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

On the Road Again! :) (Beltsville, Maryland Post)

Karen and I are on our April break, and so it is time for a bit more RVing!  For this trip to DC, we packed the entire family into the RV (even our cat, still a little sour that we left her in Connecticut for all of July.)  Today was relatively unexciting as all we did was drive, and the city isn't as much fun to ride through (all the traffic) where as Kansas or Montana has the corn, wind-fields and the beautiful stretching sky.  (And to think I complained about the corn before, when today all I wanted was to see a corn-field...)

But, Dad was up to his usual road-trip antics. (Yes, those are chocolate bunny feet sticking out his mouth.)

And Timber still likes to pester the Dad and his co-pilot (at this particular time, me)  But there is no place to go and run when stuck in four lanes of traffic.

The George Washington Bridge stretching out in front of us.

The big, tall lone pine tree...

Really a cell tower, but life is nothing without imagination.

It's been to long since we have last been in Harvey.  I have lost my touch at actions that became commonplace during the summer, I used to be able to stand up and walk around, but today it was a challenge.  I have bumped my head getting up to my bunk every time now, (really no head clearance) and talking over the noise of the RV was an issue (I guess we just yelled to each other all summer.)  And I missed my routine of blogging every night before bed.  It has been too long.  I am glad to be back!

Welcome Back!

Amy

The Beach House News (Matunuck, Rhode Island Post)

As you knew, I was in Rhode Island a few weeks ago, and I left you hanging after I started my summer reading books.  We returned for Labor Day Weekend, and I combined the earlier post into this one.  The title pays homage to the fake newspaper telling about the happenings at my favorite place, the Beach House, that I created when I was six or seven and going through a phase of wanting to be a reporter.  

Last time we were at the beach, the water was strangely calm, almost lake like, filled with seaweed, and  deserted looking.  

The South Kingstown Town Beach.  

The cliché fence and beach rose with a picnic table.  

Next, I would love to show you one of my favorite places in Matunuck.  The Vanilla Bean!  The Vanilla Bean sells ice cream and sorbet, sherbet, a few baked goods, soda, coffee, iced tea,  and has over 30 different flavors of ice cream.  I am partial to the cake batter and red velvet cake, however, graham central station is another popular flavor.  (It's too sweet for me.)  My cousins, Aleigh and Mike, work here, and I hope to work here next summer!  Often, you can find Karen and I "visiting" The Vanilla Bean when Aleigh or Mike are working.  The ice cream is delicious and has been declared "the best ice cream in the universe!" by a little boy's artwork.  Yum!

The bunnies are always hopping around!

The stately Admiral Dewey Inn, opened in 1898.  

Ah! Next on my little tour would be the Seaview Market.  Karen and I are frequent visitors, often returning two or three times in one day.  It is where we go to buy bread for breakfast, or grinders for lunch. The apple raisin bread makes excellent toast!

 Next on the tour, is a location we more recently began visiting.  La Strada sells thin crust pizza made from all local ingredients, and cooked in wood ovens.  The owner, Jenny, seems to be partial to Blondie and David Bowie, and these music choices play off vinyl records.  Grandma, Karen, and I always get a pepperoni pizza. We sit outside, watching the sun set behind various buildings.  The meal is best finished off with Vanilla Bean ice cream!

Karen recently purchased a waffle iron and likes to make waffles at every chance she gets.  

 Next, I am going to (probably) bore you with many pictures of Seagulls, which were hanging around in the seaweed.  I have always liked seagulls, because when I was little, Grandpa would dry bread, and in the beach's off season, we would come feed the seagulls.

Boats on the horizon.  

I would love to fly and soar like a bird!

The landmass behind the sailboat is Block Island.  However, it is more easily seen on a clearer, less humid day.  

I was taking pictures of the many seagulls and these two little birds were chirping as if to say, "Amy, don't forget about us! Take our picture!"

The seagull convention on the roof!

Too Soon, Karen and My week at the beach came to an end!  Luckily, we came back soon, for Labor Day Weekend, for which the post for is right below.

Good-Bye Beach House!

This Weekend!

Our happy cat looking natural on her window perch!

Hmm...

Let's go fly Karen's kite!  

Happy dog thanks Dad!

Amy