Last Day in Washington DC (boo hoo)

Antique Indian beaded dresses






























New and incredibly beautiful bead work
































Really new bead work!!































The Santa Clara University entry in the Solar Decathlon



























The Vietnam Memorial/My step-brother Eugene Christer


























Gerry with R2-D2 and C3PO
































Jackie Kennedy's inaugural gown and cape






























The Gotta Go Girls at the Jefferson Memorial





















Our new friend Miriam Barrera
























Four vets at the WWII Memorial
























WWII Memorial























The Reflecting Pool

































Judi on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial































Gerry at the Lincoln Memorial

Well the pictures are not in the order I want but who cares! It is late and Judi and Lee are asleep but I did want to get a few things down before we made a major gear switch and headed into the South tomorrow.


These days have been incredible here in Washington. We have walked our feet to nubs and I can only touch on the high points. Yesterday was a very full day. We started off early and visited the WWII memorial. The elderly vets that were all over were very inspiring. We even saw one gent wearing his uniform. It was a bit snug but he was upright and very proud. They are certainly an aging group and someday the men and women who fought in that war will be gone but the memorial will live on. The 400 gold stars representing the 400,000 men and women in the armed forces that died was sobering indeed.



Then it was a stroll down the reflecting pool just like Forrest Gump to the Lincoln, Vietnam and Korean memorials. Each place was inspiring as well as sad. It is certainly a reminder that we have a lot of work to do to learn to live together peacefully on this planet! Then it was a cab ride back to the National Archives. It was thrilling enough to see the Declaration of Independence,Constitution, and Bill of Rights, but there were so many other documents and artifacts dealing with our history. I was particularly taken with Rosemary Wood's tape recorder. Who remembers the significance of that????? I told you there would be quizzes from time to time!



The Gotta Go Girls then headed in different directions. Lee and Judi to the National Gallery and I went to the Air and Space to check on the moon rocks and more particularly to see the special exhibit of selected items from the National History Museum! Yes!!!! Can you believe it
is closed until next year??????? That was worse than the Clam Shack being closed! Oh well, I did get to see some goodies and loved seeing Jerry Seinfeld's ruffled shirt and Mr. Rogers sweater!



Crawled back to the hotel for a little rest and after a quick bite went on the night tour of DC. It was fabulous seeing all the memorials lighted and we met a delightful young woman from Guatemala who is here on a conference. Miriam works for the Rainforest Alliance and we enjoyed meeting her. Safe travels, Miriam.



The pain in our feet and legs didn't keep us awake and we slept in a bit this morning, did our laundry and had to move to another room since we had extended our stay here at our beloved Harrington. Went to the Indian Museum today and could have stayed for days! It is one of the newest museums and features some of the incredible bead work we saw all the way back in Browning, Montana only sooooooooo much more! Did a little damage in the gift store and then Lee went back to the National Gallery and Judi and I cabbed on down to the Holocaust Museum. (anything to save our aching dogs) What a sobering experience! Genocide is truly one of the worst evils in the world and it still goes on. Are we paying enough attention????

While walking back to the hotel I encountered a Solar Decathalon on the Mall. It is a competition among 20 universities to design and build a solar powered home. Very interesting and my favorite turned out to be the entry from Santa Clara University. Met a student and his father from Santa Cruz. The boy had gone to Holy Cross so it was old home/new home week there on the Mall.





Back at the hotel we decided after moving into our new digs that we were too tired to go far afield and would have dinner one more time at Harry's here in the hotel. The food has been excellent so one last time! Well, through a series of mishaps (out of steaks, waiting for an hour to be told this, wrong orders, horribly cooked porkchops) the manager comped our dinner which mollified us a bit. Did put us back in the room late but just one of those little vicissitudes of travel. I'm taking a rather Zen approach but now I am at the end of my day/night and am signing off. Hate to leave in the morning but the South is calling us! Nighty night from our nation's capital!