Kyoo 167 - DC Four

You know the drill, more photo highlights from Washington DC! Here's day 4:


One of my better pictures of the World War II Memorial at night. After a long day touring, Morgan and I set off when the sun went down to explore some of the monuments and memorials at night. They were gorgeous! We just sat on a bench staring up at the Washington Monument for about 30 minutes taking it all in. Partly because we were really tired and had a long walk back to the hotel but mostly because the National Mall at night is just neat.


It's shot at kind of a weird angle but this picture is of the Pentagon Memorial from the September 11th attacks. This is really a neat memorial with a lot of symbolism. Each victim has a bench and the direction the bench is facing represents where that victim was, on the plane or in the building. The benches are arranged in lines based on the year of the victim's birth from the youngest victim born in 1998 to the oldest victim born....in a much later year. I can't remember. But each bench has the victim's name on it and a fountain of water flowing under it.


And they're all aligned with how the plane rammed into the side of the Pentagon. It's a somber place to visit but peaceful at the same time. It was a beautiful place to spend a Sunday afternoon with my dad and sister.


It just keeps going, and going, and going....seriously. Longest escalator I've ever been on. The picture does not do it justice.


Us at Arlington National Cemetery. Beautiful, peaceful resting place for thousands of soldiers from the Civil War to today. I just really enjoyed walking around and reading the gravestones and thinking about the people they represented. Probably one of my favorite parts of the trip. It's away from the hustle and bustle of the city and just feels so serene.


We watched the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknowns. That's a very tight drill. If you click on the link you can read a little about the memorial and "The Sentinel's Creed". It was cool to experience it first hand and pay respects to those who have given all.


Morgie's first experience with subways! She claims that she rode the "subway" transport between terminals at the Denver airport but that hardly counts. I was really impressed with DC's metro though. Cleanest I've ever been on (out of about 5, but still).


My temporary phone. Pretty convenient for checking bus times and such. Sidekick, this would have REALLY come in handy when we were in Hawaii. Like really, really. Next time...


Mi padre y yo! This was taken just outside of Robert E. Lee's Arlington House next to the grave of Pierre Charles L'Enfant (I'm glad I can just type that and not have to pronounce it :) I know Miss Swan and Sidekick would be laughing at my attempts right now...). Pierre was the surveyor who designed Washington DC and his grave has a sweeping view of the city. Kind of cool.


The Columbia memorial! I was so excited when I came upon this! The one for Challenger was right next to it. I remember the Columbia tragedy quite vividly. I was glued to the TV for a couple days trying to come to terms with it.


The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport. Probably the better of the two air and space museums. This one holds all the big stuff they can't maneuver to the one in the city. The Enola Gay. An SR-71 Blackbird. Space shuttle Enterprise. Concorde. And, pictured here, Spacelab! This was the reusable lab flown on several shuttle flights up until 2000.


Anyone seen the movie "Fly Away Home"? If so this little aircraft should look strangely familiar. It's the real thing the movie was based on.


"Are you tired of trying to find parking at the airport and then renting a car at your destination? Do you sometimes find yourself sitting in traffic just wishing you could fly over and leave everyone behind? Is the hassle of moving from one mode of transportation to another just adding clutter to your life? Then step right up cause we have just the thing for you! That's right folks, introducing....THE AIRPHIBIAN! Part car. Part plane. All functional."


Space shuttle Enterprise! It never flew in space but Fred Haise (Apollo 13!) flew it several times during the approach and landing phase of shuttle development. Full-size space shuttle. Up-close. Surreal. Loved it. I took off the second I opened the door to that museum and was like a bug attracted to those blue zapping light thingys. Except the shuttle didn't kill me. I was just a blur of excitement all throughout this museum though.


We happened upon a USDA farmer's market one of the days we were there and got fresh peaches. They were so good! I also got a really good recipe for summer corn salad. And a free sample. Can't hate that! As you've probably noticed, I'm standing next to an interesting depiction of George Washington. It was our hotel room wall art. I had to document it.

Have a great day :)

Kyoo 166 - DC Three

Narrated photographic highlights (in no particular order) from Day 3 in Washington DC:


I thought this was kind of funny when I first read the title. But then I did some research and realized that the song's lyrics share some pretty serious points about the atomic bomb's potential power. But still, the title's creative. And I can totally see one of my roommates swing dancing her heart out to it.


Is it just me or does this vase have Mushu on it?


Much to the delight of my father (see photo below), there was an entire exhibition hall at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History dedicated to the wonders of soil (in the most vague terms, he's a soil research scientist). This was a particular sign that caught my eye and had me singing a certain Tina Turner song throughout the rest of the museum. Except, I wasn't asking about love...


I love my dad! And he loves his soil! And who wouldn't when it's the skin of the earth?!?!?!


I think Morgie pulled the look off better than I did. My eyes are opened too wide.


The mushroom cloud cake! Made for Eisenhower to celebrate the successful atomic bomb tests. Not sure how I feel about this. I'd say it was a pretty good candidate for Cake Wrecks, but it is a convincing mushroom cloud...hm. Maybe it should be in a category all it's own.


Michelangelo on display! I was getting really tired in this never-ending museum but seeing this around the corner perked me right up!


Naturally we just had to see how "dangerous" the drop off really was. Consensus? Yes. Any object seated on top of that fence definitely had some potential energy.


"Get in muh belleh!" I couldn't resist...

My favorite number!

As you can probable tell, the day involved lots of museuming. Yes, I just verbbed museum. And my browser is not liking any of these new words. Anyways....ah! Those stupid red underlines are annoying me! Wait for it.......ha! "museuming" and "verbbed" are officially words in my browser. I can focus again.

We went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Museum of American History. LOTS of amazing stuff to behold in both. Some of the highlights: the Hope diamond, the original "Star-Spangled Banner", Alan Sheppard's Mercury spacesuit, an 1840s French Horn, a giant squid, various early presidential artifacts, dinosaur bones, and Egyptian mummies!

We were pretty tired at the end of the day. My dad was a champ. Morgie and I, not so much. Our feet were hating us from all the standing and walking. Lets just say we started watching a lot more of the movie exhibits towards the end of the day. And none of them were quite long enough. And I can pretty much tell you were every bench in that last museum is.

But I still loved it!

Have a great day :)

Kyoo 165 - DC Two

In no particular order, here's some highlights from day 2 in DC:


Apollo command module! This isn't one that went to the moon. Though the Smithsonian Air & Space museum does have the Apollo 11 command module, it's hard to take pictures of due to people constantly swarming about it. This is one used during the Skylab and Apollo Soyuz docking era. Still cool.


Friendship 7! John Glenn's spaceship for his 3 earth orbits during the Mercury program. Tiny! I can't even imagine what it would be like to be shoved in this thing and shot into space. Again, so cool.


A couple of Alan Bean's paintings. He's an Apollo 12 astronaut turned painter and his work is incredible. It's hard to notice in the smaller pictures but all of his paintings are textured with moon footprints. I so want them for future living room art!


It was never used but they had a replica of the Russian moon suit. Typical space suit except for the boots. Any idea why they felt the need to bedazzle them up? Very sparkly...


The Bell X-1!!!! First plane to break the sound barrier and flown by the legendary Chuck Yeager. I remember first hearing about this plane whilst watching "The Right Stuff" with my dad years and years ago and it was so cool to see the real thing!


Mi padre at Ford's Theatre.


Shaq's BIG shoe. Not sure why it was in the National Archives and Records but it was. I think it was given to some president. We of course stood in line to view the three major US documents but those pictures didn't turn out because of the lack of lighting and a tripod. And massive amounts of people.


Lincoln Memorial. Also saw the Vietnam and Korean war memorials. Pretty neat.


Wanting to play with the ducks but getting rejected.


Texas! At the World War II Memorial. Also took a picture with Morgie and I in front of Nebraska but that file was "corrupted". Or so my computer told me. Weird. I was going to take pictures of all my friend's states too but then I realized you guys are all spread out and it would take way too many photo uploads to this blog to capture them all. So just appreciate that I thought of each of you as I passed your state. And Miss Swan, I walked past the Canadian Embassy and thought of you. Maybe I will get a picture of that today.

Have a great day :)

Kyoo 164 - DC One

A photographic journey of my first day in DC:


Ze Capitol.


Morgie out on the balcony at our hotel. We have a pretty cool view of one of the biggest roundabouts I've ever seen. This one in Mexico City might have been bigger but it's hard to accurately judge size when perceptions are over a year apart. Still, it's a fun roundabout. We walked around it last night just because. There are no less than 12 crosswalks. It might have been more.


Segways at ze capitol! Every time I see these tours speeding past I am SOOOO tempted to fork out the dough and join them.


People frolicking around the National Mall. The evenings are pretty chill here. There are softball and kickball games happening all up and down the National Mall strip, tons of runners and bikers out for exercise, and a relaxing but exciting buzz about the place. Not to mention the perfect temperature and beautiful sunset over national landmarks.


The photo doesn't do it justice but there was an amazing sunset and glorious colors in the sky and clouds.


Sauntering up to the Supreme Court building. I may or may not have previously practiced this pose in front of the mirror...


They locked me out of the Supreme Court building. Shameful, I know. But the door was cool. And so was playing on all the steps.


We're pretty tired! My dad's famous last words as we set out on our jaunt of the National Mall: "I think round trip it's about two miles." Mmmmhmmm. It's more. A LOT more. I was going to map it but that would have taken too much time. The amount of walking in day one may or may not have been complicated by the fact that I lost the room key and didn't realize that until I got back to the hotel. Morgie and I were just running back to drop some stuff off and my dad was waiting for us at a restaurant about 7 long blocks away. For some reason I was the chosen one to run back to him and get his key...


Mi padre y yo a la Casa Blanca. No, I didn't charge the fence but yes, I did check out the fine feast of men they have patrolling the place. That's probably what kept me from trying to get in. Those guys are not little. I'm not little either but they're really not little. And they're armed with more than a heavy purse. I can calculate the odds and obey them.


Is the Washington Monument ticklish? Must not be. It didn't even flinch.

Oh yes, and per Sidekick's recommendation, we did dine at Potbelly's. I think I was too hungry to actually taste the food because my sandwich didn't seem to have any flavor. It did fill me up though.

Have a great day :)

Kyoo 163 - Charlotte Airport

There's something about traveling and being in airports that makes me want to blog. Maybe it's all the uninterrupted reflection time I get on my flights. Or the people-watching I can engage in whilst waiting for connections. Or my shear excitement of flying and going to new places. I think it gives me something more than the usual day-to-day to share.

So, I'm currently sitting in the Charlotte, NC airport. It's pretty impressive. Bigger than I thought it would be and very clean. And the bathroom had an array of complimentary products that included mouthwash and toothpaste. How awesome is that?!?!?! And there are so many new accents and styles to take in. I've never been this far east before and I'm loving it. The people are fun.

And I'm in a great location to see people sprint by in chase of connecting flights. Everyone has their own unique running style and it's entertaining.

Charlotte is so beautiful and green too! Very different from San Antonio right now. I couldn't believer how thick the trees were. Quite visible from the air.

Also beautiful was flying through the clouds.

Wait, I think an Arab man wearing a turban just walked off the plane carrying a fake light saber. Yep, I'm positive, that is definitely a light saber. Haha, wow. And security took my 4oz bottle of face wash away...

Back to the clouds. Amazing! There were so many distinct and varying levels. Some were thin and stretched for miles. Other layers were puffy. Some so much that they looked like mountains poking up through the flat layers. Just a spectacle of every texture imaginable! And there were areas where they collided and formed an avalanche of clouds careening into yet another layer. It was so fun to find different objects in the clouds! I saw several bowls of icecream (somebody didn't get breakfast...) and a dog. And of course various landscapes. Words can't describe it but, despite pulling an all-nighter and be seriously exhausted, I was captivated for the last 30 minutes of that flight just awing at the clouds. And listening to some amazing horn music.


Next stop: Reagan International Airport. Morgie and dad should be waiting there for me!

Have a great day :)

Kyoo 162

"In the southern part of Texas, near the town of San Antone,
Like a statue on his Pinto rides a cowboy all alone.
And he sees the cattle grazin' where a century before,
Santa Anna's guns were blazin' and the cannons used to roar.
And his eyes turn sort of misty, and his heart begins to glow,
And he takes his hat off slowly to the men of Alamo.
To the thirteen days of glory at the seige of Alamo. "

-Marty Robbins, "Ballad of the Alamo"

Just a little cowboy song to introduce one of my recent adventures: an excursion downtown! San Antonio has so much to offer but I find that I rarely take advantage of it. For instance, I'd lived here for a combined total (including last summer) of 8 months before I first visited the Alamo. Shameful, I know. But, I broke free from work early on Friday (early being 6 o'clock) and went downtown with some friends to just take in the city at night.


The Riverwalk is magical in the evening. All genres of music float from every direction. Lazy palms cast shadows that dance around the cobblestones. The moon's pale glow illuminates the river. Kids run rampant with fake light sabers. There's a buzz of friendly energy as people mill about. And, if you're lucky, an amazing guy will have his hand firmly clasped around yours...


...and you'll get to be a dork with that amazing guy in front of the Alamo...


...and make body shapes after a treacherous journey across stepping stones to the middle of the river...


...and fail miserably trying to coordinate a heel-click photo on a downtown street...


...and have a rain stick anti-race in a Mexican gift shop.

In the words of Brian Regan: "Can life get any better? I submit that it cannot!"

It was a fun evening and great to spend more time with Robbie before he went back to school. I've had a lot of fun with him this past month. Playing horn-piano duets (we pulled off a decent recording of Romance by Saint-Saens), jumping on the trampoline, getting excited about the space program, looking at the moon and stars for hours, listening to all sorts of music, and just talking and laughing. There was always lots of talking and laughing.

I'm really grateful for all the relationships in my life. I learn something from everyone I know, family and friends alike, and it teaches me more about myself and pushes me to grow and be a better person. I like people. Just don't quote me on that when I'm in traffic...

Have a great day :)