Saturday, May 3, 2014

About That Washington DC (April 27 - May 3)

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello from Washington DC! Washington is very special to us as our son, Rob, was born at Ft. Belvoir in 1975. From that time on we have  spent a total of ten years working in the area, during five  different assignments. Roger was at the Pentagon and I taught school for Fairfax County. Rob and Michael spent some of their elementary and middle school years here.

We drove into the DC area on Sunday morning and were amazed at the amount of traffic. Our commute to Andrews Air Force Base (home of Air Force One) took several hours, with the stop and go traffic. Once on the base, we found our spot to park for the week. We are staying at the FamCamp located on base.

                                     

                                     

                                     
Security is tight at Andrews

This little guy (a groundhog) was in out camp site.

On Monday morning we drove to the Addison Road Metro Stop in Maryland and boarded the subway for downtown DC. The trip took us 30 minutes, but would have been much longer in the car. Our goal was to see the beautiful monuments, museums, and Capitol building along the Mall. We were mainly interested in the World War II monument that was built after we left Washington, sixteen years ago.
 World War II Monument


 WWII monument with the Washington Monument in the background


 A group of World War II vets from Montana were visiting the monument on Monday morning. What a thrill it was for us to talk with them about their service to our country. In the picture above, each vet posed in front of the Montana stone.

 The White House

Roger and I love the Smithsonian museums. In fact, they have spoiled us for other museums in the country. Though we have spent days touring them during our assignments here, we still had to see our favorites: the American Museum of History and The National Air and Space Museum. 
 Orville Wright on the Kitty Hawk

 The Spirit of St. Lewis

                                       
Predator Drone (a new exhibit)


We enjoyed walking along the Mall, taking in the tourists, the walkers and joggers getting their exercise and the beautiful Spring day.

 The Capitol

The absolute best part of RVing is having the opportunity to see old friends from the Air Force days. Bill and Susan are friends of ours from Alabama days (1979) to Ramstein to the Pentagon. We knew their grown children when they were very young. Now those grown children have five grandchildren for Bill and Susan.

Roger, me, Susan and Bill

Roger and I had five assignments in the DC area. We lived in an apartment first and then the two homes below. We lived on Bolling Air Force Base for our final two assignments.

 South Run Oaks

Lake Braddock Drive

We were eager to see the new Air Force Memorial that was completed in 2006. The memorial sits on a hill top overlooking Washington DC.

 Roger is looking at the Medal of Honor recipients that are behind the clear glass, Missing Man Formation.



The Honor Guard

Our week passed quickly. We leave tomorrow morning for Pennsylvania, as we continue to work our way north. Thank you for checking in with us on our adventures.

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