So one of the best parts of this trip back east was the chance to see long lost friends. Christi and I grew up together and even participated in show choir in high school together back in the day. We haven't seen each other for almost 10 years. She was kind enough to offer Brad and I a place to stay while we were in DC so we didn't have to worry about a hotel. She even took some time to go sight seeing with us.
Afton and I were roommates way back when I was in grad school. She was a very goofy and exuberant 19 years old. We had a lot of fun together she kept me from taking myself too seriously. We met here at a local shopping center and had a wonderful meal together.
It is amazing what a telephoto lens can accomplish. This was from across the mall, by the washington monument. I figured even though we didn't have the time to actually walk over to the White House I would get some fun pictures.
When we were touring the various war memorials there was a group of veteran's touring with active duty service men. I managed to get some pretty moving pictures. In fact when they all walked up as we were at the Korean Memorial I almost started crying it was such a moving sight.
You probably can't make it out but this is what their t-shirts say on the back, "If you can read this, Thank a teacher.... If you can read this in English, Thank a Veteran! Remembering the price of freedom... Honoring those who paid the price!"
The Smithsonian museums are by far the coolest, free activity ever. We spent hours there and only made it through a couple of the facilities. These are just a few of the pictures that I took.
This is a glass sculpture that is outside the hall where the Star Spangled Banner is displayed. It was absolutely beautiful shimmering in the afternoon light. That was definitely a cool display because they provided a digital rendering of the flag pointing out various imperfections and where they came from. It was very moving.
You can't really see it because I had the exposure set wrong on my camera but that is the captial building in the background. In my last post I managed to get the pictures from our day in Amish country posted. So now I am going to try to get things up to date.
So one of the best parts of this trip back east was the chance to see long lost friends. Christi and I grew up together and even participated in show choir in high school together back in the day. We haven't seen each other for almost 10 years. She was kind enough to offer Brad and I a place to stay while we were in DC so we didn't have to worry about a hotel. She even took some time to go sight seeing with us.
Afton and I were roommates way back when I was in grad school. She was a very goofy and exuberant 19 years old. We had a lot of fun together she kept me from taking myself too seriously. We met here at a local shopping center and had a wonderful meal together.
It is amazing what a telephoto lens can accomplish. This was from across the mall, by the washington monument. I figured even though we didn't have the time to actually walk over to the White House I would get some fun pictures.
When we were touring the various war memorials there was a group of veteran's touring with active duty service men. I managed to get some pretty moving pictures. In fact when they all walked up as we were at the Korean Memorial I almost started crying it was such a moving sight.
You probably can't make it out but this is what their t-shirts say on the back, "If you can read this, Thank a teacher.... If you can read this in English, Thank a Veteran! Remembering the price of freedom... Honoring those who paid the price!"
The Smithsonian museums are by far the coolest, free activity ever. We spent hours there and only made it through a couple of the facilities. These are just a few of the pictures that I took. 
This is a glass sculpture that is outside the hall where the Star Spangled Banner is displayed. It was absolutely beautiful shimmering in the afternoon light. That was definitely a cool display because they provided a digital rendering of the flag pointing out various imperfections and where they came from. It was very moving.
You can't really see it because I had the exposure set wrong on my camera but that is the captial building in the background. In my last post I managed to get the pictures from our day in Amish country posted. So now I am going to try to get things up to date.
