I decided to try a relatively easy-sounding, herb jelly recipe. This batch is viola, mint and lemon balm. I can't wait to try it on my homemade, toasted sourdough!
Friday, June 21, 2013
I CAN can!
I know this isn't travel related, but I had to share this memory-in-the-making in honor of L'Ma. Seeing Joan renewed my interest in canning, having finally healed the festering sore about memories never made, and secure in the knowledge that Jan would not begrudge me doing it without her. In fact, I could swear I heard her whisper, "You and John are right. I would have never had the patience for that!" as I pulled out my little golden jellies from their boiling bath :) I have no idea how these turned out yet, but I'm just proud that I tried it.
I decided to try a relatively easy-sounding, herb jelly recipe. This batch is viola, mint and lemon balm. I can't wait to try it on my homemade, toasted sourdough!
I decided to try a relatively easy-sounding, herb jelly recipe. This batch is viola, mint and lemon balm. I can't wait to try it on my homemade, toasted sourdough!
Monday, June 10, 2013
The Last Days Out East
June 8, 2013
A few days to catch up on! Our last day in DC was both fun, and a disappointment. It rained from the previous night all the way through the day, postponing our baseball game until Sunday when we’ll making the second days trek of the two-day drive home, so that was the major bummer of the day. Poor John, he was so dejected about it, I didn’t think I’d be able to cheer him enough to make other, alternate plans! He just absolutely LOVES baseball, and to come all this way, having already purchased tickets, and it being the main reason we made the trip from PA to DC…well, it pretty much sucked that we didn’t get to see our MN Twins play the Nationals. Crap to that!
Because of the weather, we decided it prudent to plan indoor activities, and luckily for us, DC is a wonderful city to stay indoors! You could tour the museums here for months, seriously. They are just enormous and crammed with stuff. We first went to the Smithsonian Castle, as it was the first thing open. There was a display of photography from the Civil War, mostly of photographic methods of the time, and some very gruesome photos from the front. We then decided to go to the Air & Space Museum, the other one, because yes, there are two of those here. We have already toured this one on a previous trip, along with many of the other museums, but there’s always more to see! While there, we saw an IMAX viewing of The Dream is Alive, following astronauts on different expeditions and showing what life is like up in space. We also caught a really cool planetarium showing called A Journey to the Stars, narrated by Whoopi Goldberg. Starts to really blow your mind, watching how galaxies are born. I found myself thinking deep, thinky thoughts again, but I shan’t rave on about that again. As far as exhibits, we checked out mostly the space related stuff, rather than the airplanes, and they also had a really cool exhibit about navigation that was really neat.
We lunched at a little French-ish place in some office building, opting to venture into the rain to find food rather than line up at the McDonald’s trough filled with a zillion little germy children in the museum café. We had a relaxing time, then gearing up for more people-jostling, we made our way over the Museum of Natural History. My feet were wearing out more quickly with each step, so we alternated wandering around the sea creatures room and the gems displays with sitting every little way. Both exhibits were huge. Again, I cannot express how MUCH STUFF is jammed into these amazing museums!! I was very impressed with the gems, and found myself ogling the shiny things with as much awe as everyone around us. I do like things that sparkle ☺
The museums were great, though it was an angry sea of people in each one. I kept marveling (and perhaps not politely) about the population explosion on this planet. How can others not understand the population problem after just a day at the museum? Think of how many other museums there are, think about India, China, Tokyo, think about their museums, their city centers! There are simply too many feckin’ people on this planet. Just going to the restroom, sitting there listening to a thousand flushes roaring, dryers whizzing on and off with barely seconds between, the rushing of sinks. They must go though a crap-ton of water a day in those places. More than annoying, it made me a little bummy. Our environment, the one fit for human life, is disappearing…and we’re doing it to ourselves. The Earth don’t care, she’ll keep turning whether humans crawl on her skin or ants, dinos or roaches, beasts or alien life we can’t even fathom. Or nothing, but a vast, deserted globe that was once all kinds of beautiful. Sigh. More thinky thoughts.
As an alternate plan to the game, we went and saw Star Trek: Into Darkness (for the second time) at the IMAX theatre at the Natural History Museum. Great, great flick, and best in 3D. We had fun, and I’m glad John consented to the movie because otherwise we would have probably just went back to the hotel where I know he would have moped. Sometimes I’ll sense a gloom about him, and I’ll ask, “Are you doing okay?” and he’ll say, “The Twins lost”. It kind of makes me smile. Baseball is just his thing, and a good or bad game can kind of make or break his day. Not in a weird face- or chest-painter kind of way, but just in that, “Well that’s a big, fat, bummer!” kind of way. I felt really bad about it because he was so looking forward to it, and it would have been another tick off the list of stadiums to visit. We were hoping for at least a few innings to be played, that way we could tour the stadium, have a hot dog, and absorb the atmosphere. And when we left the movie, the damn weather had cleared up! They probably could have played a delayed game. Bastards.
We made our way back to the hotel, and I was too tired to shower all the museum germs off, instead just reading until I promptly fell asleep and didn’t rise til morning, not even to pee my usual six or seven times.
June 9, 2013
Rising early, having our final grub at The Americana, we checked out early and headed back to PA. When we got there, no one was home, but (odd as it is to us city slickers) the door was open, the TV was still on and little Oscar had commandeered the kitchen swivel chair. I searched for clues of teenagedom, and to my excitement, found it! A laptop with music stickers all over it, various bottles of nail polish on every surface, clothes strewn about and a make-up case left out on the vanity in the loo. ASHLEY!!!!!
I was getting worried I wouldn’t be able to see Ashley, and I would have been so bummed not to have seen her. I first met her when she was ten and she and Joan had come to visit Jan, early in her sickness. All the kids (John, Dave, Bill, Jenny & me) took Ashley to the Mall of America and had the best time going on rides, getting her a Build-A-Bear and bumming around like kids do. She was the cutest kid, with this charming little baby face and sweet dark eyes, sassy and impressionable. She loved ribbing the boys, and seemed to take to their humor immediately. I said then that if I could adopt her I would. Now she’s 16, and most of our communication is via Facebook where I read about her boredom, her boyfriends, broken hearts, piercings, tattoos, and various teenage woes. It’s funny how a kid can just capture your heart with fierce talons, like my niece, Fiona, does. I just adore these girls! It hurts when you think about them growing up, and yet, it’s exciting to see them grow, too. We didn’t have to wait too long before they returned, and Ashley seemed a bit shy, but all squee to see us. Pretty soon she was being her sassy self, and we all gabbed a bit, then loaded up in the truck to have a last lunch at the Roadkill Café. It was great to have more time for talking before having to endure the next umpteen hours trapped in the car with Jenny’s farting (that she shares with great pride).
Back at the trailer, we took a few family photos, (I got a silly one with Ashley holding a bottle of wine…in my hooligan style, I had offered her a sip before realizing she’s underage! Whoops, not a good influence!) Joan unloaded half of her novels and cookbooks on me and Jenny, gave us a gorgeous hummingbird table and a froggy mosquito repellant thingy for the balcony, two jugs of homemade wine from some years ago (that aged very well and tasted delicious!) and we shared a decadent dessert she’d made that was cream cheesey, cinnamony heaven! It was hard to say goodbye. I’m not good with goodbyes, and blessedly, Joan and Ashley were very quick, but earnest, with their hugs and we loaded up, waving to them as we pulled back onto the winding road.
The elusive hummingbird!
Here he is in the trees! Can you spot him?
Nothing much to relate about the long, wearisome drive home. We stayed at a Red Roof Inn as the day came to a brilliant, red-orange close, slept well and hit the pavement early. We made good time, and I avoided ALL liquids for the first couple of hours, and still had to pull over a couple-few times! Good lawrdy, I think I finally need to buck up and consent to seeing the urinary specialist, one of several medical appointments I’ve been avoiding like the black death. Joan even offered me one of her bladder pills before we left, I yapped about it so much! I was so tired and had to break down and put a Lipton tea bag in my water as one of my profound I-Haven’t-Had-Any-Coffee headaches came on, and I took a migraine pill (that also contains the miracle that is caffeine), and I felt much better. Being Sunday, the traffic was gloriously light, even in the Chicago area. John, with his mad-monkey navigational skills, found a way around all the scary Chicago-ness, or most of it. There’s no accounting for random nimrods on the road who cut people off like a close shave. Wisconsin, surprisingly, was a nightmare. It started raining, and it seemed that every Midwestern hunter and fishermen were on a rampage to make it home from their weekend carnage. As we approached Minnesota, our glorious state, the sun shone brightly, as if to smile upon our return.
And now we are back, soaking in all the furry-kitty love! Other than Vesta leaving us a travel-protest poop by the bathtub this morning, they have been purring and giving us “happy eyes” since we walked through the door ☺ It is a relief to be home. And now…laundry! Oh, and I'll be posting more photos, maybe even in older posts, because I couldn't upload the ones from my iPhone, so you can check back through the posts to see if there are any new ones. I'm going to try to do them tonight, but sometimes it takes so long, I might have to do some tomorrow, too.
Oh, and did I mention that we found some of the wine that the nudists make? Hell yeah, baby! We picked up four bottles of some delicious looking mead from the Four Quarters! Can't wait to crack into these babies!
Thanks for reading, all! Love & hugs!
R&J
A few days to catch up on! Our last day in DC was both fun, and a disappointment. It rained from the previous night all the way through the day, postponing our baseball game until Sunday when we’ll making the second days trek of the two-day drive home, so that was the major bummer of the day. Poor John, he was so dejected about it, I didn’t think I’d be able to cheer him enough to make other, alternate plans! He just absolutely LOVES baseball, and to come all this way, having already purchased tickets, and it being the main reason we made the trip from PA to DC…well, it pretty much sucked that we didn’t get to see our MN Twins play the Nationals. Crap to that!
Because of the weather, we decided it prudent to plan indoor activities, and luckily for us, DC is a wonderful city to stay indoors! You could tour the museums here for months, seriously. They are just enormous and crammed with stuff. We first went to the Smithsonian Castle, as it was the first thing open. There was a display of photography from the Civil War, mostly of photographic methods of the time, and some very gruesome photos from the front. We then decided to go to the Air & Space Museum, the other one, because yes, there are two of those here. We have already toured this one on a previous trip, along with many of the other museums, but there’s always more to see! While there, we saw an IMAX viewing of The Dream is Alive, following astronauts on different expeditions and showing what life is like up in space. We also caught a really cool planetarium showing called A Journey to the Stars, narrated by Whoopi Goldberg. Starts to really blow your mind, watching how galaxies are born. I found myself thinking deep, thinky thoughts again, but I shan’t rave on about that again. As far as exhibits, we checked out mostly the space related stuff, rather than the airplanes, and they also had a really cool exhibit about navigation that was really neat.
We lunched at a little French-ish place in some office building, opting to venture into the rain to find food rather than line up at the McDonald’s trough filled with a zillion little germy children in the museum café. We had a relaxing time, then gearing up for more people-jostling, we made our way over the Museum of Natural History. My feet were wearing out more quickly with each step, so we alternated wandering around the sea creatures room and the gems displays with sitting every little way. Both exhibits were huge. Again, I cannot express how MUCH STUFF is jammed into these amazing museums!! I was very impressed with the gems, and found myself ogling the shiny things with as much awe as everyone around us. I do like things that sparkle ☺
The museums were great, though it was an angry sea of people in each one. I kept marveling (and perhaps not politely) about the population explosion on this planet. How can others not understand the population problem after just a day at the museum? Think of how many other museums there are, think about India, China, Tokyo, think about their museums, their city centers! There are simply too many feckin’ people on this planet. Just going to the restroom, sitting there listening to a thousand flushes roaring, dryers whizzing on and off with barely seconds between, the rushing of sinks. They must go though a crap-ton of water a day in those places. More than annoying, it made me a little bummy. Our environment, the one fit for human life, is disappearing…and we’re doing it to ourselves. The Earth don’t care, she’ll keep turning whether humans crawl on her skin or ants, dinos or roaches, beasts or alien life we can’t even fathom. Or nothing, but a vast, deserted globe that was once all kinds of beautiful. Sigh. More thinky thoughts.
As an alternate plan to the game, we went and saw Star Trek: Into Darkness (for the second time) at the IMAX theatre at the Natural History Museum. Great, great flick, and best in 3D. We had fun, and I’m glad John consented to the movie because otherwise we would have probably just went back to the hotel where I know he would have moped. Sometimes I’ll sense a gloom about him, and I’ll ask, “Are you doing okay?” and he’ll say, “The Twins lost”. It kind of makes me smile. Baseball is just his thing, and a good or bad game can kind of make or break his day. Not in a weird face- or chest-painter kind of way, but just in that, “Well that’s a big, fat, bummer!” kind of way. I felt really bad about it because he was so looking forward to it, and it would have been another tick off the list of stadiums to visit. We were hoping for at least a few innings to be played, that way we could tour the stadium, have a hot dog, and absorb the atmosphere. And when we left the movie, the damn weather had cleared up! They probably could have played a delayed game. Bastards.
We made our way back to the hotel, and I was too tired to shower all the museum germs off, instead just reading until I promptly fell asleep and didn’t rise til morning, not even to pee my usual six or seven times.
June 9, 2013
Rising early, having our final grub at The Americana, we checked out early and headed back to PA. When we got there, no one was home, but (odd as it is to us city slickers) the door was open, the TV was still on and little Oscar had commandeered the kitchen swivel chair. I searched for clues of teenagedom, and to my excitement, found it! A laptop with music stickers all over it, various bottles of nail polish on every surface, clothes strewn about and a make-up case left out on the vanity in the loo. ASHLEY!!!!!
I was getting worried I wouldn’t be able to see Ashley, and I would have been so bummed not to have seen her. I first met her when she was ten and she and Joan had come to visit Jan, early in her sickness. All the kids (John, Dave, Bill, Jenny & me) took Ashley to the Mall of America and had the best time going on rides, getting her a Build-A-Bear and bumming around like kids do. She was the cutest kid, with this charming little baby face and sweet dark eyes, sassy and impressionable. She loved ribbing the boys, and seemed to take to their humor immediately. I said then that if I could adopt her I would. Now she’s 16, and most of our communication is via Facebook where I read about her boredom, her boyfriends, broken hearts, piercings, tattoos, and various teenage woes. It’s funny how a kid can just capture your heart with fierce talons, like my niece, Fiona, does. I just adore these girls! It hurts when you think about them growing up, and yet, it’s exciting to see them grow, too. We didn’t have to wait too long before they returned, and Ashley seemed a bit shy, but all squee to see us. Pretty soon she was being her sassy self, and we all gabbed a bit, then loaded up in the truck to have a last lunch at the Roadkill Café. It was great to have more time for talking before having to endure the next umpteen hours trapped in the car with Jenny’s farting (that she shares with great pride).
Back at the trailer, we took a few family photos, (I got a silly one with Ashley holding a bottle of wine…in my hooligan style, I had offered her a sip before realizing she’s underage! Whoops, not a good influence!) Joan unloaded half of her novels and cookbooks on me and Jenny, gave us a gorgeous hummingbird table and a froggy mosquito repellant thingy for the balcony, two jugs of homemade wine from some years ago (that aged very well and tasted delicious!) and we shared a decadent dessert she’d made that was cream cheesey, cinnamony heaven! It was hard to say goodbye. I’m not good with goodbyes, and blessedly, Joan and Ashley were very quick, but earnest, with their hugs and we loaded up, waving to them as we pulled back onto the winding road.
The elusive hummingbird!
Here he is in the trees! Can you spot him?
Nothing much to relate about the long, wearisome drive home. We stayed at a Red Roof Inn as the day came to a brilliant, red-orange close, slept well and hit the pavement early. We made good time, and I avoided ALL liquids for the first couple of hours, and still had to pull over a couple-few times! Good lawrdy, I think I finally need to buck up and consent to seeing the urinary specialist, one of several medical appointments I’ve been avoiding like the black death. Joan even offered me one of her bladder pills before we left, I yapped about it so much! I was so tired and had to break down and put a Lipton tea bag in my water as one of my profound I-Haven’t-Had-Any-Coffee headaches came on, and I took a migraine pill (that also contains the miracle that is caffeine), and I felt much better. Being Sunday, the traffic was gloriously light, even in the Chicago area. John, with his mad-monkey navigational skills, found a way around all the scary Chicago-ness, or most of it. There’s no accounting for random nimrods on the road who cut people off like a close shave. Wisconsin, surprisingly, was a nightmare. It started raining, and it seemed that every Midwestern hunter and fishermen were on a rampage to make it home from their weekend carnage. As we approached Minnesota, our glorious state, the sun shone brightly, as if to smile upon our return.
And now we are back, soaking in all the furry-kitty love! Other than Vesta leaving us a travel-protest poop by the bathtub this morning, they have been purring and giving us “happy eyes” since we walked through the door ☺ It is a relief to be home. And now…laundry! Oh, and I'll be posting more photos, maybe even in older posts, because I couldn't upload the ones from my iPhone, so you can check back through the posts to see if there are any new ones. I'm going to try to do them tonight, but sometimes it takes so long, I might have to do some tomorrow, too.
Oh, and did I mention that we found some of the wine that the nudists make? Hell yeah, baby! We picked up four bottles of some delicious looking mead from the Four Quarters! Can't wait to crack into these babies!
Thanks for reading, all! Love & hugs!
R&J
Thursday, June 06, 2013
Library of Congress, Spy Museum
June 6, 2013
We both slept well here at The Americana. I had crazy vivid dreams, and journaled them upon waking, so I could catch all of its utter weirdness before it disappeared into the ether. We had an early morning tour booked, so with a simple continental brekkies down in the lobby, we hit the Metro to get to our Library of Congress tour by 8:45. The Metro is so easy and convenient, second only to the London Underground, in my book, for public transport. New York has nothing on these two cities, and in fact, the NYC subway system is the most confusing train system that I’ve ever used.
Now, how many times have I mentioned the walnut? Probably hundreds of times in this whole blog. Well, a walnut-sized bladder and my IBS are two major stressors for me, especially when travelling. And in most cities, public toilets are fiercely protected by businesses that insist on buying product before peeing. I don’t mind that, in fact, I would buy whatever just for the privilege of pissing without risking a ticket for urinating under a park tree, or worse, pissing my pants outright. The latter was almost the case this morning. In DC, as you can imagine, security is very high. You cannot just walk into the Library of Congress and find the nearest toilet. Though it is free entry, the security checkpoint seemed to take ages, and I wiggled all the while. Finally, FINALLY we got in and the bathroom was blissfully close. Our tour set off immediately after and I have to say, it was one of the most awesome tours I have ever taken.
To say that the Library of Congress is awesome, cool, beautiful, amazing is just not doing it justice. The interior is covered in marble and art by loads of artists. There are sculptures, paintings and stained glass. The whole building is a mastery of craftsmanship. And apparently, how it looks today is how it looked when it opened, save the soot stains that were meticulously cleaned throughout the years. Our tour guide was funny and after the tour, we could wander around and take photos of the architecture, though no photos allowed of anything behind glass, including the library cove itself. As an art history lover, I was in awe. I could have photographed every single painting and analyzed them. Instead, I tried to take various photos that included most of the elements.
We checked out artifacts and books and maps, Mayan calendars, and Gershwin’s piano in a room where a lady triggered a scary alarm by leaning in too far into a display! We ogled all of that before making our way into the shop and picked up a giftie for Mum, and a funny little William Shakespeare fridge magnet for ourselves. I also HAD to buy these cute little owl book magnets that were super cute.
We decided it was time for lunch at the Capital City Brewing Company where we shared a Cubano, sweet potato fries and a couple of beers. A few blocks away was the Spy Museum (where no photos were allowed), and we had no idea what we were in for. I thought at first it may be kind of a smallish museum, mainly because it didn’t seem to be well advertised. But man, that place was PACKED with stuff to see, and it was really big. It took us over three hours to make it through half the museum, and my horrible, hurting, old-ass feet drove us out before we could even finish. They had tons of exhibits on the history of spying in different countries, loads of displays on all the tiny spy gadgets that secret agents used and still use: cryptic codex decoders, lock pick sets issued to CIA agents, clay putty they used to make duplicates of keys, glasses that contained cyanide pills so an agent may choose death over torture if caught, shoes telephones, hollow nails, the tiniest cameras you’ve ever seen, bugs of all sorts, explosives in teeny-weenie cases, invisible ink and ciphers, Morse code telegraphs, they even had a car that was all James Bond that had spinning hubcap thingys, a bullet proof shield that extended up from the trunk, headlights that fired bullets. There was a lot of stuff on Russian and Nazi spy tactics, highlighting more than a few historic monsters. They featured celebrity spies (Marlene Deitrich, Julia Child, singer/burlesque dance Josephine Baker, Director John Ford, baseball player Moe Berg) and also spies made famous for their skill at spying or for treason. They had a bunch of movies and videos about various espionage missions. They had TONS of exhibits. There was no way were going to make it all the way through, especially with my feet crapping out on me (I’m such a joy to travel with. You’d think I was 98 years old.)
Between my barking dogs and the threat of rain, we decided it best to head back for coffee and snacks at the hotel. We are now chillaxin’ with the news and feet propped on the cushy bed. I gabbed a long while with Mum, getting the kitty news and sourdough starter status and just to hear her voice ☺ Sounds like all is well at home, but the kitties miss us, and we miss them!! I can’t wait to see my furry nutters again!!!
Love & hugs, R&J
We both slept well here at The Americana. I had crazy vivid dreams, and journaled them upon waking, so I could catch all of its utter weirdness before it disappeared into the ether. We had an early morning tour booked, so with a simple continental brekkies down in the lobby, we hit the Metro to get to our Library of Congress tour by 8:45. The Metro is so easy and convenient, second only to the London Underground, in my book, for public transport. New York has nothing on these two cities, and in fact, the NYC subway system is the most confusing train system that I’ve ever used.
Now, how many times have I mentioned the walnut? Probably hundreds of times in this whole blog. Well, a walnut-sized bladder and my IBS are two major stressors for me, especially when travelling. And in most cities, public toilets are fiercely protected by businesses that insist on buying product before peeing. I don’t mind that, in fact, I would buy whatever just for the privilege of pissing without risking a ticket for urinating under a park tree, or worse, pissing my pants outright. The latter was almost the case this morning. In DC, as you can imagine, security is very high. You cannot just walk into the Library of Congress and find the nearest toilet. Though it is free entry, the security checkpoint seemed to take ages, and I wiggled all the while. Finally, FINALLY we got in and the bathroom was blissfully close. Our tour set off immediately after and I have to say, it was one of the most awesome tours I have ever taken.
To say that the Library of Congress is awesome, cool, beautiful, amazing is just not doing it justice. The interior is covered in marble and art by loads of artists. There are sculptures, paintings and stained glass. The whole building is a mastery of craftsmanship. And apparently, how it looks today is how it looked when it opened, save the soot stains that were meticulously cleaned throughout the years. Our tour guide was funny and after the tour, we could wander around and take photos of the architecture, though no photos allowed of anything behind glass, including the library cove itself. As an art history lover, I was in awe. I could have photographed every single painting and analyzed them. Instead, I tried to take various photos that included most of the elements.
We checked out artifacts and books and maps, Mayan calendars, and Gershwin’s piano in a room where a lady triggered a scary alarm by leaning in too far into a display! We ogled all of that before making our way into the shop and picked up a giftie for Mum, and a funny little William Shakespeare fridge magnet for ourselves. I also HAD to buy these cute little owl book magnets that were super cute.
We decided it was time for lunch at the Capital City Brewing Company where we shared a Cubano, sweet potato fries and a couple of beers. A few blocks away was the Spy Museum (where no photos were allowed), and we had no idea what we were in for. I thought at first it may be kind of a smallish museum, mainly because it didn’t seem to be well advertised. But man, that place was PACKED with stuff to see, and it was really big. It took us over three hours to make it through half the museum, and my horrible, hurting, old-ass feet drove us out before we could even finish. They had tons of exhibits on the history of spying in different countries, loads of displays on all the tiny spy gadgets that secret agents used and still use: cryptic codex decoders, lock pick sets issued to CIA agents, clay putty they used to make duplicates of keys, glasses that contained cyanide pills so an agent may choose death over torture if caught, shoes telephones, hollow nails, the tiniest cameras you’ve ever seen, bugs of all sorts, explosives in teeny-weenie cases, invisible ink and ciphers, Morse code telegraphs, they even had a car that was all James Bond that had spinning hubcap thingys, a bullet proof shield that extended up from the trunk, headlights that fired bullets. There was a lot of stuff on Russian and Nazi spy tactics, highlighting more than a few historic monsters. They featured celebrity spies (Marlene Deitrich, Julia Child, singer/burlesque dance Josephine Baker, Director John Ford, baseball player Moe Berg) and also spies made famous for their skill at spying or for treason. They had a bunch of movies and videos about various espionage missions. They had TONS of exhibits. There was no way were going to make it all the way through, especially with my feet crapping out on me (I’m such a joy to travel with. You’d think I was 98 years old.)
Between my barking dogs and the threat of rain, we decided it best to head back for coffee and snacks at the hotel. We are now chillaxin’ with the news and feet propped on the cushy bed. I gabbed a long while with Mum, getting the kitty news and sourdough starter status and just to hear her voice ☺ Sounds like all is well at home, but the kitties miss us, and we miss them!! I can’t wait to see my furry nutters again!!!
Love & hugs, R&J
Wednesday, June 05, 2013
We arrive in D.C.
June 5, 2013
Today was checkout day from the 7 C’s Cabin, so we bid Flintstone goodbye (leaving Jenny to hang chill with Joan for another few days) and hit the open road early for DC. It was a nice day for driving, pretty cool still in PA, and not too hot by the time we made it to The National Air & Space Museum near Dulles Airport. The museum was massive. And awesome. Our dad’s would have LOVED this place, and I thought of my Grandpa many times, too, as we wandered around looking at plane after plane after plane, engine after engine after engine. But first, we had to see the Space Shuttle Discovery. It was incredible to walk around and beneath this ginormous piece of engineering! It’s been in freaking space! And all the little two-person modules that first went into space back in the 60s, how incredible, how scary to see how tiny they are in person! They had a cool decontamination quarantine trailer that was made from an Airstream that was pretty funky, and loads and loads of other weird space equipment hanging from the ceiling and locked in display cases. They had all the space suits and space helmets and boots with a thousand eyelets. They had a bunch of the space food on display and all the icky looking hygiene equipment they use for basic needs at zero gravity. NO THANKS. Then there were the planes. There were German fighter planes, tons of small planes that look like only one tiny person could squeeze into, there was the Concord that was retired not too long ago, the Lufthansa Junkers (the plane responsible for John’s despised nickname, Junker John, dubbed him by his brothers), and even the Enola Gay, the enormous piece of machinery that dumped the atomic bomb on Japan. It was cool to see this important piece of history, and it took three photos to get just the cockpit, two of its engines and one wing. There was so much there, you could spend days and days looking at everything. They had a flying outfit of Amelia Earhart, flying hats and goggles, medals and awards, pins and boots of all sorts. There was a little gaggle of male engineers who looked as if they were geeking out on the whole experience. I thought of my dad and my grandpa with their pocket protectors and their love of all things mechanical.
We then bought some popcorn and went into the IMAX theatre to see Hubble. It was cool to see the missions the astronauts went on to repair and save the Hubble telescope. The images were absolutely incredible. I highly recommend seeing it for the space photos alone. The nebulas, galaxies, stars…it’s unreal to see the birthplace of stars in the Orion nebula. Baby stars, baby galaxies being formed, being born. Realizing that that is where we come from. Stars. Astronomy always takes me to a place outside of myself, a place so vast and ineffable that I cease to feel so important. It’s strange how freeing it feels to let go of the importance of self, letting myself feel insignificant. John used to tell me stories of the stars and constellations, and about various astronomical facts, and it always led me away from my problems and worries, made me see a broader perspective. I remember I used to sit there with my mouth open in an O, staring up into the cosmos, my mind alight with wonder.
We finished up at the museum, then made our way into Arlington to our funky little retro 60s hotel, The Americana Hotel. It’s a cute little hotel, and it looks a bit worse for wear, though our room is really nice on the inside. Some of the rooms were remodeled recently into larger (and I assume fancier) suites, but we opted for a cheap sleep, the room rate around $80 a night. Beats the $250 per night the “cheap” hotels in DC proper were asking! Sheeeeeeeeet! We went for a meander around the neighborhood, checking out the nearest Metro station and a local “fashion mall” that was loaded with pre-teens. There must’ve been a thousand kids in there! We grabbed some Taco Bell on the way out of the kid zoo, and came back to the Americana to flake out in our cool room. It’s going to be an early night for me so I can rest my barking dogs and wake up bright an early for our red eye appointment at the Library of Congress tomorrow! That and the Spy Museum are for sure on the agenda, and we’ll see where else the day takes us! Wheee!
Hugs to all,
R&J
Today was checkout day from the 7 C’s Cabin, so we bid Flintstone goodbye (leaving Jenny to hang chill with Joan for another few days) and hit the open road early for DC. It was a nice day for driving, pretty cool still in PA, and not too hot by the time we made it to The National Air & Space Museum near Dulles Airport. The museum was massive. And awesome. Our dad’s would have LOVED this place, and I thought of my Grandpa many times, too, as we wandered around looking at plane after plane after plane, engine after engine after engine. But first, we had to see the Space Shuttle Discovery. It was incredible to walk around and beneath this ginormous piece of engineering! It’s been in freaking space! And all the little two-person modules that first went into space back in the 60s, how incredible, how scary to see how tiny they are in person! They had a cool decontamination quarantine trailer that was made from an Airstream that was pretty funky, and loads and loads of other weird space equipment hanging from the ceiling and locked in display cases. They had all the space suits and space helmets and boots with a thousand eyelets. They had a bunch of the space food on display and all the icky looking hygiene equipment they use for basic needs at zero gravity. NO THANKS. Then there were the planes. There were German fighter planes, tons of small planes that look like only one tiny person could squeeze into, there was the Concord that was retired not too long ago, the Lufthansa Junkers (the plane responsible for John’s despised nickname, Junker John, dubbed him by his brothers), and even the Enola Gay, the enormous piece of machinery that dumped the atomic bomb on Japan. It was cool to see this important piece of history, and it took three photos to get just the cockpit, two of its engines and one wing. There was so much there, you could spend days and days looking at everything. They had a flying outfit of Amelia Earhart, flying hats and goggles, medals and awards, pins and boots of all sorts. There was a little gaggle of male engineers who looked as if they were geeking out on the whole experience. I thought of my dad and my grandpa with their pocket protectors and their love of all things mechanical.
We then bought some popcorn and went into the IMAX theatre to see Hubble. It was cool to see the missions the astronauts went on to repair and save the Hubble telescope. The images were absolutely incredible. I highly recommend seeing it for the space photos alone. The nebulas, galaxies, stars…it’s unreal to see the birthplace of stars in the Orion nebula. Baby stars, baby galaxies being formed, being born. Realizing that that is where we come from. Stars. Astronomy always takes me to a place outside of myself, a place so vast and ineffable that I cease to feel so important. It’s strange how freeing it feels to let go of the importance of self, letting myself feel insignificant. John used to tell me stories of the stars and constellations, and about various astronomical facts, and it always led me away from my problems and worries, made me see a broader perspective. I remember I used to sit there with my mouth open in an O, staring up into the cosmos, my mind alight with wonder.
We finished up at the museum, then made our way into Arlington to our funky little retro 60s hotel, The Americana Hotel. It’s a cute little hotel, and it looks a bit worse for wear, though our room is really nice on the inside. Some of the rooms were remodeled recently into larger (and I assume fancier) suites, but we opted for a cheap sleep, the room rate around $80 a night. Beats the $250 per night the “cheap” hotels in DC proper were asking! Sheeeeeeeeet! We went for a meander around the neighborhood, checking out the nearest Metro station and a local “fashion mall” that was loaded with pre-teens. There must’ve been a thousand kids in there! We grabbed some Taco Bell on the way out of the kid zoo, and came back to the Americana to flake out in our cool room. It’s going to be an early night for me so I can rest my barking dogs and wake up bright an early for our red eye appointment at the Library of Congress tomorrow! That and the Spy Museum are for sure on the agenda, and we’ll see where else the day takes us! Wheee!
Hugs to all,
R&J
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