D.C. City Exploration Day 1 Post

This morning, before we headed off to the city, I went exploring for a bit in the campground.  The birds were out, and it became a game to see how close the birds would let me take a picture from before flying off.  

I found my cardinal!

Many pretty flowers were in bloom as well.  (I can't name them all, but I certainly enjoyed them!)

Back at the campsite.

Canis laeta (The latin binomial nomenclature for happy dog, otherwise known as Timber)

In the Metro-subway system, I discovered I do not like riding under the ground, I need to be able to see the sun.  I felt claustrophobic and motion sick.  Two things I generally do not have...

But I did take this interesting picture of Dad (Pater in latin) with the reflection of both him and Karen.

Back into the open air, one of the first things that greeted us was this statue of General Winfield Scott Hancock.  He was a General in the Civil War and helped the Union win key battles such as the battle of Antietam and Gettysburg.

The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

The welcoming elephant in the main atrium.  

A rock that gives evidence to oxygen levels upon the earth for long periods of history.  The reddish orange is the time with good oxygen levels while the grey indicates insufficient oxygen.  

I have always thought the flying dinosaurs are the best!

Dad with his buddy in the skeletons and mummies exhibit.  

 Rumored to be cursed, the Hope Diamond has a long an illustrious history.  It was discovered in India and was about 112 and 3/16 carats.  It was brought to France and was cut down to 67 carats.  It became known as the "Blue Diamond of the Crown" or the "French Blue." Stolen in 1792 and then lost for 20 years, it was found in England, but was later sold after the death King George IV to pay off his debts.  It found its way into the hands of the collector, Henry Philip Hope and later his nephew.  In 1910, Evalyn Walsh Maclean bought the diamond and had it reset into what is seen today.  After her death in 1949, Henry Winston INC. bought the diamond and eventually donated it to the Smithsonian.  The diamond is about 45.52 carats and is colored blue due to traces of Boron.

The Hope Diamond

Dom Pedro Aquamarine, largest known Aquamarine gem.

These are Cat's eyes, but as you can tell with all my pictures, I was having a hard time with the lighting and such in the museum.  With the glass, my flash would't work.  So I ended up with pictures where there are trails of light such as here.   

What do you see in my Crystal Ball?  This is the world's largest, flawless quartz sphere.  

Sulfer is much nicer in this yellow form rather than its characteristic rotten egg smell at Yellowstone.  

I finally got to see my Kaibab squirrel (from the Grand Canyon North Rim)

This jumping Tiger was just begging for a funny photo.  

This my dear readers is a buffalo.  He is native to Africa.   What we saw on our trip West were bison no matter what Karen tries to convince you otherwise.  

An Okapi:  a rare relative of the long necked giraffe unknown until the early 1900s.  

Jungle Jazz has gotten larger.  (This is a jaguar)

The Smithsonian Castle

James Smithson, founder and benefactor of the Smithsonian Institute.  

The Washington Monument.  

We were a tad late for Cherry blossom season, but the area around the Tidal Basin was still beautiful.

Shh! Mom and Dad don't know I took this!  

The Jefferson Memorial over the Tidal Basin. 

Mini Washington Monuments in front of the real McCoy.  

Jefferson Monument.  

I think that Roosevelt got the coolest monument with the fountains and quotes and sculptures and open layout!

Martin Luther King Jr, National Memorial

Korean War Memorial

Washington Monument and reflecting pools.  

Lincoln Memorial

On the top, are the names of the 48 states in the Union at the time the Monument was built.  The 36 columns represent the states in the Union at the time of Lincoln.  

Vietnam War Memorial

The first view of the White House off into the distance.  

Today we walked 7 miles and 15,844 steps according to my iPod pedometer!  We are going back to the city tomorrow to do this again so I need to go to bed.

Good Night All!

Amy