| Vacation Pictures 8/00!!!!! August has been a busy month for me! First, Dan and I went to Washington, DC. I had never been there before, and we both wanted to see all the museums and military/war monuments. What really cinched it was that DCI finals were at the University of Maryland in College Park, which was like a 30 minute metro ride from our lovely hotel. Craig was able to fly out there and meet up with us for a whole day and go to drum corps finals with us. We took some great pictures with Dan's digital camera.... It was a beautiful day to look at Arlington Cemetery. We saw Bobby Kennedy's gravesite, which he specifically asked to be marked with only a small white cross. We saw the eternal flame at Jackie and JFK's tombstones (along with a baby). Then we saw the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier. Just outside of Arlington Cemetery, which used to be General Lee's property, is the Marine Corps Iwo Jima memorial. It is much larger than can be imagined in a picture. All along the bottom are the names of all the wars/battles in which the marine corps has been involved. Next we went up to see the White House, which is next to the old executive bulding, which is far prettier than the actual white house in my opinion! We also saw the presidential booth in Ford's Theater where Lincoln was shot. Then we walked down to the mall to see the Korean and Vietnam Memorials. Those are hard to describe in words. They are amazing. Go see them. And last but not least, my favorite building was the Smithsonian Castle. There was this great fountain on the grounds also. It just stood out so much from the very spartan governmental-type buldings. Then just last weekend, I flew out to Seattle to do some outdoorsy-type things, sort of one last hurrah before the real school year (my fourth!! Can you believe it???) starts on sept. 20th I think. We went up to Mt. Rainier National Park and hiked to a campsite almost 4 miles in, and pretty much straight uphill! We camped out overnight and headed back downhill the next afternooon. Here are some hiking highlights..... The foothills.... The Longmire cabin, the name of the guy who first settled that area ME!! CRAIG!! The trails were so nice, and very well maintained. a big hill.... hiking craig pointing at what WOULD be Mt. Rainier, if only it wasnt so CLOUDY!! Me on a very narrow bridge over a very fast mountain stream OUR TENT!!! (I swear to GOD, it didnt look so dilapidated in real life!) Our lovely Hilton for the night A very big tree... Craig on the trail, my favorite photo of the entire trip. The trail... Mt. Rainier After we hiked back to the car, we drove up to Paradise, which is the highest point on Mt. Rainier accessible by car. It was lovely. There was a great Alpine meadow with wildflowers. A view of Seattle from Craig's apartment window. Then the next day, I went up with Troy on his flying lesson. This is him with the plane. THis is an arial view of Mt. Rainier. I was having trouble holding the camera steady..*laugh* |
