all of the lobbies, (yeah, it had a few of them) they had old pictures of the hotel from years past. It also had some artifacts from it's long history on display in the cases around the hotel. It's a very cool place to stay. I'm not really sure what all there is to do in the city of Roanoke, VA, but this hotel is very entertaining! :)

Monday

Monday morning, we headed out for our longest day of driving on the trip. We had to reach Memphis, TN, before we could stop for the night. In case your geography isn't stellar, this means that we had to leave Virginia and drive completely across the state of Tennessee. . . the LONG way! A bit ambitious looking back, but with two of us taking turns driving, we managed. We stopped at the Tennessee welcome center so I could pick up my state map for TN. While there, we saw this cut out of Dolly Parton. Dad had to get his picture with it for Papa Joe. My Papa Joe loves Dolly Parton! :-) It's such a lovely drive across the eastern half of TN. One of my favorite restaurants is Cracker Barrel - especially while on a road trip. There are probably more Cracker Barrel Restaurants in the southeastern part of the US than in the entire rest of the country! At one point, I believe we were passing them every 5 minutes! And then we reached the western side of Nashville. . . NOT the most exciting part of the drive! :) Also, the Cracker Barrels started spreading out considerably. BOO!! We did eventually make it to Memphis after a LONG delay through the Smoky Mountains due to some broken down cars and a dump truck that spilled it's contents all over the road. That gave us a good, long look at the sides of the mountains and the rocks along I-40 West. It's actually a pretty drive through that part, & I'm very happy that the delay was on the eastern half of the state! Once we arrived at our hotel in Memphis, we both just collapsed! We saw several families of Louisianna evacuee families. They all looked so helpless and worried; it broke my heart!

Tuesday

Tuesday morning, we left Memphis for the final leg of our journey back to the metropolis of Flint, TX! :D This final part of the drive wasn't very pretty, but it was doable. Then again, it didn't help things having Gustav blowing at us and dropping the occasional heavy band of rain. For the most part, he seemed to be more bark than bite . . . Thank God! He could have done SO MUCH more damage. We arrived back at my parents' house Tuesday evening around 7. We were both SO ready to get out of the car for a while!

It was a busy but great week! Thanks for going on the journey with me. :-)