tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70944520467916894132024-03-13T23:33:02.761-07:00The World Is Our ClassroomBlessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.comBlogger358125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-48409551408498184052018-11-23T12:14:00.000-08:002018-11-23T16:37:36.208-08:00DC: Day Three, Pt 3--Admiring Architecture <span style="font-size: large;">As we walked through the Mall, we had to pause to admire one building in particular--the currently abandoned <a href="https://www.si.edu/museums/arts-and-industries-building">Arts and Industries Building</a>, the second oldest Smithsonian.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> <i>Definitely the most beautiful architecture on the Mall. </i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Trying to see into the interior--it is clear this space is in transition, and the Smithsonian system is not quite sure how to use it, but it was also clear the building itself is being maintained & saved for when they do know. That makes me so glad--not like amazing buildings like this all over the U.S. that have fallen into disrepair because no one has a current use/vision/money for them. (Now that I think about it, that's the story of Mt. Vernon I shared earlier--wonderful buildings around the States that current generations don't value, so they don't bother to preserve them for future generations.) I would hope they would at least clean it up and make it available for rental--I can see fabulous parties in this space!</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">(Update: It looks like that is what they currently use it for! Well, if you meet their requirements for what is <a href="https://www.si.edu/SpecialEvents/ArtsandIndustries">appropriate use</a>--alas, no Steampunk weddings.)</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">The detail of this building reminded me of the Library of Congress. Oh, I wish we could have seen the inside!</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">So Steampunky!</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> <i>It lies catty-corner to the Smithsonian "Castle," another beautiful building that I'm sorry visitors can't explore to their hearts' content. </i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"> I'm so glad they are maintaining the gardens--they were peaceful spaces that enhance the Mall, even with the building itself closed. (Here some thoughtful tourists offered to take a photo of all of us--nice to have a pic with the kids, even if I look bedraggled from the heat--and that earlier monuments marathon!)</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Writing this post re-awoke my curiosity about this building and led to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2016/08/25/489457490/belle-of-the-mall-saving-smithsonian-s-jewel-like-arts-and-industries-building">this insightful article</a>. And this photo:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>From its building, in 1880. Second from left--Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, one of the building committee members. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">From there we moved next door to the architecture and gardens of the Castle, oldest of the Smithsonian buildings.</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"> There was a fascinating sign there <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/260">showing that once a small herd of American bison grazed upon that very spot!</a></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Way too many pretty corners not to take advantage of in photo shoots. : )</span></i></div>
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<br />Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-42704240873044301102018-11-22T19:58:00.003-08:002018-11-22T19:58:57.194-08:00DC: Day Three, Pt 2--The Capitol, again. The Mall, again. <span style="font-size: large;">So, the night before, I had asked the kids what they most wanted to do or see on our last day. I had a list of awesome things we had not yet done, and suggested we could also return to any place that we had not gotten enough of. In that last vein, I tried to get them to say they wanted to go back to the Air & Space museum, so everyone could experience that hands-on learning room. Instead, they all wanted to go back to the Capitol building, and try to see some lawmakers at work. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, after the monuments marathon, we headed over to the office of our Congressman, Jimmy Panetta, to score passes. And while I was there I demonstrated my civic duty of urging him (via his aide) to support the upcoming Parental Rights bill. </span><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Another gorgeous day at the Capitol. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">The artistry all over the city amazes me.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I already explained how our walk around the monuments took us way longer than expected. So by the time we got our passes and walked over to the Capitol, around 1:00, unfortunately the House had just ended for the day. So we just visited the empty chambers (which was still cool, esp. because we had a very friendly guard explain things in the room). Later I saw on the news about the shenanigans in the House over the confirmation of Kavanaugh, and was kinda glad we had missed it! A historical moment, to be sure, but not in a good way--I'm glad my kids didn't have that example of adults behaving badly as their one impression of our government at work. : ( (I'm not taking sides on the issues at stake in the confirmation, but on how the entire process broke down that day, and there was a distinct lack of respect by the lawmakers for one another or the rules of conduct.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So after the Capitol, it was back to the Mall, where we slowly worked our way from one end to the other, seeing last sights on the way.</span><br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9uqULkPdG6s/W90p8WnQbQI/AAAAAAAAGnc/N9U6WZ_cy78O6y-M_HT2jRatWr1fW1p1wCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1748.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9uqULkPdG6s/W90p8WnQbQI/AAAAAAAAGnc/N9U6WZ_cy78O6y-M_HT2jRatWr1fW1p1wCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1748.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Detour through the U.S. Botanic Garden</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Bananas!</span></i></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fL9NqhXDKSQ/W90p9IeP3RI/AAAAAAAAGnk/hZiFoaaSulQMaOqK1X55pRbkY2Df1lHhACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1752.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fL9NqhXDKSQ/W90p9IeP3RI/AAAAAAAAGnk/hZiFoaaSulQMaOqK1X55pRbkY2Df1lHhACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1752.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">We only meant to walk through quickly, on our way to other things, but we enjoyed ourselves so much we lingered. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">I did not choose to spend time at the exhibits in the American Indian museum, only because I felt we had seen excellent exhibits already all over the country on all things American Indian. But I loved the architecture of the building.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">And we stopped in for a snack--authentic Plains Indians fry bread!</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Tasted a bit like a big soft cracker. Fun to eat something I've read about in books. : )</span></i></div>
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<br />Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-79371696313337148802018-11-21T19:54:00.003-08:002018-11-21T19:54:35.028-08:00DC: Day Three, Pt 1--Monuments & Memorials, Cont. <span style="font-size: large;">Hours into our walk around the memorials we still had a long way to go. . .</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">The one I had most anticipated.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">California!</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Quiet and moving geek out.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Smiley read the whole thing aloud.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Abe & me. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">On to the Vietnam memorial. </span></i></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oLFKyoklkPY/W90or9nYbYI/AAAAAAAAGl0/K45zQ3Qtd9AeS-Bit-kYTEoL-31eZBhngCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1731.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oLFKyoklkPY/W90or9nYbYI/AAAAAAAAGl0/K45zQ3Qtd9AeS-Bit-kYTEoL-31eZBhngCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1731.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Of course we needed to look up a family member--so we found two men who had our family's last name. Must be distant relations--or at least they are today. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Wreath from some respectful Vietnamese group. Humbling. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Found the name.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Making rubbings.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">On to the WWII memorial--great to see after our studies this past year, and visiting the WWII museum in New Orleans.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">One of my favorite stories in recent history was when the government was "shut down" and a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/visiting-veterans-storm-closed-wwii-memorial/2013/10/01/0fc2a376-2ab4-11e3-8ade-a1f23cda135e_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.fcd2694463a9">group of WWII veterans stormed </a>their memorial. Awesome. A truly American response to a shameful political ploy.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">California!</span></i></div>
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<br />Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-41579389254276092142018-11-21T19:38:00.000-08:002018-11-21T19:38:06.686-08:00DC: Day Three, Pt 1--Monuments & Memorials<span style="font-size: large;">Day Three was to be our last day of going into the city. So once again I woke up the kids at the crack of dawn, with the idea that we would walk around and see all the monuments before it got too hot.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">First of all, I can't believe how hot it was at 7:30 in the morning. Second of all, while I had researched walking the monuments, I somehow greatly underestimated how long it would take us. I had planned to be done by around 10; instead, I think we finished around 12:30. It was a Herculean effort--esp. after two long days of hiking around the city, so bodies were starting the day tired. But have I mentioned my kids are troopers? They really proved their mettle this morning, and did their Mom proud. </span><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">One of the best parts of the walk--so many wonderful photo ops along the way!</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">I'm sure it really irks some people that such sentiments are chiseled into our nation's very foundations. I love it. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">While we were at the Jefferson Memorial there was a wedding photo shoot going on. I had fun capturing the moment too. </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I had not realized there was a monument to FDR. I mean, after seeing his mark ALL over the country (is there any National Park the CCC did not work in?), and knowing his role during WWII I am not surprised. Still, it was interesting to notice how extensive and interactive his monument was--makes it seem very modern, and yet it felt forgotten at the same time (we saw lots of people at the other monuments, but only a couple here). </span><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">These are all taken at FDR's monument! And these are only some of the statues and walls recording his words.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Great words now from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">The Korean War memorial was eerie--very effective in emotional imagery.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Fascinating to see a wreath representing people from South Korea thanking America. We saw similar wreaths at other memorials too. Made me wonder--do we ever make similar gestures to the memorials in other countries? To show respect and/or gratitude? Probably not--I think we as a nation are more likely to view ourselves as the heroes than those having needed rescue. In other words, we are naturally pretty full of ourselves. But I hope I'm wrong--I'd love to know.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">This was a fascinating intersection--a Chinese tour guide translating this inscription for his party. I really wondered what they were thinking. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">And while we were there a special ceremony was clearly beginning! Oh, I would have loved to stay and observe--but after it was clear they were settling in for a long proceedings and there was no indication of when it would actually begin, we decided to move on. So much to see and do in our last day in D.C.--and we were only half-way around the monuments!</span></i></div>
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Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-92157866317292327172018-11-21T11:45:00.001-08:002018-11-21T11:47:15.440-08:00DC: Day Two, Pt 4--The Air & Space Museum<span style="font-size: large;">After our tour of the Capitol, we were back to the Mall to meet my parents at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">The Spirit of St. Louis! (Of course we had watched the movie beforehand, so seeing the real plane would be meaningful.)</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">GEEK OUT!</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">There was a whole room at the museum of hands-on, fun & interactive exhibits. Like an Exploratorium focused on physics of air & space flight. Only two of my kids spent time here--the other two were exploring the greater museum and never realized this was here. Oh well! Again, good thing I had learned my lesson about setting aside the Ideal Homeschool D.C. Experience and was just thankful to be there , appreciating every experience, and calling all learning equally good. : )</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">The kids enjoyed riding the Metro every day. And liked it best when it was packed at rush hour! (But of course I didn't dare take a photo then!)</span></i></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wl-zTG34lSQ/W90l5dqtE4I/AAAAAAAAGiI/NJrC_gXJDDw6Y_u-znOBU7CgluHEjaN0gCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1653.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wl-zTG34lSQ/W90l5dqtE4I/AAAAAAAAGiI/NJrC_gXJDDw6Y_u-znOBU7CgluHEjaN0gCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1653.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">I took several photos that week of the Metro escalator at our hotel stop--it was so high and so steep.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Terrible photo, but trying to capture the optical illusion--the escalator was so steep that it played tricks on the brain. Here I tried to show that by turning the camera so that the railing is level, and then it looks like everybody is standing but leaning way back. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Back at the hotel, trying on the souvenirs we got at the Capitol. That was my favorite gift shop in all of D.C! Good quality items at very reasonable prices, and everything in the shops was made in the U.S. THE place to get t-shirts! And I had promised the kids they could each pick out one souvenirs on the road trip--Smiley got his stuffed manatee down in Florida, and now the girls decided they wanted t-shirts. Perfect. </span></i></div>
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<br />Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-47467128272876186602018-11-21T10:53:00.000-08:002018-11-21T11:54:02.166-08:00DC: Day Two, Pt 3--The Capitol<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">A tour of the Capitol building was one thing that I did schedule in advance. And, surprisingly, this ended up being one of our favorite parts of the Washington D.C. trip. </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Trying to capture the iconic profile. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Passing by the Supreme Court building across the street--one building we did not have time to try to investigate. But we were sure aware of the hubbub surrounding the nominations going on at that time!</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Did I mention it was really hot in D.C.? And yet somehow we were never overwhelmed with heat. Maybe because, like this security dog, we tried to stay hydrated. One thing I will say for our nation's capitol: lots of drinking fountains. Normally we carry water bottles with us, but some buildings--like the Capitol building--don't allow water bottles to be brought in, so we had to rely upon drinking fountains. We made a rule that when you see a drinking fountain and a bathroom you use them. That practical habit stayed with us the whole rest of the road trip around the US!</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="https://www.aoc.gov/capitol-buildings/old-supreme-court-chamber">old Supreme Court chamber</a>, now hidden down in the bowels of the Capitol building.</span></i><br />
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<i style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">Underneath the Rotunda, in the Crypt. Our guide, in the red blazer, graduated from UCSC! What are the odds?</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Statuary all around. I didn't know that each state gets to have two statues in the building, depicting their chosen heroes of the state. Sometimes a state will change its mind as public views swing, and will swap out one statue for another--looking around, it was pretty clear to me which were more recent additions (female, ethnic, black American, etc.--I'd love to be wrong about any of those!) and it was fun to analyze the states' choices. Some were famous figures we recognized, and some we'd never heard of but who I'd love to research. Some were surprising--and some were especially beautiful. <a href="https://www.aoc.gov/capitol-hill/national-statuary-hall-collection/nsh-location">Here</a> is a link if anyone wants to look them up with me. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Not a great pic, but just quick documentation one of my favorite things from our long road trip; throughout the US, anytime we were on a tour, Smiley would always make his way through the crowds to the side of the park ranger or tour guide leading us. I loved that--not only did he always hear everything said, but he was demonstrating his enthusiasm for the experience. And it was adorable, since he would chat with the guide along the way. : )</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">First view of the Rotunda.</span></i></div>
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<i style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">As our guide discussed the paintings in the Rotunda, he said most people think this iconic painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence depicts the most important moment to our nation.</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>But our guide argued that this painting, depicting George Washington resigning the Presidency, reflects the most important moment in American history--when Washington chose not to become a new American king, and gave up all the power because he didn't want it, and because he knew doing so would be best for our country. So that totally made me cry, for several reasons. </i><i>Washington was, I believe, a Divinely appointed leader. He was certainly not a perfect man--his roles and actions during the French & Indian wars certainly disappoint our modern idealism of him--but he was the perfect leader for that moment in our nation's history. Maybe because I've been so aware of God's Provision and Timing on this trip, but I felt strongly that day, considering the guide's argument, that Washington was a rare leader, in spirit a servant-leader, and God put him into position at just the moment when our fledgling nation needed him. </i></span><br />
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<i>(And yes, that logic then supposes that God desired the creation of the U.S., which is why He would rise up a Washington to help make it happen. I do believe this is true, and that America at her best is a tool for God's work in the world. At her worst. . . sigh. Lord, please continue to raise up the leaders we need to be a tool of your Love and Mercy and Justice in the world.)</i></span><br />
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<i>I also cried because I seriously love when politically liberal Americans get all emotional & patriotic, like me. : ) I'm familiar with such expressions from the conservative community--our travels through the U.S. were fascinating for comparing different areas of the country with their political expressions and values--but don't see them as much from the liberal community, and in the midst of the currently depressing level of animosity between "sides," I love seeing expressions that show we still have a core connection and some common values that may yet keep us united. </i></span><br />
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<i>(I've been contemplating if patriotism manifests differently in different political ways of thinking--and one reason why the opposite sides have a hard time understanding one another, notably why conservatives accuse liberals of being un-patriotic, is simply because patriotism means different things to each group, and is thus expressed in ways that the other might not recognize or identify with. But maybe they have the same core? Might be helpful to recognize this, if true--would help build bridges.)</i></span><br />
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<i>(Final side note--my favorite July Fourth celebration is Wilder Ranch State Park there north of Santa Cruz, because they read aloud the Declaration and we together raise the flag and say the pledge and I get all weepy for that moment of unity, in such an uber-liberal and anti-Christian area. In that moment we are not any specific religious or political affiliation or any other label that can serve to separate us--we are just Americans, united in celebration of that common identity.) </i></span></div>
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<i>Waxing politic. Hey, what's to be expected from a trip to D.C.? </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Did I mention we were listening to the musicals </i>1776<i> and </i>Hamilton<i> on the road trip? Both very good in their own ways, and great for discussion--but the song <a href="https://genius.com/Lin-manuel-miranda-one-last-time-lyrics"></a></i>One Last Time<i></i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>in</i> Hamilton,<i> when Washington announces he is stepping down, is one of my favorites. I wonder if Lin-Manuel Miranda had the same tour guide as we did when he was researching for the musical. ; )</i>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Our guide showed his liberal bent when he essentially apologized for these friezes, which are no longer considered P.C. for how they depict the first interactions of European whites and Native Americans. I don't support erasing our history, but definitely taking a good, contemplative look at it. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Inside the <a href="https://www.aoc.gov/capitol-buildings/old-senate-chamber">old Senate Chamber.</a></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Passing the chambers of the Speaker of the House.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">In Statuary Hall.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Father Junipero Serra! </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Gorgeous.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Gorgeous--what a beautiful, creative way to depict an engineer. Not sure it is accurate to the man himself, but definitely one of my favorite statues there.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">I seriously love analyzing the different statues. This one is fabulously dynamic. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">"I'm just a bill, yeah I'm only a bill, and I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill."</span></i></div>
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<br />Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-33211929001720438552018-11-02T20:19:00.003-07:002018-11-02T20:19:17.424-07:00DC: Day 2, Pt 2--The National Postal Museum<span style="font-size: large;">After the unexpected pleasure of the Library of Congress we were off to another museum that is not high on most people's lists, but which I had heard was underrated--the National Postal Museum. And I agree--it was a great stop that I would recommend to any tourists. but esp. those with kids and esp. homeschool families!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Very unassuming from the outside.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Much more grand on the inside.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Uber-hip display--the infamous pistols used in the Hamilton-Burr duel! </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>As you would expect, there were lots of different kinds of letters/mail to geek out on.</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WRx0m3IUI4g/W90O_MTUgXI/AAAAAAAAGbY/Z-QxbQnvszQat0z-0z8AehHMneVyZwcKwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1503.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WRx0m3IUI4g/W90O_MTUgXI/AAAAAAAAGbY/Z-QxbQnvszQat0z-0z8AehHMneVyZwcKwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1503.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>One room was all about collecting, and they had bins of stamps that guests were welcome to look through and select some to take home! We found some awesome history in those--a stamp that looks like it is from North Korea, a Nazi stamp, National Parks stamps & more.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>There was a display on women in aviation, since so many of them started out delivering mail. Here is Amelia Earhart's flight suit. </i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Leaving the formal museum and going downstairs, it was clear this part was added much later, and this was where there were more modern, kid-friendly & interactive displays. </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Owney, mascot of the Railway Mail Service. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There were so many cool things about this museum I didn't even mention--the scavenger hunt for kids, the free retro postcards, the stamp collections to browse. But we only had a few hours there, because we had a date at the Capitol!</span></div>
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<br />Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-33933300108396746102018-11-02T15:05:00.003-07:002018-11-02T15:05:50.888-07:00DC: Day Two, Pt 1--The Library of Congress, Cont. <span style="font-size: large;">Yes, the Library of Congress ended up being one of our favorite, favorite things in all of D.C. Who would have thought it! And now I find, looking back, that there is way too much beauty to fit into one post. So skip this one if you didn't enjoy the last one--it's just more of the same. ; ) The kids and I, however, could not get enough of it. They were just as camera happy as I was!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>From the museum exhibit on WWI.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The iconic view.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Really cool <a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-13-157/">rare map!</a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>And all around us and under us was intricate beauty!</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Stumbling upon a display of Alexander Hamilton papers. Letters to the Schuyler sisters--</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>And early editions of the Federalist papers.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Of course these displays (and others about Hamilton around the D.C. area) were because of the musical Hamilton coming to the city, and because of the musical's popularity bringing a surge of interest in all things Hamilton. But clever of the exhibit makers to draw the connections, showing how these original documents were instrumental to the lyrics of the show. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>And then, down in the basement, we felt a bit like Alice in Wonderland as we wandered what seemed like endless corridors without signage, looking for something we were told was there. . . </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Library of Congress Children's Reading Room!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I don't know how much this room gets used, but what a delightful space!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Lovers of reading and supporters of libraries unite!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Note: there were stations down in the basement of the Library of Congress to recharge electronics! This was very helpful, seeing as how it was first thing in the morning and our camera batteries were already running low, for the amount we had used them on this one building. : ) So while the kids were in the reading room I watched all their cameras and my phone while they charged. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And then, all of us recharged, we headed to our next stop: The US Postal Museum!</span><br />
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Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-80636787043118909972018-11-02T15:05:00.002-07:002018-11-02T15:05:28.011-07:00DC: Day Two, Pt 1--The Library of Congress<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Today's strategy started out with the Library of Congress, which opened sooner than other buildings. I thought we would just "pop in" to see it before heading on to other places that I thought were more worthy. I had not done any research on this building, and didn't know it would be anything all that interesting. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I could not have been more wrong. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Gorgeous fountains outside could have been a clue. </i></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JAoixTdxqyE/W9xvICkEldI/AAAAAAAAGUE/U0mI9n8rljAdraIh3L8h7rdHTDbuLB3kwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1413.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JAoixTdxqyE/W9xvICkEldI/AAAAAAAAGUE/U0mI9n8rljAdraIh3L8h7rdHTDbuLB3kwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1413.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Heavily ornamented exterior definitely should have been a clue. </i></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IhRtV4nf77o/W9xvI-Sjm8I/AAAAAAAAGUQ/V84cilnB5aAUX1mpbmj0NtiPa_KUUX7cwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1418.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IhRtV4nf77o/W9xvI-Sjm8I/AAAAAAAAGUQ/V84cilnB5aAUX1mpbmj0NtiPa_KUUX7cwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1418.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The first thing we saw was a little, beautifully decorated hall, with a very old and humble display for what it was holding:</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NSR_qeTjZlw/W9xvJKFrPDI/AAAAAAAAGUU/bhVAN5n3m4gI_Ux17DeDNf9-OfnaMnkEQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1419.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NSR_qeTjZlw/W9xvJKFrPDI/AAAAAAAAGUU/bhVAN5n3m4gI_Ux17DeDNf9-OfnaMnkEQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1419.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-io6vsXMyGj8/W9xvJtnQrfI/AAAAAAAAGUc/6BgaG555DB8QEe_D2Io1cgqvOfaXykyywCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-io6vsXMyGj8/W9xvJtnQrfI/AAAAAAAAGUc/6BgaG555DB8QEe_D2Io1cgqvOfaXykyywCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1420.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The incredibly beautiful ceiling of the hall.</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ehKr1My-bWk/W9xvKVyJYxI/AAAAAAAAGUg/d8C6tFGzEqsZaVmz3dpRVdU_G7G2Fe9-gCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ehKr1My-bWk/W9xvKVyJYxI/AAAAAAAAGUg/d8C6tFGzEqsZaVmz3dpRVdU_G7G2Fe9-gCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1422.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>But our jaws dropped when we stepped out of that side hall and into the main hall. </i></span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YdIVfNt-dI8/W9xvK9t-JfI/AAAAAAAAGUo/lW-5tiMreVkxteOlaG7G6gBK5FozpDzawCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YdIVfNt-dI8/W9xvK9t-JfI/AAAAAAAAGUo/lW-5tiMreVkxteOlaG7G6gBK5FozpDzawCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1423.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The ceiling, so far above.</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LZcXbHdLz-g/W9xvK5OSw8I/AAAAAAAAGUk/-kg3utLaw8k-wVinU5avtjIoun_Db7beQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1424.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LZcXbHdLz-g/W9xvK5OSw8I/AAAAAAAAGUk/-kg3utLaw8k-wVinU5avtjIoun_Db7beQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1424.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Jlg58G6qI7U/W9xvLTJCRZI/AAAAAAAAGUs/crgU7TynKpYYGElt8MZv3D5Sfgv_TpD-gCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1425.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Jlg58G6qI7U/W9xvLTJCRZI/AAAAAAAAGUs/crgU7TynKpYYGElt8MZv3D5Sfgv_TpD-gCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1425.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I8RuoAQNzpk/W9xvMmWTHUI/AAAAAAAAGU0/80xDpmEWlJE3K_FXPNpb7FE-YCUpGtkQQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1426.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I8RuoAQNzpk/W9xvMmWTHUI/AAAAAAAAGU0/80xDpmEWlJE3K_FXPNpb7FE-YCUpGtkQQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1426.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>There's so much detail the kids get lost!</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cLpMZJWe_z4/W9xvMduNNbI/AAAAAAAAGUw/hkkWAXJWJjIJc3p_EMUOC3v_h0v0fmWuQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1428.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cLpMZJWe_z4/W9xvMduNNbI/AAAAAAAAGUw/hkkWAXJWJjIJc3p_EMUOC3v_h0v0fmWuQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1428.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CP-NJgKfzfU/W9xvM3g41pI/AAAAAAAAGU4/3hYQD7P9rc4tWwUIXfNbP1G6PHXUweTLQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1429.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CP-NJgKfzfU/W9xvM3g41pI/AAAAAAAAGU4/3hYQD7P9rc4tWwUIXfNbP1G6PHXUweTLQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1429.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The little side hall ceiling honored famous literary figures throughout history.</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oBEGUvV0X3w/W9xxF1A12rI/AAAAAAAAGVg/Dr-ksW4x6Rotpk_ixv0L-_MVO10zp_xtACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1430.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oBEGUvV0X3w/W9xxF1A12rI/AAAAAAAAGVg/Dr-ksW4x6Rotpk_ixv0L-_MVO10zp_xtACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1430.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ErIXcZzPJ8w/W9xxFt4OmjI/AAAAAAAAGVY/mwCq2ZRSLAUbaLlhII6OyTEkMPjwwCQ2wCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1433.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ErIXcZzPJ8w/W9xxFt4OmjI/AAAAAAAAGVY/mwCq2ZRSLAUbaLlhII6OyTEkMPjwwCQ2wCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1433.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kHQIkCdBuSg/W9xxF1Nk3MI/AAAAAAAAGVc/i2iSfHirH5ob0JAbxjIx-MSlh0wpABwDwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1435.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kHQIkCdBuSg/W9xxF1Nk3MI/AAAAAAAAGVc/i2iSfHirH5ob0JAbxjIx-MSlh0wpABwDwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1435.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GlVnzf4wToQ/W9xxGcE--SI/AAAAAAAAGVk/xYs-CbdbOEcURjxEJbN7o68V8186kb5AwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1436.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GlVnzf4wToQ/W9xxGcE--SI/AAAAAAAAGVk/xYs-CbdbOEcURjxEJbN7o68V8186kb5AwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1436.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Other parts of the ceilings were dedicated to themes of wisdom, learning, nature, and values the building's artisans must have thought represented the best of what defined and unified Americans. </i></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gv_WuZtP3Fo/W9xxHHQSPiI/AAAAAAAAGVo/ixIUnRDr5TUCg4e5NrRfXvHj6T5PCEWPACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1437.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gv_WuZtP3Fo/W9xxHHQSPiI/AAAAAAAAGVo/ixIUnRDr5TUCg4e5NrRfXvHj6T5PCEWPACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1437.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vThUC3eSirQ/W9xxHZ5CNlI/AAAAAAAAGVs/1k59Zecd19wnfcWfkpplPJoXS67I_UD5QCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1438.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vThUC3eSirQ/W9xxHZ5CNlI/AAAAAAAAGVs/1k59Zecd19wnfcWfkpplPJoXS67I_UD5QCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1438.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>There was no place in the building that was unadorned, elegant, amazing. </i></span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ExHOdaqHv2o/W9xxHbY45RI/AAAAAAAAGVw/aGFq_sW0IfMhrupdN3Z8G5HNP8Brivb3wCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1439.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ExHOdaqHv2o/W9xxHbY45RI/AAAAAAAAGVw/aGFq_sW0IfMhrupdN3Z8G5HNP8Brivb3wCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1439.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QCQPH77U8VQ/W9xxHyOedaI/AAAAAAAAGV0/tmkxBrAurhk7lfzLHW6Ye3D6jJIsDtj8ACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1440.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QCQPH77U8VQ/W9xxHyOedaI/AAAAAAAAGV0/tmkxBrAurhk7lfzLHW6Ye3D6jJIsDtj8ACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1440.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QojnWYPm6ww/W9xxIOOWVhI/AAAAAAAAGV4/QuDam1oWSug7rmf9dOQZw6mNQSfsh7nWgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1441.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QojnWYPm6ww/W9xxIOOWVhI/AAAAAAAAGV4/QuDam1oWSug7rmf9dOQZw6mNQSfsh7nWgCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1441.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Library has changing museum exhibits--this one on baseball!</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Sc92VurvaRg/W9xxI_mCthI/AAAAAAAAGV8/veYGFlugsH47YT8pKmgMnCoU81zTlDuBwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1442.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Sc92VurvaRg/W9xxI_mCthI/AAAAAAAAGV8/veYGFlugsH47YT8pKmgMnCoU81zTlDuBwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1442.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6pRa2vu33z8/W9xxJRFLFdI/AAAAAAAAGWA/EdZ2rkyfp70Q9oSYkVtVQNEPvSVQrJGRgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6pRa2vu33z8/W9xxJRFLFdI/AAAAAAAAGWA/EdZ2rkyfp70Q9oSYkVtVQNEPvSVQrJGRgCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1443.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NMQFMYB2_Tg/W9xxJ23uLVI/AAAAAAAAGWE/MdM8Ct4d-FgN0-sdD3TPQOGbLUW26Bl-ACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1444.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NMQFMYB2_Tg/W9xxJ23uLVI/AAAAAAAAGWE/MdM8Ct4d-FgN0-sdD3TPQOGbLUW26Bl-ACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1444.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6Qu5EsGJLIA/W9xxJ4PIjsI/AAAAAAAAGWI/HJ56qpO9rr47sv1tUiO_Y88PujqbKdtJgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1447.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6Qu5EsGJLIA/W9xxJ4PIjsI/AAAAAAAAGWI/HJ56qpO9rr47sv1tUiO_Y88PujqbKdtJgCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1447.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>And the Library contains Thomas Jefferson's library!</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wTj0LIvVnno/W9xxKKpa-AI/AAAAAAAAGWM/TVZM8iRoc_4OJSqU9r82ljT1sru2wpAygCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wTj0LIvVnno/W9xxKKpa-AI/AAAAAAAAGWM/TVZM8iRoc_4OJSqU9r82ljT1sru2wpAygCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1450.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We never imagined how gorgeous a government building could be, and I am so glad I made that little "stop by"--that turned into hours. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Note: of any place we visited in D.C. the people here were by far the nicest. The docents are all volunteers, and I'm guessing retired professionals. They were very helpful, very professional, and they clearly wanted to be there. All in all, this was one of our favorite things in all of D.C. </span></div>
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<br />Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-64160050051913013302018-11-02T15:04:00.003-07:002018-11-02T15:04:54.982-07:00DC: Day One, Pt 4--American History Museum<span style="font-size: large;">The Smithsonian Museum of American History was the museum I had most anticipated seeing--and it was surprising that it was not the pinnacle American history geek-out I thought it would be. The exhibits were very modern and well done, but they focused more on stories and didn't seem to actually have much. . . stuff on display. It wasn't like what I remembered loving as a tween on my previous visit--so perhaps the sophistication of modern museum displays lose some of the imaginative engagement that happens when you are confronted by the objects on their own? When they are allowed to speak for themselves? ,</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Still, there was plenty of great stuff to geek out over. Like this:</span><br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_nYQ6qp24pg/W9xsjw5MbjI/AAAAAAAAGSU/AWfCMM5Nb5cxi6_ZCKuq_Kz2h4qE_eiNQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1373.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_nYQ6qp24pg/W9xsjw5MbjI/AAAAAAAAGSU/AWfCMM5Nb5cxi6_ZCKuq_Kz2h4qE_eiNQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1373.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vNS0mqk3Yeg/W9xsj48W0GI/AAAAAAAAGSQ/k6ztiXupd5QL7Q-OJxoxilHDO-iCpJAKACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1374.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vNS0mqk3Yeg/W9xsj48W0GI/AAAAAAAAGSQ/k6ztiXupd5QL7Q-OJxoxilHDO-iCpJAKACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1374.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And of course we enjoyed seeing the First Ladies' collection:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">My two favorite china patterns and colors:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Fun intersections with our family studies--which also pointed ahead to road trip destinations to come:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>George Washington's dress uniform.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Pieces of the rubble of the fallen Twin Towers. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>More Berlin Wall!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Congressional Gold Medal, 2010. As the placard read: "Nearly seventy years after the end of WWII, the U.S. Congress presented the nation's highest civilian honor to Japanese American soldiers who served with the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and the Military Intelligence Service. 'Go For Broke,' the phrase that appears on the front of the medal, was the motto of the 442nd. It captures the risk-everything ethos of the Japanese-American soldiers who served during the war."</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>WWII propaganda posters. Anyone else see Darth?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Merry as Rosie the Riveter.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Early American corn. I've seen lots of beautiful "Indian corn" but I've never seen such technicolored corn in nature.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Keeping it real: I did enjoy this museum very much, esp. the Star Spangled Banner. But the slight feeling of let-down from my nostalgia-fueled expectations was not helped by the extremely rude museum staff when it was time to go. With 15 minutes before the museum closed, staff was herding people out, loudly and not nicely. Well, ok, I get that--you do what you gotta do to do what you need to do. But they were so abrupt and uncompromising that many people were then left with only one bathroom to use before exiting the building. We knew all the museums and government buildings would be closed once we exited, and we needed to use facilities before walking blocks to the Metro, then waiting for trains, riding in rush-hour traffic back to Arlington, and then waiting for the hotel shuttle. . . it could be a while before we had another opportunity! We still had 8 minutes before the museum was officially closed, but when I entered the one open ladies' room with the girls, there was a woman already mopping the floor and yelling at people to get out. Well, that was not ok with me, so I calmly but firmly told her we were going to use it, and we did, while she berated us and the other women in there. I thought it was completely unreasonable the way we were treated, and I will be writing the museum to say so. Humph. ; )</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So all in all, that was quite the day of highs and lows! With such an early start, we were glad to be done, and satisfied with such a fun-filled day. We got back to the hotel, ate food I had there in our room, and had a relaxing evening, resting and getting psyched for Day Two in our nation's capitol. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span>Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-73768290365454598952018-11-02T08:25:00.002-07:002018-11-02T12:42:55.558-07:00DC: Day One, Pt 3--Natural History Museum<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1oucRK5uvnA/W9xiNBo-SgI/AAAAAAAAGQM/ttAovDYR-HETgsywTxN7HrAoG1KFHKmpQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1oucRK5uvnA/W9xiNBo-SgI/AAAAAAAAGQM/ttAovDYR-HETgsywTxN7HrAoG1KFHKmpQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1345.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Sculpture garden on the way. I made it a rule throughout our road trip travels to take a moment whenever possible to engage with anything we happened to be passing by.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We paused in a shady, peaceful side garden for a quick picnic lunch, and then we headed to our first museum: The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>We had timed this trip to Washington D.C. because early September was supposed to be the "off season"--perfect for avoiding crowds! And sure enough, we never saw crowds anywhere we went in D.C. (except on the Metro at rush hour). This moment, when I could stand and photograph the Hope Diamond at my leisure without interruption, was when it really hit me how awesome it is to be in these museums and monuments without crowds. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i> Look, a timeline! (Yes, I took pictures of timelines at museums all over the country. I save them for my kids, because part of their homeschool learning is weekly entries in their timeline books. But I love me a good timeline, because I don't feel like I ever learned in school how different things in history fit together, and timelines help make connections.)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>So much pretty.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>So much fascinating. How these things are formed. How the museum got them to this display without breakage!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Topaz--my birthstone and favorite gem,</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Ooooooohhhhhhhh!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Homeschool mom loves when we get to unexpectedly revisit things we've already seen, to build upon the learning!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>GEEK OUT!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">How could a day get better than this? With <b>more</b> free museum, that's how! On to the American History museum!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Keeping It Real Confession: it was so interesting that after the emotional high earlier that morning at the National Archives that I would hit a physical low here at the Natural History museum. I developed a migraine while we were there, and it seriously hampered my enjoyment. But still--it was all fine. Because I had that moment of realizing whatever happened in DC from then on would be Great and Good Enough, it didn't bother me that I had a headache. No FOMO. I had ibuprofen on hand, and plenty of drinking fountains around me. When my head hurt too much to look at things, I had a cool and relatively quiet seat on a marble bench there in the main hall (sure, there was museum crowd noise all around me, but </span><span style="font-size: large;">there were no shrieking school groups, and </span><span style="font-size: large;">in that big space sound rises, drifts, and echoes to make a kind of soothing tide). The kids went off in pairs to explore together and I could close my eyes and just rest my painful head. They would check back in with me periodically, so I knew all was well and where everyone was. (This too made me happy, because they got to see things that interested them, and each kid walked away with a different experience at the museum--which also means they have some excellent photos I didn't get, like of the skeletons. Sloth skeleton! Sea turtle skeleton! Llama skeleton! Even through a migraine, very cool. But I didn't linger to take photos.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And then, the migraine was over. And I was fully capable of leading my kids through the rest of the day's adventures. And this too was God's provision--not just this day, but on the entire road trip, because this amazingly brief migraine was the only moment of illness I had on the entire road trip to date. Not just D.C., but every adventure from June through October! None of us got seriously ill or wounded--sure, we had a few mild sore throats and minor injuries, but nothing that would keep us from enjoying every moment of our road trip adventures. And that is something to be truly Thankful for. </span><br />
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<br />Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-60367665303089624282018-11-02T07:19:00.000-07:002018-11-02T07:19:42.170-07:00DC: Day One, Pt 2<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Next up on our walking that first day: the Old Post Office Building, where I heard you can have excellent views of the city. </span><br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WNYY4NvMhz4/W9xUCm26NtI/AAAAAAAAGOk/Fj09uWdztHc1A68YATg8OoverDkige-LgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1319.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WNYY4NvMhz4/W9xUCm26NtI/AAAAAAAAGOk/Fj09uWdztHc1A68YATg8OoverDkige-LgCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1319.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Yes, excellent 360 degree views--but marred by all those little bars!</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0IxzqAY3AlY/W9xUDHCEHpI/AAAAAAAAGOo/EVUCunQneMgabQoauw63e6MqP7uMXz--gCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1326.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0IxzqAY3AlY/W9xUDHCEHpI/AAAAAAAAGOo/EVUCunQneMgabQoauw63e6MqP7uMXz--gCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1326.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>However, we figured out that cell phone cameras are tiny enough to capture the view between the bars, if held up right against the glass.</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0e-cXa9auTk/W9xUDmCPyGI/AAAAAAAAGOs/hUSVugKGe7QLU6iillG6H9WhIfiq2g7JwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1327.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0e-cXa9auTk/W9xUDmCPyGI/AAAAAAAAGOs/hUSVugKGe7QLU6iillG6H9WhIfiq2g7JwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1327.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The view of the Capitol Building.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Playing with how much I could zoom in to see the Capitol, without losing quality.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Not too shabby!</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wKAlq6_gF7E/W9xUEhPCKtI/AAAAAAAAGO4/6KkLH54DQ8IfAPle6IctyyzmDp4Sa7t5QCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1334.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wKAlq6_gF7E/W9xUEhPCKtI/AAAAAAAAGO4/6KkLH54DQ8IfAPle6IctyyzmDp4Sa7t5QCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1334.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Next stop: the National Archives.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I didn't get any pictures inside the Archives, since they don't allow photography in the most famous space that houses the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution & Bill of Rights and other important founding documents. But this was a very quiet, if pivotal moment for me. We stayed in that dim, cool space for a good 30 minutes, looking at everything and soaking it in. When we first arrived there was a small school group there, so I sat down on the floor at the far edge of the small rotunda and watched my children engaging with this iconic American history experience. And I cried. I cried because the homeschool mom in me was happy. Because the history geek in me was ecstatic. But my tears were also of relief; I hadn't even realized all the energy I had been expending towards this part of our road trip. We came on our Epic American Homeschool Road Trip Adventure because of a wedding in Alabama (that was the pebble that started the avalanche). But taking my kids to Washington, D.C. was the main goal of the whole road trip--everything else we were doing, all the other places we were seeing and the fun we were having, all that was bonus. This was the main destination, and sitting there in the Archives in the presence of those documents, I felt all the pressure of making this destination come to the surface and be washed away by my thankful tears. I felt completely liberated from any pressure (self-imposed, the last of any lingering idealism), knowing that at this moment I had done Enough. I had gotten us here (with help and encouragement from others!) and this was going to be a great experience in the capitol. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There are so many more things one could stop and see and learn about at the Archives, and this was one place I would have ideally lingered in for much longer--for example, that museum exhibit on Vietnam would have been really great to see--but we were on the highlights tour this morning, so off we went!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">By now we were definitely "behind schedule"--because everything we had done so far this morning I had timed for us to see before the Smithsonians opened at 10! But after my moment in the archives rotunda, I had a renewed perspective on what we "had to" see and do that day--whatever we did was going to be great, and good enough. And I told my idealistic, on-a-mission homeschool mom brain--hey, look at all the fun learning we've done, and it's not even noon! : ) Whoo-hoo! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And then we were off to our next destinations--museums on the mall!</span></div>
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Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-88720027568969323622018-11-02T06:34:00.003-07:002018-11-02T06:39:07.665-07:00DC: Day One, Pt. 1<span style="font-size: large;">The hotel we stayed at was a dump. It was neither nice nor particularly clean. But it was cheap, it was not a roach motel (and no bedbugs!), it offered free continental breakfast, it was very conveniently located near a major Metro hub in Arlington, and--best of all--it offered hourly shuttle service to and from that hub. So, all things considered, I might still recommend it to any homeschool family heading to D.C. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">There were so many things I wanted to do and see in our nation's capitol, and I knew there was no way we would get to do it all, but by golly, I was going to die trying! ; ) Good thing my kids are troopers--the next morning I was waking them at the crack of dawn so we could catch the 7 a.m. shuttle to the city. I had carefully grouped the things we wanted to see by proximity, to save time between things, and I had planned our route for the day to maximize what we could see before 5-5:30, when all the museums and government buildings close. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So our first stop of the day--The White House! </span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--MmiasjNauE/W9uBIlmPXVI/AAAAAAAAGLY/B5wy0TmoUiMnPUgDsSfbeBW1GjhqCMFmQCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_1270.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--MmiasjNauE/W9uBIlmPXVI/AAAAAAAAGLY/B5wy0TmoUiMnPUgDsSfbeBW1GjhqCMFmQCEwYBhgL/s320/IMG_1270.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">When I started planning the trip as far as I could find out the WH was not open for tours, so I did not take effort to make that happen. But the day we were around the WH I saw people lined up for tours, although not nearly as many as I would have expected, so maybe just private tours? Not sure about the official status of that. But that was ok with me--while it would have been great to see the inside and take the tour, the kids were fine with just seeing the outside, and we sure had fun doing it, our first iconic building in D.C! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">[And let me stop and take a moment right now to explain something important to all my fellow homeschool moms reading--this was not my ideal trip. I did not get the days I would have wanted, and even with all my research and planning we missed some opportunities we didn't know we could have had. There were things that, when I started planning this trip 6 months ago, I thought OF COURSE we HAD to do--like visiting the W.H. or sitting in on a session of Congress. But, life. So when I actually knew what days we would be there, I had to quickly throw out a lot of my preconceived ideas about what our visit to D.C. "SHOULD" look like. And I realized, I don't really care about doing some of the things a homeschool family "SHOULD" do in D.C. My kids don't care. And, frankly, I didn't really want to lock in too many tours to our schedule, because formal tours take precious time. I wanted our time to be spent seeing the things I most wanted to show the kids, doing the things I most wanted to experience with the kids, or letting them choose what they most wanted to see and do. And those things might not be the things everyone else thinks they should be. And that's ok. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">That is all to say--don't judge me. : ) ]</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>As we walked around the "block" going to see the other famous side of the White House, it was so cool to see other iconic landmarks greeting us from between buildings!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>And there's a neat sidewalk "walk of fame" of influential people on one side of the WH--I don't even think those featured were all American, but I could be wrong. If I had known about this beforehand we could have researched it a bit, and maybe looked for certain figures. Oh well--next trip! ; )</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Next official stop: the White House Visitor Center, which opened at 7:30 in the morning. </span><span style="font-size: large;">It was more than a welcome bathroom break--it was a lovely building with really cool museum displays about the White House. We could have spent more time there!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Next stop: Ford's Theater.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Just as with the White House Visitor Center, I wasn't expecting there to be a full-blown Abraham Lincoln museum there! So by now we were a little behind schedule, but we just couldn't rush through--so much neat history on display!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>One favorite item on display--this quilt, made as a fund-raiser. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Ulysses S. Grant</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Lincoln also has a lot of excellent quotations to collect. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I was surprised to see a story like this documented. But of course I greatly appreciated it.</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">After seeing the inside of the box, we got to sit for a few minutes in the theater and watch as the stage was being set for a new show getting ready to open. A behind-the-scenes look at a working theater!</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After seeing the theater, we went across the street to the house where Lincoln was taken after he was shot, the house where he was treated but finally died. Little did I know this unassuming building houses another whole museum--this one picking up the story where the Ford's Theater museum left off, telling about the whole assassination conspiracy (did you know Lincoln was not the only target? I didn't!), the hunt for Booth, and the trials of the conspirators. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Again, lots of little tidbits that I found fascinating, that I'm sharing in case you enjoy them too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I shared this with my LitWits teens when I taught the "Master Class" on </i>Julius Caesar<i>. Crazy!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Now this is eerie. Not the history you get from textbooks as a kid.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>This second Lincoln museum had a very cool exit--a staircase wrapping around this tower of books, all written about Abraham Lincoln!</i></span></div>
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Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-11190628288825778872018-11-01T14:44:00.000-07:002018-11-01T14:44:00.683-07:00Mt. Vernon, Pt 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">After lunch the kids and I went over to the Washingtons' tomb, for a daily wreath-laying ceremony. Four guests of Mt. Vernon are invited to participate, each having a specific role in the ceremony. They always ask for veterans and active military volunteers first; however, there were only two in attendance that day, so I gladly volunteered to lead those gathered in the Pledge of Allegiance. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">(Let's gloss over the fact that clearly all the adults gathered there looked at my kids and thought one of them should naturally receive that honor. Um, homeschool kids don't say the Pledge every morning--I don't actually think any school in California does anymore!--so they didn't know it. Let's hope everyone just thought my kids were shy. ; )</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And even I had a moment of trepidation; the last time I led a group in the Pledge of Allegiance, in the 4th grade, I totally messed it up. I started out fine, but halfway through I noticed my teacher looking at me strangely, and I realized what I was saying:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I pledge allegiance to the Flag</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>of the United States of America. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>on Earth as it is in Heaven. . . )</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This time my leading went off without a hitch, a</span><span style="font-size: large;">nd I received a formal certificate for my service. : )</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Then we explored the riverside, the farm, the outbuildings, and the gardens. As I said in a previous post, I'm not even pretending to document everything we saw and learned; my goal is not to present an explanatory text of Mt. Vernon, with photos of everything of note. My goal is to just share some of my favorite bits. Which might not be what anyone else thinks is important. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Like my kids--favorite things to photograph! </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>These were the formal gardens, and I told each kid to choose some favorite flowers to get a portrait with. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Funny how in the photos really only the yellow stands out, but the layers of color were really beautiful.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I really wished I could have taken some plants with me, as gifts for my gardening friends! How fun is that?!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>My favorite favorite thing on the entire estate: this "Witness Tree." This was one of two trees planted by George Washington himself that have survived all these years. I love trees. I love history. I geek out on authentic remnants of the past. I fell I love with this tree, hence the embrace. True living history!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Me falling into "Mrs. C" mode--I love teaching history and literature for LitWits high school kids, and George Washington's Rules of Civility was one thing I shared with the teens last year in our American History & Lit class. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I also love collecting quotations. George has quite a few great ones. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>There were two movies shown at Mt. Vernon; the main "welcome" one was a little outdated (Pat Sajak hosted it, if that helps you date it), but the museum itself was quite modern and excellent, and the second movie was a "4-D" one, where subwoofers under the chairs help you feel every cannon blast, where fog surrounds you during the crossing of the Delaware, and where you are "snowed" on at Valley Forge. Very fun. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>One historical item I did not geek out over. Ewwwwww. And owwwwwww. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>And more photographs of history intersecting! In the visitor center were framed images of famous people in history visiting Mt. Vernon, some come to pay respects. Here we have First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Madame Chiang Kai-shek and FDR paying tribute at Washington's Tomb on February 22, 1943.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>"His Imperial Highness, Crown Prince Akihito of Japan (center), escorted by John Simmons, Chief of Protocol, United States Department of State (left), lays a ceremonial wreath at Washington's Tomb. September 1953."</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Much to speculate about from that photo and description! Actually, in all of these--note the dates and think about what is happening in world history at those moments!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>FDR and Churchill lay a ceremonial wreath at the tomb on January 1, 1942.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>"General Charles de Gaulle of France pays tribute at the tomb of George Washington who served as an inspiration for the French Revolution. July 7, 1944."</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>So fun to imagine these world leaders participating in the same kind of ceremony that I was a part of this day. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Visiting Mt. Vernon definitely whetted our appetite for our visit to the capitol, which was to start the next morning!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-9912905620145751092018-11-01T08:50:00.003-07:002018-11-01T14:17:05.996-07:00VA: Mt. Vernon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IDJb2K3bVyc/W9sOeEQMUsI/AAAAAAAAGFM/d6poIA0KpLY7Dha0DaUDoQ0bjzIHtBCIACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0998.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IDJb2K3bVyc/W9sOeEQMUsI/AAAAAAAAGFM/d6poIA0KpLY7Dha0DaUDoQ0bjzIHtBCIACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_0998.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Excellent photo op at potty stop.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Words by which any President should serve.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Look at this gorgeous carved marble mantle! George and Martha had some good taste.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>All the paint colors are historically accurate. Apparently George and Martha loved green, in many hues. This room was quite lovely--the formal receiving room.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Only some of the furniture pieces and paintings were actually owned by the Washingtons--like this mirror. The rest are replicas or are authentic to the period. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>This piece of awesomeness: the real-life principle key to the Bastille, a symbolic gift from the Marquis de Lafayette to George Washington (and transported across the sea by Thomas Paine!).</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Sitting on the back veranda enjoying the view of the Potomac. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Learning about the history of Mt. Vernon's purchase and restoration was fascinating. It was a local woman who saw the home in disrepair and thought it was a shame--she was far-sighted enough to realize that Americans would want that home in the future, so she gathered a group to help purchase and preserve it. Their Ladies' Society was so intentional about this project that they even bought up all the land on the other side of the river, so they could protect "George Washington's view." And it is a lovely view--I am amazed at those women for their clear vision and how they brought it to fruition. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>One of the people the Society eventually got on board was Thomas Edison! He saw to the installation of the first electrical lighting at Mt. Vernon!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Photo of the house when the Society purchased it. This photo does not show the back veranda, which had been rotting away and was supported by repurposed ship's masts!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>For lunch we ate at the nice restaurant there at the visitor center. A little pricey, but worth it! We had recipes authentic to that area and time period, such as peanut and water chestnut soup, and hominy made from corn ground in George Washington's grist mill!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>George presided over our table with his usual quiet dignity.</i></span></div>
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<br />Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-78897506341196927472018-11-01T07:26:00.001-07:002018-11-01T07:26:30.634-07:00VA: Cousin Fun<span style="font-size: large;">Living all the way across the country in CA, as we do, we had never been out to visit my little sister and her family at their home; we had always met in the middle, at our childhood home in IL. So it was great to be able to see where they live and share life with them for a few days. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">My sister also has four kids, but instead of three girls and a boy, she has three boys and a girl! : ). Her youngest boy Chase is about a year older than Smiley, and he was so gracious about sharing his favorite motorbike with Smiley. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Smiley took to it immediately!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>One night for dinner we all went out to a local buffet. My kids aren't used to this kind of restaurant and they were in hog heaven. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Emphasis on the hog. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Back at the house, learning a new card game from Uncle Mike.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Swimming in the pool.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Labor Day cookout.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>And then more bike riding. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>He loved it, if you can't tell. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>It was hot, so wearing the necessary protective layers while riding was even hotter. I thought the shirt he had borrowed from his cousin was awesome. But hopefully not prophetic. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Watching cousin Madison as catcher on her softball team.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>And batting. It was so funny me trying to explain the rules of the game to my kids with proper terminology as we watched. The softball moms next to me started to chuckle, and finally leaned in and helped out. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The next day was the first day of school for the cousins. We got to share in the ritual of Back to School Photos.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>And we got to share in the ritual of the Wait for the Highly Anticipated/Dreaded School Bus.</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DqSsO4-FlFE/W9p6rIOq4aI/AAAAAAAAGEQ/6_PiEsC7SV8DrUi0tnofR8L2F2QfQtwfwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0992.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DqSsO4-FlFE/W9p6rIOq4aI/AAAAAAAAGEQ/6_PiEsC7SV8DrUi0tnofR8L2F2QfQtwfwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_0992.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The bus driver stopped where we were standing to make sure our kids were not supposed to be on it. : D</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Then, it was time for us to head to my kids' "school"--our nation's capitol!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">My sister and her husband were gracious enough to let us unhook the trailer and leave it at their house while we went to D.C.--I had found only one decent campground near the city, and it would have been an hour metro ride (and it was expensive too, for being that far away). So Dad and I had decided that the most logical thing for this stop was to stay in the city and maximize our time there. Dad got a really good deal on hotel rooms, so we made our goodbyes and headed to one of the destinations I was most looking forward to on this whole trip--Washington D.C.!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-37704536592433546662018-10-31T20:54:00.005-07:002018-10-31T20:54:59.850-07:00VA: Yorktown<span style="font-size: large;">Next stop: Jamestown. Yes, we deviated from the chronological order a bit, but for good reason, which I will explain in my post about Colonial Williamsburg.</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Trying out f</span></i><span style="font-size: large;"><i>iring a flintlock! </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Wow, those things are heavy! Very hard to hold it level while you fire. I was impressed with the apparent strength of the woman demonstrating--she made it look so easy. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>This time we had a cousin along for the field trip!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Lots of demonstrations going on--here is the communal kitchen for the militia at camp. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Happy (kid closest) being Molly Pitcher in the cannon demonstration. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Demonstration of using tools to find and remove musket balls from flesh and bone. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">As with the other "living history" sites we saw in the area, Yorktown had a really good museum. I thought the film that explained the significance of the battle was very well done, and I found this display series on the wall fascinating: </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I hope you can see the images and read the text if you embiggen. </i></span></div>
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<br />Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-3346062328715764462018-10-31T09:00:00.001-07:002018-10-31T20:36:07.315-07:00VA: Jamestown<span style="font-size: large;">After Florida we only had about a week at home base in AL--just enough time to rest a bit, do laundry, clean and restock the trailer, and get a little formal schooling done. But then we were off on one leg of our road trip that I had most anticipated--Washington D.C.! I had been there with my parents and sisters when I was in middle school, but I didn't remember much. I could not wait to explore it with my kids! It would have been even more fun with Mr. Incredible along, but he was working at home, so my parents went with us. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We started the trip to Virginia by visiting my little sister and her family, who happen to live in homeschool history heaven--right near Jamestown, Yorktown, and Colonial Williamsburg. How perfect to officially start our Big American History Field Trip at the beginning--Jamestown settlement!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, just to let you know, I have FAR too many photos I could share. But even so I can't possibly show you an accurate representation of the breadth and gist of any of these places, so I'm not going to try. I don't want the responsibility of trying to do them justice, or needing to give you some new history insight. These are not going to be those helpful homeschool posts. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Instead, I'm just going to share whatever photos I feel like. Whatever caught my interest. Whatever the kids and I particularly enjoyed. So feel free to skim if you aren't excited by the same things I am!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, first at Jamestown--the ships:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>There is something about this interior that inspires me for a home--maybe because it is all dark, old wood and cozy spaces and indirect lighting, like our current little cabin? </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Definitely getting inspiration for creative bunks.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>And digging the natural lighting.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Love hands-on learning--Smiley learning how to steer the ship. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Happy and Smiley helping trim the sails. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>This photo was from the main building--I just love intersections of history. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The settlement: </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I did take some photos of the Governor's House, the stockade walls, the cannon, the buildings, all the things you should try to record--but the photos are quite underwhelming. So I'm only sharing the ones that evoke the best feel of the place. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Indian village:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Making a dugout canoe. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>This particular structure really hit me for one thing--how it was made to invite you into the history. You could sit and imagine in this space.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>And you could touch! On the road trip out we had been to several museums that discussed the fur trade, American Indian life, etc. so we had already seen several displays of fur. But NEVER one that actually let us interact with it--the furs were always behind glass or out of reach or had big signs that said Do Not Touch. Here I was sitting on a bed of skins! I was walking around touching everything! This one little thing, that made the experience of the people visiting more precious than the items themselves, as if they trusted us with the history, made a big impression on me.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Look at the way they divided the building into one big timeline! Too much to take in!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">One last thought: </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">--I highly recommend the books <i>Sarah Morton's Day</i>, <i>Samuel Eaton's Day</i> and <i>Tapenum's Day</i>. These books came to mind while we were at Jamestown; while they are set at Plymouth Plantation, it must be a recreation very much like Jamestown, because the whole day I felt like we were walking around inside those books. Those books, and <i>On the Mayflower,</i> are really great for early America homeschool learning--the photos and descriptions really draw the reader into life for early settlers.</span></div>
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Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-91679765433985163362018-10-30T21:09:00.001-07:002018-10-30T21:09:34.395-07:00Finishing Florida & Looking Ahead--the Untold Tales of God's Goodness<span style="font-size: large;">Hello! We have been traveling again, this leg around the northeastern US, and we intentionally left the laptops at home base in AL--so, no blogging. Turns out we had unreliable and insufficient wifi the whole trip, so attempting to blog would have been an exercise in frustration anyway. Not that I have time for anything other than driving, family fun, eating, and sleeping when we are on the road! (Yes, in that order ; ) </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As you can guess, I'm very much behind on posting stories--the Florida tales happened in August and here it is October, three legs of our long road trip later! And now its time to start the final leg of the road trip, heading back to CA! The whole trip has been amazing, but has gone very quickly. I'm going to do my best to post what I can from the past 2 months in the time I have here--wish I could be sharing the stories in real time, but given that I'm always on a borrowed laptop when the owner isn't using it, and that we don't often have electricity and wifi and free time when we are on the road, I'll be content with playing catch-up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I want to return to the Florida leg for one last post before I move on to relaying more recent adventures--because there were things happening that the photos don't show, and that I didn't mention, but which I want to share. I wanted those first posts to be a record of the family fun we had, the kids and I and my parents on our first trip together in the little trailer. But I knew all along that I would need to make a separate post for all the blessings and miracles. Yes, miracles. God had His hand on us and kept us safe, and blessed us abundantly--we didn't deserve the outpouring of Love He showed us, but we were aware of and extremely grateful for it. And I want to record what I can before I forget--so many adventures are pushing those less tangible memories out of my mind, and I don't want to lose them. In many ways, they were the most important part of the whole Florida trip. But already, sitting down to record them, I can only remember a few. That's ok--because the main lesson learned was that His mercies are truly new every morning, and the little events themselves are not as important as the overall picture they showed us of God. So I'm going to try to relay what I remember now and hope I can convey to you what they meant to us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">--Before we go on any new adventures my Dad does the good dad thing and checks out the trailer for loose screws & things needing repair/shoring up. Our little trailer was not the best built (ah, the economy of the 80s) and it has been shaking and bumping all over the US--I think it can be pardoned for slowly falling apart as we go (Insert humorous single mom on a homeschool road trip analogy here). But there are some things that Dad can't anticipate. Good thing God always does. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For example, while on the road we usually try to time bathroom stops for when we are already stopping for gas or food, and if we don't need either we will usually just pull into a rest area for the quickest stop. But on our very first day on the Florida trip, for our very first stop, it so happened that we needed bathrooms when we didn't need gas or food, and for some reason we saw a Lowe's and decided, on a whim, to stop there. After everyone used the facilities I quickly opened up the trailer to grab a snack in case anyone got hungry before the next stop--and saw the vent hood over the stove was hanging down, having come loose on one side. We didn't have the tools with us to fix it properly--but since we just "happened" to be already stopped at a home improvement store, Dad went inside and within minutes he had the hood held securely by bungees. And so already, on the first day of the trip, we felt God's love and merciful provision--that He had anticipated our need and brought us exactly where we needed to be to fix it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, I realize that non-Christians reading this will say, that's nothing but coincidence. All I can say to that is, once is coincidence. Twice is an incredible coincidence. Things like this happening on a daily basis for weeks? Impossible to be anything other than the loving hand of a Good Father, who knows our needs (often before we do) and who moves on our behalf. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">--Here we were driving down to Florida in the middle of August. Totally the wrong time of year, most people would say, because of the heat. But because we were trying to avoid hurricane season and to set ourselves up for the ideal time to visit Washington D.C. in September, we really had no choice. So, it was hot. Eh, I figured we would be hot anywhere in the South we went, so it might as well be Florida. And yes, it was hot--really hot--but we were fine. Until the very first night of camping, when the camper's air conditioner died on us in the middle of the night. Fortunately it helped us all fall asleep before it died during the coolest part of the night, so we got a decent night's sleep--but what were we going to do for the rest of the trip? The kids and I like the heat, so we probably would have had very hot but bearable nights--but my poor parents were not going to be able to sleep well without some relief. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So we stopped at a Walmart the next day and while I shopped for groceries my parents went looking for small but strong electric fans. They wanted two--one for each end of the trailer--but they found only one on the shelf. (I had the same experience at Target before we left--back to college shopping had wiped out a lot of practical things, like fans.) But something made my dad look down at the back of the lowest shelf--and lo and behold there was one more fan stuck all the way at the back. So now at night my parents could sleep with one fan blowing on them, and there was another fan circulating the air for us girls on the bunks in the back. (Smiley has his own little clip-on battery-operated fan I had bought him before the trip for his new upper bunk, where there is only one little window and thus not as good air circulation.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Those fans were such a blessing the entire trip--esp. once we got to where there were "no-see-ums" coming through the screens at night; the fan blowing directly on my parents kept the tiny biters away while they slept. I mentioned in an earlier post that my dad was having allergic reactions to the bugs, and had swollen red and terribly itchy welts all over his legs and arms--the fans allowed him in particular some relief and sleep. The kids and I did not seem to be so beleaguered at night, but we still appreciated the fans for helping us sleep well. They even helped create white noise that I think helped us sleep better. So finding 2 fans that were perfect for the trailer was a huge blessing--and the timing of it, happening before we got down to the Everglades where there would not have been a quick and convenient solution, felt like Provision, and I'm giving God the credit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">--And speaking of bugs--I knew it was the "off season" down in Florida, but thought that was just because of the heat. Turns out it's also because of the bugs! But here too God was ridiculously good to us. We arrived at our campground (at the southernmost point of the Everglades, surrounded by swamp) late at night, slept well (thanks to the fans) and the next morning it was hot but beautiful. I hailed a ranger driving through (since we were the only ones in the campground, I thought he was my best bet for some information before we started that day's exploration of the park) and we stood and talked in on the sunny campground road for a few minutes. And he told me that normally we would not be standing there having that conversation--even at 10 in the morning, in the sunshine, such a pause for casual open-air conversation would be impossible because of the intensity of the mosquitoes. But he said that this was an unusual year, and for some reason they had far fewer mosquitoes than usual. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now it would be ridiculous for me to say that God planned the entire breeding cycle of an insect population just to keep us from having an unexpectedly miserable experience in the Everglades--not because He couldn't, but why would he? We certainly don't warrant that action. So call this one a coincidence--but an amazing one, and a definite Blessing for sure, of which we were the grateful recipients. I don't care why there were so few mosquitoes, I'm just so thankful that there were, and once again have to praise God for His mercies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">--And then there was the moment when God, in His mercy, saved us from losing a car mirror. To enable the driver to see safely around the trailer while driving, Mr. Incredible bought extension mirrors that clamp onto our existing sideview mirrors. They worked fine on all our travels to that point, but I discovered early in the Florida trip that the extreme summer heat was causing the rubbery grip surface to soften and slip. So the entire drive down Florida I was paranoid one of the mirrors would lose grip and fall of and break, so I was checking and adjusting them almost every time we stopped, and trying to keep an eye on them while driving. It was harder to keep tabs on them when Dad was driving and I was in the backseat, and I would forget to look, so I believe it really was a small miracle when we were driving down the long highway to Key West and I looked at the passenger side mirror just in time to see one of the two clamps come lose. I told my mom to roll down the window and grab it--and right after she had a hand on it the second clamp was clearly giving way, so that Mom was supporting the long, awkward mirror by one arm out the window! </span><span style="font-size: large;">We laughed about it later, because she then calmly said, "Now what do I do?" The mirror</span><span style="font-size: large;"> was still attached enough that she could not just pull it inside, but she could not reach the remaining clamp to unscrew it with her other hand. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dad pulled over to the shoulder and I quickly got out to rescue mom and reattach the mirror. This was an example of such a small thing that really meant a great deal. First, we can't drive safely without those mirrors, because we can't see the cars coming up behind and around the trailer--if we lost one we would be driving blind on one side. Second, Mr. I had to order them online--they aren't something you can just pick up at your local store--so it hurts my head to even think of the logistics of trying to replace them quickly while on the road. Third, it was a miracle even where it happened; I wrote earlier about the drive down the Keys and how, on land, there is no shoulder to the highway and few places to pull off the road where there is room to maneuver a towed camper. Well, on the long stretches of bridge between keys there is a real shoulder, and right when the mirror fell we happened to be on a long bridge, in a place where it was physically possible to pull over and immediately solve the problem. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">So I'm still thanking and praising God for how He met that need even before we knew we had it. Over and over, He didn't have to be that loving, but He was. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">There were so many more such moments in the Florida trip--even if I'm forgetting them now. But I'm going take a moment to jump ahead to the next trip we did together with my parents, the Washington D.C. leg, to continue the record of blessings and miracles. I want you to see how these things just kept happening over and over, too much to</span><span style="font-size: large;"> be coincidence.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">--The very first day of our trip to D.C., we were supposed to make a little detour to Whitwell, TN, to visit the Holocaust railroad car memorial featured in the </span><span style="font-size: large;">documentary <i>Paper Clips</i>. We had seen the documentary as a family, as part of our WWII studies, and I was really looking forward to seeing the memorial in person. The railcar that houses the memorial was actually used to transport people to Auschwitz. I thought this would be a really good bridge between our family studies and the visit we planned to make to the National Holocaust Museum in D.C. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But suddenly, when we were only a couple of hours away from Whitwell, our car lost power. We were still driving, but it was having trouble pulling the camper, so we could only reach about 40 mph on the highway. Yikes! I got off the highway and my dad looked under the hood to see if the problem was obvious, but it wasn't, so I looked up the nearest Mercedes dealership in hopes there would be a repair shop on site--and there was one only 30 minutes away, in the direction we were already headed. We got there slowly but safely, unhooked the car from the camper, and waited for them to diagnose the problem. The service department was busy, and by this time it was mid-afternoon--so I was praying they would be able to fit us in their repair queue by close of business. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Not only did they make the time to see our car and diagnose the problem, but they had the part they needed on site, and were able to fix our problem fairly inexpensively and quickly. We were back on the road after just a few hours of trouble!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Then too was the miracle of logistics involving the camper on the dealership lot. Without explaining the whole scenario, let's just say there was a </span><span style="font-size: large;">stucco overhang that we would </span><i><span style="font-size: large;">have</span></i><span style="font-size: large;"> to pull the camper under to get out of the lot--the only other way out would involve having to <b>back</b> the camper trailer the way we came in, through winding rows of new Mercedes. (Oy vey!) T</span><span style="font-size: large;">he head mechanic knew the exact clearance height and didn't think we could make it.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> But, God. Because we <i>did</i> make it under the overhang, barely--leading the surprised head mechanic to remember that the dealership had just recently re-done the tiled floor under the overhang, by order of the regional office, just to update the dealership entrance. And apparently an unexpected result of the new flooring was that it was now just slightly lower--creating just that much greater clearance, which we really needed right then. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Can you feel the love?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Losing those hours in the day necessitated us skipping the side trip to Whitwell, which was disappointing--but I was so aware of the much greater Blessing of a working car with overall very little cost or inconvenience, that I could still only be thankful of how that turned out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">--That was how we started the D.C. trip. We finished that leg with a similar show of Providence, one that wrapped up my travels with my kids and parents with a big bow flourish of God's Goodness. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On the way back home we came down through Kentucky, to stop at Mammoth Cave National Park. Most of the time on the trip Dad and I would navigate roads together, using a combination of road maps and phone apps. This time I was driving, and we were on small backroads, so Dad was following an app on his phone. We had a beautiful scenic drive through rural communities, and finally arrived around sundown at the campground--only to realize that Google maps had sent us to the wrong campground. We were not at the main park campground, but at the special reserve group campground. We also realized that the only way to get to the main body of the National Park from this point would be by driving across a river on a little one-car ferry. The camper trailer could not go on the ferry. The main campground was only minutes away, over the river--but we could not reach it. Instead, we would have to go back around the way we had come, over an hour's drive. How discouraging, right at that moment! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So I called the park offices on my cell phone, to see if it would be ok for us to camp right where we were, to save us at least the long drive around that night. And in talking with the ranger, I learned something startling; we had intended to stay in the main National Park campground because we needed electrical hook-up for the breathing machine my mom uses at night. But there are no electrical hook-ups anywhere in the main campground! It must be a very old, rustic campground that the park has never afforded to update. The ranger said there were only <i>two</i> camping sites with electricity in the entire National Park--and they were right there at the special group campground! I was standing talking with the ranger from right in front of them. And since it was a Thursday and not yet the weekend, no one was using the sites--in fact, we had the whole campground to ourselves. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So all this time we thought we had ended up in the wrong place--but we were, completely unbeknownst to us, in exactly the right place. Google didn't lead us there--God did. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">--We got up the next morning and unattached the trailer so Dad could drive the kids and me on the ferry to the Park proper, so we could catch our tour of the caves. Then he drove back over the river route to our campsite, re-hooked the trailer, and then he and Mom drove the long way around to the main entrance of the National Park. Once there, having the camper in tow was not an issue, and he had no trouble finding a place to pull through and park while we all enjoyed the day there. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It wasn't until we were back in Alabama that Sunny happened to go back to the Mammoth Cave National Park website during research, and saw a notice that the little river ferry, which we had depended upon to get us to our cave tours on time and save us the hour-long drive around, had been closed only days after we were there, due to low-running river. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So once again, we had exactly the resource we needed, exactly when we needed it, and things might have gone very frustratingly differently, but they didn't. And so our D.C. trip was bookended by these very tangible and much appreciated displays of love from a merciful Father. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This has been a long post, but I wanted to put these stories together, so you could see the pattern. Over and over, God showed His love through His provision and His perfect timing. I'm not trying to say that everything on our trips went our way, or that we expected it to, or that we think we deserve special treatment from God (ha!), or that we think God is like a magical genie who you pray to for getting wishes granted. That's what I most want to convey with these stories--that there is no reason for this outpouring of love from God, no reason why He should have showered us with such blessings. Even the weather was a blessing--hurricanes followed us, hitting the places we had just been, while we had ridiculously fabulous weather 95% of our travels. The other 5% of bad weather even coordinated well with our travel plans, so that we were never in danger or miserable or even slowed down!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And I'm so aware too of all the miracles of what calamities <i>didn't</i> befall us--all the deer we saw by the road that didn't leap in front of us; all the accidents and near-misses that were averted; all the times I had that moment of panicky <i>oh no, where's my phone</i> because I had not minded what I did with it after a stop somewhere, only to find it safely in my possession, no thanks to my own thoughtfulness; the tires that didn't blow (like the truck in front of us in high winding mountain roads in Pennsylvania that blew a tire and almost went through the guardrail over the edge); the brakes that didn't fail pulling the trailer up and down steep grades through famous mountain ranges (but which once we found had just started smoking when we reached our stopping point!). </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Over and over, all throughout the South-Eastern US, God watched over and provided for me & the kids & my parents & our little car and camper. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For no reason except because He is Good and He is always Good and His love endures Forever. </span><br />
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Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-15021918942279813402018-10-01T05:31:00.001-07:002018-10-01T05:34:42.758-07:00FL: Crystal River<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">After our quiet Sunday finishing the Keys, we spent a long Monday driving back up Florida; we arrived at our campground late at night and weary. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But the next morning we got up at the crack of dawn and donned our swimsuits. My parents and I had made special plans to surprise the kids with one last Florida adventure: </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">swimming with manatees!!!!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">(Kermit flail!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ahem. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There's a lot of significance to this event for me, but I'll save that for another post. But let's just say I kept this a secret partly because I just could not believe it was even going to happen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Because manatees are endangered, it is illegal to intentionally get in the water with them and definitely to get near them. But there is one place in the entire US where it is legal to swim with manatees--one particular county that was grandfathered because so much of the local economy is based upon manatees. We knew it would be the wrong time of year to see them there, since it is famous as their wintering grounds but in the summer they move on to even warmer Gulf waters. Still, there are usually a few manatees that choose to stay year round, and we were hopeful we could see one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We arrived at the tour spot, had the orientation (don't poke the manatees! don't try to ride the manatees!), donned our wetsuits (oh, that was hysterical!), and headed out on a boat to find some manatees.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Such a beautiful day, again. </i></span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KuGo0PtBnCI/W7IJWXK6tSI/AAAAAAAAF5g/-o7fec2sTE0MKknlQ8SZTDhuC1EeFsxewCLcBGAs/s1600/GOPR1200.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KuGo0PtBnCI/W7IJWXK6tSI/AAAAAAAAF5g/-o7fec2sTE0MKknlQ8SZTDhuC1EeFsxewCLcBGAs/s320/GOPR1200.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">When one was spotted, sleeping down at the bottom of the river, our guide led us all out. My parents stayed on the boat and tried to get some pics of us. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We have photos of the action under the water too! </span><span style="font-size: large;"> Daughter Happy had brought along her camera, which is small and waterproof! The tour guide also took photos and video of the underwater parts, which my parents gifted to us at the end. I'm thankful I have photos to share with you all because the underwater experience is so hard to describe!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Photo credit: Happy</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Plant & tiny fish life on the bottom of the Crystal River.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There are actually two very different ecosystems here, and we snorkeled in both. First, the Crystal River itself, which was not very crystal because of algae growth. This larger river ecosystem is shared by the wildlife and lots of human boat activity, as the river connects to the Gulf of Mexico at its end. This is also why the manatees use it as their personal highway, moving from other places in the Gulf during the summer back here in the winter, always seeking the warmer waters, but also needing fresh water for drinking.</span><br />
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<i>Photo credit: Happy</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The plants that feed the "sea cows."</i></span></div>
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<i>Photo credit: Happy</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>And our first sight of a manatee, sleeping on the bottom of the river!</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lJ9nAXBX2Zc/W69_bT9ShwI/AAAAAAAAFv8/nJGTNhWw1ustVphWKG2hjO7NE7fAnwmvgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lJ9nAXBX2Zc/W69_bT9ShwI/AAAAAAAAFv8/nJGTNhWw1ustVphWKG2hjO7NE7fAnwmvgCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1645.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Photo credit: Happy</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Sunny face to face with our manatee.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Manatee. . . and we.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Sleeping manatees still have to come up to breathe every so often.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We also saw another manatee on the tour, this time one swimming. She swam right under our boat--and was much faster than I expected! Alas, while I watched the whole thing through my camera screen, somehow all I recorded was my hand. Ah well!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The second ecosystem our tour guide led us to was the Three Sisters Springs. This is where three fresh water springs come up under water in a creek, making a spot the manatees love to winter in. Being summer, it was manatee free. But it was still beautiful and was a favorite part of the experience for me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The water in this area was noticeably colder than in the river proper, because of the springs. But apparently it will be warmer than the surrounding waters in the winter, which is one reason the manatees seek it out. </i></span></div>
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<i>Photo credit: Happy</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Lots of fish to watch here, both small and big!</i></span></div>
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<i>Photo credit: Happy</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Video taken by our guide that shows the truly crystal waters of the Three Sisters spring; the large depression you see on the creek floor is one of the springs.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After the water part was over the tour guides had hot cocoa or coffee (they mixed the two to make a "mocha" for me) to warm us up. We had a nice boat ride back to the Plantation dock, complete with rainbow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Back at the Plantation they had hot showers so we could get all clean and dry--so important since from here we started the long car drive back to my folks' house. And when we started this road trip, we told the kids they could each pick out one souvenir from anywhere on the road; at the Plantation gift shop, Smiley saw his souvenir: </span><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Meet Louie, the plush manatee. (with bonus big sister photobomb.)</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>With a hoodie, because those Three Sisters waters are chilly.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We arrived back in Tuscaloosa after our roughly 2 weeks in Florida with so many memories. And almost as many bug bites.</span><br />
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<br />Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-53975221069616943282018-09-23T14:06:00.002-07:002018-09-23T14:06:49.980-07:00FL: Key Largo<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We drove the last half up the Keys, and I found myself grieving a little inside when the ocean color changed from that beautiful Caribbean green back to normal dark ocean blue. We were clearly heading back into the normal world. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Still green, but getting darker in transition. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">For lunch we went to a little restaurant called Harriette's, a little family place with good food, esp. their breakfast, which they serve all day. We were meeting a friend named Ligia, originally from Romania, who lived with my parents in IL while she was doing graduate work, and who now teaches at a college in Miami. We had a very nice lunch, complete with Key Lime pie, a first for my kids, and a must-do on Key Largo, where it was supposedly invented! After lunch we headed together over to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, where we had reservations to camp. It almost seemed a shame for us to be there just camping in such a place--clearly it was a very popular weekend destination in the Miami area, with boat trips and snorkeling, and all kinds of water recreation. But we were just there for cheap camping! After we got the camper settled we drove to the visitor center and the kids looked at the displays while the adults chatted (and while I sat in the gift shop using the free wifi to finalize special plans for the next day, our last day in Florida). When the center closed we all headed outside to sit and chat more. A summer thunderstorm blew up, but we were dry under the shelter. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was not until later that we realized that we were being eaten by "no-see-ums"--those tiny little gnats that you don't even feel and can't see, but which leave very itchy bites. This was not the first time we encountered them--in the Everglades too they were prevalent, and we all got a lot of bites because they were tiny enough to come through the screen mesh on the camper. We had fans and they kept the gnats off my parents while they slept, but of course when we were just going about camping business outside there was no protection. My dad even got out the DEET spray--and they didn't care. So, poor dad has allergic reactions to bug bites, and so he was really uncomfortable after the Everglades, and now we had unknowingly presented ourselves as an afternoon buffet! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But even so, I still can't say I wish we hadn't been sitting out there, long after the other day-trip park-goers had gone--because after the rain came this:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>What an amazing moment of beauty to revel in! </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i> There is no such thing as too many pictures of a once-in-a-lifetime rainbow like this.</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"> Just when we were all satisfied with our photos, it turned into a double! A double full rainbow! (My camera just could not capture the entirely of it)</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Even when we moved from the bridge & boats to the swimming beach the rainbow persisted, changing moment by moment but never ceasing in beauty.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>And then the sky show continued as the sun set in the brightest colors I've ever seen. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">No-see-ums aside, it was another nice relaxing day and a treat to see Ligia. But the flourishes with which God was painting that night--that was unforgettable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-4118583017022539162018-09-23T07:01:00.001-07:002018-09-23T13:06:04.135-07:00FL: Big Pine Key<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">After leaving Key West we drove back up the Keys to our next camping spot, on Big Pine Key. Again, it was not cheap camping--seems like the Keys is just one of those places where everything is more expensive. And esp. for campers I understand why--there's the fact that there is so little available land for a campground, and then the cost of the real estate. There is upkeep from hurricanes besides normal campground wear and tear. So I'm not complaining! There are a couple of state campgrounds along the keys--and by that I mean, literally two--but the one that we would have stayed in was closed because of damage from Hurricane Irma. So, we took the only option midway up the keys--but it was a great option. It was another resort-style campground, with a pool and game room and sheltered places to hang out and lounge, which was what we did all afternoon. After the fast pace of the Florida trip so far it was great to have a day of just relaxing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But first, lunch. The woman who checked us in at the campground told me her favorite local place to eat--The Square Grouper. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The food was amazing. I don't even remember what all we got. But it was so good. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Full tummies getting drowsy.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Big Pine Key is famous for its population of endangered Key Deer, a miniature variety. They have a special reserve on the island, but many of them seemed to call this campground home. The night watchman at the campground told me that where other campgrounds have raccoons, they have deer--apparently the deer will get into food if you leave it out and make a mess. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>These Key deer were only a few steps behind her. They would be wary, but would come close looking for a handout.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The view from our campsite. Not bad.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>In the late afternoon the sun as the sun lowered behind the trailer, we pulled out the camp chairs and set them in the trailer's shade, sitting and chatting there while admiring this seascape. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The pool was set up on a second story, above the recreation rooms. Overall the people running the campground were doing an excellent job--everything was very well kept and we really did feel like we were at a vacation resort.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Our little trailer nestled in its peaceful oceanside spot. As the sun started to set, the sky kept changing. I kept seeing new and ever more beautiful colors and vistas. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>When this happened, I could not believe it. It's a moment out of a dream. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I walked around the campground just in awe of the beauty of the changing sky.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>After the kids had eaten dinner and showered, a couple of them enjoyed the fire pit until it was time for bed. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">My parents and I took late night advantage of the campground laundry facilities. And while my clothes were in the dryer, I took advantage of that beautiful pool. I had been making dinner when the kids swam earlier, my parents hanging out with them at a table poolside; my photos are from when I walked over to tell them dinner was ready. Now, with kids settled in the camper, it was my time for a little escape. Technically the pool was closed--but the night guard told me it was fine with him if I swam, as long as I wasn't making noise. So I had that whole pool to myself, and it was so peaceful and relaxing. I lay back floating and watched the night sky. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The next morning I woke early for some reason. And didn't regret a moment of that stillness and new mercies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Sunrise was equally beautiful.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The beach here, again on the Atlantic side, was almost muddy, and not inviting for swimming. But it was a great place for a nature walk, and so when Smiley woke up early too, we went together to explore. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Laying out our treasures to show the others.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our time on Big Pine Key felt most like a vacation. Dad and I agreed that was a good thing to remember for future trips together--to build in some intentional downtime. All our Florida fun so far had been fun, but definitely not relaxing!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And before we knew it relax time was over, and we had to finish the drive up the Keys to our final camp spot on Key Largo, where we would meet an old family friend for lunch. We would have one more day and night in the Keys.</span><br />
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<br />Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-57185508900258864672018-09-23T06:02:00.002-07:002018-09-23T06:02:41.763-07:00FL: Key West Pt. 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--V_q0COXPDQ/W6ZRX2QMtLI/AAAAAAAAFok/7rPTRQCznmwqjsYH0cw7KhSP_cI32DuhACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0413.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--V_q0COXPDQ/W6ZRX2QMtLI/AAAAAAAAFok/7rPTRQCznmwqjsYH0cw7KhSP_cI32DuhACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_0413.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The next morning, a view of all our wet things we had spread out there on the grass to dry. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>A closer look reveals inquisitive neighbors. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Inquisitive but not quiet.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The kids and I got up and going early that next morning so that we could explore Key West before it was time to check out of the campground--because once we were attached to the trailer again we would only be able to head back up the Keys (no campers, trailers, long trucks are even allowed to drive in the city itself; our campground was conveniently on the outskirts). My dad drove us to one end of the main drag and dropped us off, with the plan of picking us up at the other end after we had seen all we wanted to see.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And there was plenty of fun stuff to see! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Another Cuban refugee boat and learning displays. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I take pictures of signage that I think I might want to discuss with the kids later, when we have the luxury of more time, library books to read, etc. I'm including these pics in case anyone else is interested in this topic--really relevant to so much going on in our current socio-political world.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>And for those interested--the books I'll be using to support this area of leaning so far: </i>Ninety Miles to Havana<i>, by Enrique Flores-Galbis, and </i>Refugee <i>by Alan Gratz.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I find it humorous how we keep running into President Truman, seemingly wherever we go. This seems about as far from Missouri as you can get, and yet, here he was.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>There's a fee to have an official tour--but it's free to go in and check out the little museum they have there, which perfectly suited us. Esp. given how much we were trying to see in a limited time frame!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>We left the main streets to check out a Coast Guard museum ship we had seen from the deck of the Yankee Freedom the day before, but got a little sidetracked. . . </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Did I mention we were all hot and sweaty from our walking? Even mid-morning the sun was intense.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I've enjoyed being the fun mom on this trip. I'm usually the practical mom. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Continuing our walk, dripping but much cooler--and peeking in at Ernest Hemingway's house. Again, it wasn't worth taking a tour, so a few covertly taken photos past the ticket booth were good enough</i></span><i>.</i></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NJdYc7hd1wo/W6caAj8eMII/AAAAAAAAFqk/Mn36niH4-WIelpjBs7Fxq8QIddfeOwRXACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0486.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NJdYc7hd1wo/W6caAj8eMII/AAAAAAAAFqk/Mn36niH4-WIelpjBs7Fxq8QIddfeOwRXACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_0486.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">We ended our long walk at the marker for the southernmost point of the continental U.S. There was a long line of tourists patiently waiting their turns to have photos with the marker. We didn't care if we weren't capturing a Pinterest-worthy photo moment--eh, this isn't technically the true southernmost point anyway, which is next door on a military base. So since they're calling this close enough, so did we. ; )</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dad picked us up at this point, we collected the camper (and all those still damp swim things), and started our drive back up the Keys. Our time at Key West was over, but not our time on the Keys. </span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-20850767006561623722018-09-22T20:43:00.001-07:002018-09-22T20:43:18.873-07:00FL: A Brief Encounter with Key West<span style="font-size: large;">After we got off the boat from our Dry Tortugas trip we were ready to head back to the campsite--but first, dinner in Key West.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I must say, traveling with a smart phone is so helpful. I just looked up restaurants within close walking distance of the dock, and chose the one that sounded the best. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>A fairly new Caribbean-Latino restaurant. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>A beautifully designed patio to shelter us from the heat and still intense late-day sun.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>And chickens.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Roasted, herbed & spiced corn on the cob. Ohhhhhhhhh, sooooooo gooooood. I'm going to try to replicate this at home.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>We shared huge bowls of beans, rice & veggies--so yummy. Oh, so perfect of a way to wrap up such a fantastic day!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Salty and boat-blown hair--but all that matters is the huge smiles.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">(My parents might have a pic of all of us, on my dad's phone--a friendly local who was getting carry-out from the restaurant offered to take one for us. I'm sure we will all share photos at the end of the trip, to see who captured moments I did not--all my girls have their own cameras too, and you may have noticed I sometimes ask them if they have an image to help fill in a gap in my photo record. : )</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">After dinner we went back to the campground, put back on our wet swimsuits for late-night swimming in the pool (where we met and chatted with a woman who homeschooled her kids and is now a homeschool co-op teacher!), showered, and finally--happy and tired--hit our bunks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094452046791689413.post-2394266017596695552018-09-22T06:44:00.001-07:002018-09-22T06:48:20.440-07:00FL: The Dry Tortugas, Pt 3: Snorkeling<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">The trip on the Yankee Freedom out to Fort Jefferson also included a complimentary lunch, so after our exploration of the fort we headed back to the boat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But we ate quickly, because we wanted to get into the water! The ship also provides all the snorkeling gear you need for exploring the coral reefs and the sea life that has made its home there around the ruined walls of the fort. I last tried snorkeling when I was twelve, in Hawaii--and the experience was a complete failure. So I still said I had never been snorkeling--and my kids certainly had not! So this was going to be an exciting challenge. </span><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">(It was so hot and bright on the beach that my phone camera picked up the haze/glare.)</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>First thing--figuring out how to walk in flippers!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Once the three girls felt comfortable with the equipment they were out on their own. I did have some trepidation letting them go around the wall of the fort where I could not see them--I wasn't so much worried for their safety as for them having difficulty with gear and ending up damaging coral or something--but I needed to stay with Smiley where it was shallow, and I wanted the girls to make the most of the experience, so I had to let go. I was bummed that I would not also be able to go out where the beautiful creatures would be--for about 5 seconds. But then I remembered my lesson from New Orleans, just to enjoy where I was and what I was doing and who I was with--the moment I was having not the moment I could be ideally having--and I was instantly, completely content. And I had such a good time with my son there on that seemingly boring beach. Turns out there were still fish to see and a few little living creatures there along the wall, even where it was so shallow and where there were so many people. (In fact, it was a little creepy to realize how many living things were actually underfoot the whole time we were on the beach!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">No, really, I don't think it is possible to convey how absolutely happy I was. The water was amazing--almost satiny feeling, so warm, and buoyant. With Smiley in shallow water I could relax and enjoy myself. I could lay back and float, just luxuriating in the moment. And I could hover facedown over particularly active spots under the water, just watching the sea creatures. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">[The only negative was the presence of very loud party-people on floatation devices, probably drinking beer, definitely talking inappropriately for such a gorgeous setting and all-ages environment (some swearing, and much talk of Trump. Sigh.) </span><span style="font-size: large;">But I did my best just to ignore them and not let them ruin my moment in paradise.] </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But all too soon our time in paradise was over. I took the path on top of the wall to walk around the fort and locate my other swimmers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i> I know. But I just could not choose my favorite to share with you.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Merry and Happy in a sea of bliss.</i></span></div>
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<i><i><span style="font-size: large;">(That's them in the water to the right of the wall)</span></i></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sunny had made it all the way around the fort, so I met up with her on land there. We showered and changed and were soon heading back to Key West. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Happy in particular loved the boat ride.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And so ended our day at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas. It was definitely the highlight of our trip to Florida, and probably one major highlight of our whole trip around the US. I can't believe we did that. lt still feels </span><span style="font-size: large;">like one of craziest things to first dream about, and then to make happen. Maybe crazy, but definitely awesome.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The only thing more awesome--you can actually camp at Fort Jefferson! It is extremely primitive--the national park makes sure to tell you that you need to bring everything you need for your own existence, including water. They are the <i>Dry</i> Tortugas! But can you imaging having all day to be in the water? To explore? Can you imagine the night sky from there? So now I think it would be awesome to come back someday with Mr. Incredible and camp for a few days. It's a new crazy dream.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">[And not a dream without peril; I think that obnoxious group on floaties were campers. So you never know what kind of "deserted island" experience you might get! Still, I'd be willing to take my chances.]</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Anyone who wants to see more of Fort Jefferson--you can actually drop down on the fort using Google Earth! And my fellow homeschool moms, I do encourage you to learn a little about the fort with your kids, just for fun. Where else can you launch off into discussion of the War of 1812, the Civil War, immigration, Cuba, and the assignation of Abraham Lincoln?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And anyone who has caught the crazy urge to visit the Dry Tortugas from anything I've shared--yes, do it. You will not regret it. </span></div>
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Blessedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.com0