Here it is!!!! Our 2015 Trip/Vacation across the United States. We took over a thousand pictures so I tried to pick the best ones from each activity/event. I'll post others on later posts.
After arriving in the Denver area the first thing we did was attend one of Ty's cross country races. He makes it look easy. Congrats on your success.
We went to a Colorado Rockies baseball game where Katie and Kori's school helped sing the National Anthem.
Brant, Leslie, and family at Kori's baptism.
Erik, Jamie, and family at Rett's baptism.
The two newly baptized eight-year-olds.
We stopped in Abilene, Kansas to visit President Eisenhower's presidential library. We had never been to one before and could have spent a week looking and reading about the exhibits.
The Church's visitors center at Independence, Missouri. It was getting dark so we did a quick tour and headed to the Liberty Jail.
Liberty Jail - there were only two other people besides us so the sister missionary gave us a very personal and informative tour of the jail and displays.
It was dark and we were lost so it took us a little while to find the temple. Suddenly, there it was. It is beautiful and much larger than we expected.
Since we were passing though St. Louis we decided we might as well visit the Arch. The mall area was under construction but we got our tickets, got right on, and headed for the top. This is looking west at the city. You can see Busch Stadium to the far left of the picture. We both had to play some mental games due to the height but we made it.
I thought this was an interesting picture of the arch from directly below it.
The first day in DC, Travis had taken the day off so he drove us down around the Mall area. Our first visit was to the Pentagon. If you look closely you can see just a little difference in the color of the stone where it was rebuilt after the attack. Look just to the left of the three vertical columns closest to us and the same distance from the three columns in the distance. There is a beautiful garden memorial area just in front of the building. There is a bench for each person killed in the attack. The benches face toward the Pentagon for those who were on the plane and away from the Pentagon for those who were killed in the building.
I remember seeing this in 1964 when I was attending the National Boy Scout Jamboree at Valley Forge. It was nice but seeing it again was much more impressive. Truly a very solemn and dignified ceremony.
Well, someone has to do it.
We had lunch with Kelly at Georgetown University where she teaches. She took us on a tour of several of the buildings on campus. I love the architecture and history of these old buildings.
Travis drove us to the capitol building and then parked the pick up while we got in line for tour tickets. Note - coming to Washington D.C. after Labor Day is ideal. Weather was cooler, lines were short or non-existent, and we could go almost anywhere we wanted without having to wait.
Next we walked through a tunnel from the Capitol to the Library of Congress. At each building I was amazed at the architecture. I kept trying to imagine the construction workers building these structures with the limited tools and machinery they had at the time. Truly amazing. I kept looking to see if it really did resemble the set of National Treasure.
Day 2 - We rode the Metro in with Travis, left him at his office, and headed out. First stop was the White House. I had contacted our congressman for tickets but we were turned down. Either too big of a security risk or because I was so late in making the request.
I had noticed on a map that there was a Boy Scout Monument just south of the White House. We found it and spent a little time there.
On to the Washington Monument. As we drove past it the day before I made an executive decision that we really did not need to go up in it. Mom was OK with that. It is a fantastic monument and brings back memories from 51 years ago when Eugene and I and a few other scouts "ran" up the 898 steps inside.
I just couldn't stop taking pictures. We were there on 9/11 so all flags were at half staff.
Walking from the Washington Monument toward the Lincoln Memorial we came to the WWII Memorial where there was a contingent of WWII soldiers from Utah who had come on one of those "Honor Flights" for veterans. It was most impressive and brought tears to our eyes. It would have been nice if Grandpa could have been there.
On to the Lincoln Memorial. This has got to be the most photogenic structure on the Mall.
It is easy and very common to ask the guy next to you to take your picture. We must have seen a thousand selfie sticks.
Next was the Vietnam Memorial. We had seen the traveling one when it came to Moscow but this was the real thing. Very somber mood. It brought back memories of living through this one. I didn't have to go but remember the mood of the nation and the nightly TV broadcasts from the war front.
We had lunch and then went to the Korean War Memorial. We were both impressed with the looks of fear on the faces of these soldiers. Most impressive. I had a cousin who was killed in this war.
By this time my feet were killing me so I had no desire to walk all the way out to the Jefferson Memorial. Love that telephoto lens. (About the feet, they hurt more and more each step but I had come to see the sites and was not going to stop. When I got home and took my shoes and socks off I had a great big blood blister on my left foot. I lanced it in the tub and blood squirted all over. Mom produced some anti-bacteria stuff and dressing and with careful attention the pain subsided. The next three days were auto-touring so by Tuesday when we headed back to the mall I was in pretty good shape).
Next we toured the Treasury Printing and Engraving Building. You can't take pictures but it was interesting to watch as our paper money was being printed. There were a few fun exhibits in the bookstore at the end of the tour.
On the way back to our Metro stop we saw the President's helicopter arrive, sit on the south lawn for a few minutes, and then depart. Not sure if he was arriving or departing but there were well armed Secret Service personnel on several of the building tops.
We said "Hi" to Travis out in front of his office building, caught the Metro, made the right departure, and arrived home to put our feet up and relax. We had a very good day!!!
The next day was Saturday so Travis and Kelly drove us to the Antietam Battlefield. I have become very interested in U.S. History so this was one place I wanted to go. This battlefield had the largest one-day loss of life of any battle in U.S. history. Twenty one thousand killed, wounded, or missing in 24 hours. It poured rain most of the time so we viewed a movie at the visitors center, bought some things at the bookstore, and then took a motor tour of the battleground using the map and guide they give you when you enter.
I loved these old cannons. They were all over this battlefield and Gettysburg. The cannons are authentic but the carriage and wheels are reproductions. Behind the cannon is the Dunker Church where the battle started that morning. The Dunkers were a religions sect opposed to violence so it is interesting that their church was the beginning site of the battle.
Toward the end of the one day battle the Confederates held this bridge and the Union needed to cross it. Thus a bloody battle ensued. Eventually the Union took the bridge. It still stands and the tree beside it is called the "Witness Tree" because actual pictures at the time show it as a small (10') tree.
Sunday we went to church with Travis and Kelly. Their building is right beside the Washington D.C. Temple. The temple was closed for repairs so we just took pictures.
Sunday afternoon Laurie (Langeveld) and her family came for dinner and a visit. Everyone has gown up.
Monday morning Travis had again taken the day off so he drove Mom and me to Gettysburg. This is one of the main sites I wanted to see. As you drive on the Beltway the temple looms out of the trees.
Gettysburg has a beautiful visitor center where we saw a movie presentation, went upstairs to view a diorama of a painting painted in the late 1800's (it depicts the whole Gettysburg battle), and then took another auto-tour. This was the third time Travis had been there so he was an excellent tour guide.
We saw this guy just sitting on the bench out front.
Another cannon. I loved them.
This barn stood on the site during the battle. It still has a hole in the end where a cannon ball went through the wall.
This battle lasted three days and culminated in Pickett's Charge, the South's last effort to over-run the Union forces. Is was a catastrophic disaster after which the Confederate forces regrouped and headed back to Virginia. Fifty one thousand soldiers were either killed, wounded, or missing.
Our last day in D.C. we caught the Metro and headed back to the Mall. Our first stop was the National Archives. We were quite early so while Mom read a book I took a bunch of pictures. It took quite a while for everything to line up for this shot. The planes were coming out of Regan International Airport. Again no pictures allowed in the Archive Building so there is nothing to show. But, we were at the front of the line and as we walked into the Rotunda there was the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Only a few people around so we went though the line twice and were able to chat with the two guards. Everyone around (including us) asked if there was anything written on the back. They smiled and said it was the most asked questions they get.
On to the National Air and Space Museum. At this time we are running out of steam fast. We walked around, took some pictures, and moved on. This is Lindbergh's plane he used on his trans-Atlantic flight.
This is the Wright Brothers actual airplane. The fabric has been replace but the rest is original. We also went to the U.S. History Museum but by this time we were totally beat so we walked around a little and headed home.
Caught the Metro home. I was very apprehensive at first. I pictured myself lost under Washington D.C. never to return. By the last day we were getting pretty good at it.
On the way east we passed a sign on the freeway that said, "Hoosier Gym." It was after hours so we moved on. On the way west we called ahead to make sure it was open and so we stopped to take a look.
Everything is "almost" exactly as it was. It is now a tourist stop and local recreation center. Even the locker room is just like it was in the movie. Mom and I watched it last night and had fun saying, "we were there."
Had to have a shot of us in the bleachers.
The gym was only used for the inside the gym shots. The school, glass trophy case, and town are all in this general area.
Friday morning Eugene and Janice were going to drive us to the Nauvoo Temple but Janice had a severe bout of vertigo so she stayed home. We arrived, attended an endowment session, and did a little "touring" around the inside of the temple. They have some artifacts from the early saints on display in one hallway and we were able to go into the assembly room which is much the same as the one in the upper floor of the Salt Lake Temple.
Looking west from the front lawn of the temple (Mississippi River in the distance). From here the saints headed west.
It truly is a temple on a hill.
Sunday we went to church with Eugene, Janice, and Ty, came home, grabbed a sandwich, and headed for home.
In eastern South Dakota we stopped to see the Corn Palace. It was nice but we didn't stay long.
We stopped to view the Badlands. Again, nice but we moved on.
Stopped to say "Hi" to a prairie dog.
Stopped at Wall Drug. We couldn't resist after seeing signs along the freeway for hundreds of miles. We had lunch, wandered around, and hit the road again.
This is where we had lunch.
Mom was a good sport to get up on the jackalope. We enjoyed the stop but had many miles to go. We arrived home about 4:00 pm on Tuesday, rested a couple of hours, changed our clothes, and headed for our ARP meeting. It was nice to see those we have been working with. There were 4-5 new people.
We loved every minute of our trip. We enjoyed visiting with three of our families plus Eugene and Janice. We did notice that many of the tourists were about our age, no children, drove new pickups, and reminded us of ourselves. We've mowed the lawn, washed the pick up, done the laundry, shopped for food (sorry Kevin and Braxton - there was no food in the house when they stayed overnight on their camping trip), and caught up on sleep.
We'll try something like this again - in a year or so.
