Day 8 and following - Trip home and wrap up

Today is the day we go home and see our Stephen. No more showing people pictures of our cute little one we left behind. (This was Daniel's job.) We awoke at around 5am – 2am Spokane time, with Kumar, our taxi driver, waiting for us. Remember Kumar??? He was the taxi driver who drove off with our back pack in his van and returned it intact and safely. We made it to Dulles in plenty of time and began the journey to airport security…the lines were very long. By the time our turn came, we were saddened that they confiscated Campbell’s well thought out purchase of a Smithsonian Castle snow globe. They told us that we could go back to the front gate and have it checked in our baggage…we already sent our bags off an hour previously..there was not time. Poor Campbell, they thought he might try to explode the plane with his snow globe I guess. We grabbed breakfast in the airport and boarded the plane for our journey home – excited to see Stephen. Our flight was uneventful except that there was no place for our plane to dock, so we sat on the tarmac for a long time, we were concerned that we would miss our connecting flight. Thankfully, the connecting flight arriving was delayed, so we were fine. At the airport in SLC we grabbed lunch for the airplane. We also saw Tom Timperman, Tyler’s dad, from Daniel’s soccer team. It was fun to see a familiar face. Uncle Kevin was waiting for us at the airport with Stephen in the car. We were all so happy to see him…he was giggling. Uncle Kevin drove us to the Rieder’s house where our van awaited us. As we drove into their driveway, a look of panic crossed Stephen’s face. He relaxed when we transferred him to the van. When we arrived at home, he just lost it. From the time we entered the driveway for at least 30+ minutes after, he just screamed and wasn’t consoled….we think that he was just letting it all loose, releasing his stress of not having us. Fortunately, the boy is always calmed by a bath, and when we popped him in, he instantly relaxed. We were all in bed quite early that night since we had been up since 2 AM Spokane time. It felt good to be in our own beds, and all together again. Stephen settled in quite quickly, although didn’t want his parents out of his sight for too long at all.

Erin: I liked the Natural History Museum. I liked it because it had a butterfly habitat and then we went to the bugs place and it was right next to the butterflies. It was full of spiders! I liked Williamsburg. It was one of my favorites. Another thing I liked, it was fun to get ice cream in the middle of the night (9pm – in Yorktown) because it was so hot. Also, I liked the Spy Museum because there was ductwork over all the people that were there in one room.

Daniel: I really liked the Spy museum because it reminds me of crafty, secret and smart people. I like the Natural History museum because of all of the cool animals and all of the cool things there. I liked Jamestown and Williamsburg because they were completely modern day, 1766 – something like that, and the way people acted things out was very interesting to me especially since they did it every day.

Campbell: Well, I liked the plane rides because I hadn’t been on a plane in four years. I loved Gettysburg! I very much liked the National Archives. I liked all of the different restaurants such as: Ruby Tuesday’s, the Thai Restaurant, the Iron Gate, Kellari, and Beacon Grill. I liked the White House a lot, and I liked the Spy Museum as well.

The days, weeks and months following have been full of sweet memories…”Can you believe we just flew across the country and were in Washington D.C……?” When we see a picture of the Capitol, or the D.C. area, we yell, “Hey we were there!” Erin started learning about Ancient Egypt this year and was thrilled that she could say that she saw many Egyptian artifacts at the Museum of Natural History. As Daniel began studying the settlement of Jamestown, it was a joy for him to bring in pictures of the original site to his class, the Revolutionary War is just around the corner for him in school. Campbell is preparing to study the Civil War and specifically Gettysburg, and can’t wait to put all of the pieces together after being there. Dennis is delighted in school this year now having a treasure trove of replicas of primary sources for hands on learning, as well as first hand experience of so much of the history of our country. It seems history has come alive for us all. And Wendy, well, her love tank just filled to spilling over with all of the quality time she had with everyone. She loved the history too!

And yet the best part is the memories as a family. It was a week soaking in family time. We have such full memories of fun, learning and discovering together, joking, and just simply enjoying one another…that unfortunately seems harder in daily life. We loved every minute of our time together and see it as such a blessing from the Lord. The trip was seamless and only His hand could work such a time. There was no arguing, no meltdowns, no whining, nothing lost (for too long), nothing we didn't do that was planned...it couldn't have been better, except if Stephen had been older and was able to have gone with us. Times like this are a gift and we will never, never forget what we were given, in fact it continues to impact us. We are so grateful to the Welch family for their generosity and to the Lord for making it happen.

Day 7 - The Museum of Natural History & The National Archives

The temperature today was well over 100 degrees. According to the heat index that includes the level of humidity and so we reached about 110 degrees. Needless to say we spent most of our time indoors. After sleeping in from a busy day yesterday we had a quick bite to eat and then caught a cab to the Natural History Museum. (It was 100 degrees at 10 AM!) Again we had an interesting conversation with our cab driver who was from India (Kumar) who asked if we wanted him to take us to the airport. He claimed that he could give us a better deal than the blue van service we had booked, so we took his card with his phone number on it and were planning on looking into canceling our reservation and going out to the airport with him. Well, it is amazing how God works, because as we were entering the museum, we were suppose to have our bags checked, yet the backpack with five cameras and all of the kids and our cash (about 400$)was left in the taxi. I quickly called him and he returned and gave us our bag. Without the phone number we would have been in serious trouble!! Thank you LORD! (And grace for the one who forgot the backpack ~ who will remain nameless for this blog!) Later at lunch Wendy was going to look for a phone booth to call the van service for the airport when her phone rang. Yes, it was the van company confirming our reservation for tomorrow which Wendy was able to cancel and we secured the same Taxi driver to take us to the airport. God provides, protects and appears in the details of a day. "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not upon your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

The Natural History Museum was a hit for the kids--we saw the Hall of mammals (this covered all of the continents of the world), dinosaur exhibit, the live butterflies, ancient cultural artifacts, an insect zoo, ocean exhibit, precious gems and stones (including the hope diamond--Wendy really liked it!) and Native American exhibit. My favorite overall was the White Rhinoceros in the hall of mammals that was donated by Teddy Roosevelt who shot the Rhino on his safari to Africa following his Presidency. The kids enjoyed it all, especially the t-rex and elephant from Night At the Museum. When Campbell was little he used to size people up and then tell them what animal they were as an animal. He was an elephant, I was a hippo, Wendy a giraffe, Daniel a fish and Erin a giraffe. So we tried to get a picture with each person and their animal as well as many other pictures. We had a small lunch at the Smithsonian and then made our way over to the National Archives were there was a line out the building and around the corner--mostly Boy Scouts who are having a jamboree to commemorate 100 years for the organization. They are expecting over 45,000 boy scouts on the mall tomorrow. As we approached the front of the line, to investigate, we were grumbled at by the Boy Scouts! They thought we were "cutting." There was no way Wendy and Erin, at least, were going to stand out in the heat for 45 minutes to get in the building. (The air felt like we were on the outside of a giant oven when you just open it and all of the hot air blows out on you) We thankfully had prepaid tickets and Wendy approached a kindly custodian who helped us find the alternate entrance where there was literally NO line. Made us think of Grandpa Don! Custodians and office secretaries know EVERYTHING!!! We entered (well ahead of the Boy Scouts and the heat) and were able to see the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights as well as other documents like the Louisiana Purchase the executive order from WWII interning Japanese. There were many other exhibits which we dabbled in--a Civil War special exhibit and a "Provide for the Common Defense" exhibit that investigated the archives material on all things tied to American war. We didn't stay long but instead returned to the Natural History Museum. I think that Campbell and Dennis could have stayed there ALL day. For dinner we walked a short distance then caught a taxi to a very fancy(Way More Than We Thought) Greek restaurant and had an amazing dinner with an equally amazing tab. We were able to pick out our own fish from a fish counter! Our appetizer was goat cheese with honey drizzled on it ~ sooo good. Our waiter, Eliso from Peru, was delightful. The kids really enjoyed talking to him about soccer, especially. He gave us extra appetizers and free desserts - I think that he realized we were in over our heads at this place :). (Glad that this was a receipt to submit), we began to leave when Eliso followed us out with a bottle of Olive Oil from Crete. It was a wonderful evening. Again, the kids were super! Then back to the hotel to pack and get ready for our return flight to Spokane leaving from Dulles at 7:40am. We will include another post wrapping up the trip and having the kids detail their highlights for the week. We are all so excited to see to Stephen who will be at the airport with Uncle Kevin. Off to sleep now!!

Day 6 - Whitehouse & Air and Space Museum

Friday, July 23, 2010

Daniel’s diary: Today, we went to the White House, and the Air and Space Museum and a brief visit to the American History Museum. At the White House we waited a little while until we got in and then we saw: lots of pictures of Presidents and their animals, ha ha ha ha. Being in the White House made me feel cool to be in the house of the President. I got to see all the interesting pictures and to see the green room, the blue room, the red room and the State Dining Room. After the White House, we took a brief little detour at the American History Museum. We saw the original C3PO and the original Star Spangled Banner. I was surprised that we couldn’t take pictures of it because it was our first flag. It was interesting to see that one of the stars was taken off. Next, we went to the Air and Space Museum, it was so cool to see all of the planes and equipment and satellites, like Sputnik 1, the first Russian satellite, and it was really cool to see all of the space equipment and rockets and stuff like that. There were lots of videos about the first fliers, for example, Orville and Wilbur Wright in their first plane. What was even more cool was they had the original plane called the Kitty Hawk! But what was the funniest and strangest part was when I to had slide through the elevator door because I had to catch up with my family…I wasn’t paying attention! Ha ha ha ha. And it was cool to see the planes that they used in war because the machine guns were in the front of the ship pointing forward and that only the German planes were able to shoot through the propeller while it was shooting or else they would have to put the pilot in the very front of the plane and the engine in the back of the plane, because the machine gunners wouldn’t be able to shoot unless they wanted to destroy their own plane by shooting up their propeller.

Erin’s entire entry: Today we went to the White House it was really fun. There was a lot of cool things. Did you know that there are three kinds of rooms? They have funny names like red room, green room, blue room and very pretty ballrooms. Did you know that they can fit bleachers in the White House? The White House was really cool. Then we walked to the American History Museum. There was the original flag in it. It had 15 stripes. And it had 15 stars, but one was ripped off. Isn’t that a really young flag? Then we went to the Air and Space Museum. It was also really cool. Then we went on a ride. It was really crazy! You had to shoot airplanes in this machine (a simulator) and there was one pilot and one gunner. The gunner had to shoot down planes from the inside, and the pilot was steering it. There was a screen where you could see what to do. It felt like you were in an airplane, but you really weren’t. And our crazy pilot (aka Mom) made me go upside down in circles. It was such a fun day! Love, Erin Shea Dougherty

Campbell’s commentary: We got up at about 9:30 today! We then went to the White House. It was very hot! We toured the White House. I liked all of the pictures of the Presidents and the First Ladies. We then went to the White House Gift Shop and the White House visitors Center. Afterward, we went to the American History Museum. We stayed there for about an hour. While we were there, we saw the original Star Spangled Banner which flew over Ft. McHenry. We also went to the Air and Space Museum. I saw the Kitty Hawk which was the first airplane. Afterward the family came home and went to a great dinner at the Iron Gate. Then we came home and after reading and watching some TV we went to bed.

Wendy: First off, the kids are real troopers! They have done a ton of walking these past two days in quite hot temperatures and have chugged along spectacularly! We are so thankful. So now you know that we were at the White House, the American History Museum (only stopped in there to get things out of a locker since you couldn’t have anything with you in the White House) We did see a few neat things though. Of course the boys were excited about C3PO and the Star Spangled Banner. My favorite thing actually, began with a man in a suit holding a sign that said “Desegregate Woolworths.” We followed him in to a recreation of the Greensboro, Alabama Woolworths fountain counter. He described the scene of the 4 young men who, in 1960, non violently protested the segregation of the store and were arrested. The purpose of our gathering was to learn how to non-violently protest: no talking, no physical contact, you can protect your head, etc. He then called up 4 people to be 4 non violent resisters. Dennis was one of them. The rest of us circled around them while the man described what we would be doing to these 4 if we were really the prejudice people (yelling at them, pouring condiments on their heads, burning them with cigarettes,etc.)- we didn't do anything but get close At the end he asked the volunteers how they felt. Dennis said, “unsafe.” Even though it was a role play, it was powerful. I just can’t believe this happened in our parents lifetime…and I am sure still today in some places. I felt like it was the most valuable thing for our children to see in the whole museum. It got me thinking about our friends and family who have adopted non white children…and there are a lot of them by Spokane’s standards, and how our lives, and obviously theirs wouldn’t be the same without those kids in them. I am so thankful for Lukey, Quinn, Eamon, the Sanchez’, the Bade kids, etc…and glad that times aren’t perfect, but have changed…not enough yet. “…If you really keep the royal law found in scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers…” James 2:8-9

Obviously, this was the highlight of my day, I could ramble on and on, but will spare you all. We had an excellent dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant! Erin ate salmon, the boys and I tried lamb shanks...all I can say is "wow!" This was not your run of the mill lamb chop, it was the size of a turkey leg and just fell off the bone. It came with orzo and feta, as well as broccoli. Campbell LOVED the broccoli ~ seriously. He also loved the lamb shank. It has been fun to try some varied fare. Erin especially liked that the French waiter called us Madam and Mademoiselle! Tres bon!

We have been having fun, since the spy museum, looking for all of the surveillance cameras around and found one in the elevator. Soooo, now every time we get in the elevator in the hotel, we dance as soon as the doors close. The kids love it!

Day 5 - Congress--Monuments--Memorials

Thursday July 22, 2010
We are all missing our Stephen; I am especially missing him since I got here ahead of Wendy and the kids by five days. We are so appreciative of the Rieder's who loved on Stephen from Sunday to Wednesday they have been such an amazing encouragement to all of us in serving. The transition from the Rieder's to the Long's has been smooth as Stephen always loves playing with Lo-Lo (Lauren). We are equally thankful for the Long's in loving Stephen too. And, we can’t forget the Naves who will take the anchor leg of the race. We couldn’t have done this trip without you all!

Today we are in Washington D.C.! It started early for me as I snuck out to return our rental car. After informing the courteous workers that the oil and washer-fluid lights came on they immediately dropped 10% of the car. The service in D.C. and the helpful people on the street has been a pleasant surprise. I walked back to the hotel via Caribou Coffee and found Wendy diligently working to prepare us for the day with plans, packing and blogging. We ate breakfast in our hotel room and took a taxi to our scheduled meeting for a Congressional tour. Our taxi driver was a former high school teacher from Ethiopia who taught at Sidwell Friends School (where the Obama girls attend school) before leaving the profession. He described how different the cultural views of teachers were in the U.S. and Ethiopia and how he couldn’t adjust to the disrespect and student/parent centered system. Our taxi drivers have been some of the most interesting people we have met in quite some time. We met at the office of Cathy McMorris-Rogers in the Longworth building next to the Capitol. Christian from Walla Walla Washington was leading our tour and another couple from Spokane along with 3 college grads from California on a graduation trip accompanied us. We went underground and emerged in the capitol building where we saw, The Rotunda, the old House, Senate, and Supreme Court chambers, several other large areas with paintings and sculptures all around. For only being interning for a few weeks, our guide did a great job. Even when Campbell asked him point blank, "What do you do? The dumpy jobs?" He got a chuckle out of that one. Did you know that every state has placed two statues in the Congress? These statues are placed throughout the massive structure and Washington’s two contributions are Marcus Whitman and Sister Joseph of the Providence nuns, both Eastern Washington representatives. At the end of the tour we had a chance to enter the House Chamber and watch the floor proceedings. The wait for entry was 1.5 hours. Campbell and I were up for the wait but Wendy, Daniel and Erin went to lunch. The time went faster and we were able to witness a vote on the floor of the house. As the number of votes got closer more and more representatives arrived including Cathy McMorris-Rogers, and Ron Paul. We then met up with the others at the Library of Congress.

Campbell and I were able to travel underground to The Library of Congress and avoid the heat. Wendy, Daniel and Erin on the other hand were given poor directions but eventually met us. Again, cell phones were a wonderful help. The first place we went was the Gutenberg Bible the Giant Bible of Mainz. Daniel was especially excited about the Gutenberg Bible having studied medieval history last year. In my opinion the first printing press that produced the Gutenberg Bible was the greatest innovation in the history of the world. We also saw an exhibit on early native South American life, The Main reading room and Jefferson’s collection. Hoping to swim, the kids asked if we could head back to the Hotel. I realized it was time to try the Subway together. I had mastered the Subway with the help of the “Subway Queen” Denise Haugen, she and Mike showed me the ropes so I figured I could get my family through. The only problem occurred when we transferred trains and Daniel and I made it on the train but the doors shut on Wendy, Erin and Campbell. Thankfully, we were separated with a parent in each group! We all met at the next stop, and promptly made a plan if separation on the subway should happen again. Upon arrival the kids and Dennis went to the YMCA for swimming and mom rested and at about 6:00pm we went to eat at Pasana a Thai restaurant that was amazing. The kids were amazing at trying different tastes. This meal, Campbell broke out and ate duck. He really did like it! Our good was soooo good! We then took a long but slow walk down past the White house, by the Washington monument as the sun was setting. We stopped for ice cream then headed over to the WWII Memorial and the reflecting pool leading to the Lincoln Memorial. The WWII Memorial was beautiful. It was hard to get over the people standing in the fountain and pool area taking pictures in Charlie's Angels poses - it seemed like a solemn place where one should be respectful and quiet. AS we walked on to good Old Abe's monument, we were attacked by a swarm of gnats...made us think of the plagues on the Egyptians - it was pretty bad, they were everywhere. We were breathing them in! Once we walked a ways from the Reflection Pool it was better. Seeing these magnificent structures of art, beauty, and history at night was unforgettable. We took tons of pictures and I was amazed at how many people were out walking the mall. They kids were real troopers! We had walked a long way and it was still hot - mid 90's after dark so...we hailed a taxi to bring us back to our hotel for journaling, reading and bed.

The scripture for today is “The grass withers and the flowers fall but the word of our God stands forever” Isaiah 40:8 We realized today that if all of the religious icons, scripture, and statues of people of faith were removed from all of the government buildings and national parks much of the art work/information would be gone, and the history of our country would be drastically altered. It is so central here.

Day 4 - Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown!

Day 3 – Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Caution: This is a long post because this was a long day…read on if you have time! We will add pictures later!

Well, we were up at 5:25 am and ready for our adventure. By about 5:27 everyone was tired of hearing me say Vaaaaa-gin-yuh, with a long, slow Southern drawl..too bad it will last all day! Ha ha. One of the highlights of the day occurred within the first 5 minutes of our drive. The kids had not seen the mall yet, and our route took us straight through the middle. They were thrilled to see the WA monument so close, the Castle, the Capitol.. But the best was driving past the Pentagon, looking back and seeing it all with the backdrop of the blood red sun rising. Pretty spectacular!

We drove on laughing at the names of some of the location names: Dale City, S. Anna River, Mechanicsville, Spotsylvania. The kids were watching the movie “Up” and we laughed at Campbell in true Doug the Dog fashion (when he saw a squirrel) saw a Starbucks..he was excited because Grandpa bought him a Starbucks card for his birthday. We did stop in Fredricksburg, the site of a major Civil War battle and a Confederate victory so Campbell could have his first coffee - a privilege as a 12 year old! Our excitement was building as we entered the Colonial Triangle – Yorktown, Williamsburg and Jamestown. It was good for us that we had a plan for our stay here, although we were glad that even if we didn’t there was a road called “Rochambeau” to help us out with the decision…bad joke, I know, but we’ve been up for awhile. By the way, gas in Jamestown is $2.56 a gallon-really, seriously? $0.40/gallon cheaper than in Spokane!

So, we decided to go to the original Jamestowne Settlement/archeological site of 1607 rather than the recreated site. It was amazing to see this location. We were also amazed at how small the actual location itself was. Evidently the Native people had some insight that the English did not. There was quite a shortage of potable water on this swampy ground, and not very good soil either…and such a chorus of cicadas - we’ve never heard them before. Campbell grabbed one for his 6th grade bug collection. There was a statue of John Smith and Pocahantas as well as the standing tower of the original church. In addition, there was an archeological dig where the professionals find numerous artifacts each day, in fact they have already cataloged over 2 million over the past 15 years. From here we made our way to Williamsburg. Since we had “Easy Cheese” and Wheat thins for breakfast, it was time to eat some real food! Our first stop in Williamsburg was to hear a speech from General George Washington himself. The date was September 28, 1781 and he rode in on a horse to address we, the citizens, concerning Yorktown and the eminent victory. We all cheered!!! What a beginning! Then we were on to investigate various trades of the time. We learned about silversmithing, wigmaking and blacksmithing. People in period clothing demonstrate. One observation from the whole day was just how excellent each person was in their particular role.

Next we went to a presentation by a man named Gowen Pamphlet, called “God is my Rock.” His name came from one of King Arthur’s men, (probably Sir Gawain) and his last name was in honor of Thomas Paine. This was definitely one of the highlights of the entire day. Gowen was a slave known locally as a popular preacher. He was an ordained slave Baptist minister who gave his perspective on slavery, religion and freedom. Basically, this man brought the Word! All throughout his speech he wove the importance of the Gospel. One thing he talked about was how one of his friends tried to say that Christianity was a faith of the English, but he responded, “there are no people from England in the Bible, but there certainly were people from Africa!” He told the story of Shadrack, Mechack and Abendigao (he said a “bad negro” – bad being “good”) and doing the right thing, no matter the cost. That is what they did in meeting under an “unsanctioned” religion (Baptist). We were told that if we were discovered at our meeting we would all have had 39 lashes. If we were discovered, we were instructed to just start singing! He was inspired by Rev. George Whitfield and the Great Awakening. He was called the “Divine Comet Moses.” Evidently Whitfield came to Williamsburg, but the people didn’t like what he had to say. I think he probably told the truth to them, not to mention there were 950 slaves in Williamsburg. He taught us songs of welcome in Swahili “Fungai Alafia, A-Shea A-Shea” (my English phonetic version of spelling), a song of passing on messages: “Hoe Emma, Hoe.” We loved this presentation and were able to ask questions when it was done. This man was an evangelist at heart, it was obvious.

From there we walked over to the Courthouse. Dennis was immediately chosen as a justice to sit on the bench. Of course he was excited about that. When inside, they asked for volunteers to participate in the various court cases that would be heard that day. I was chosen to be a Plaintiff, Jane Vobe, a tavern owner who was suing a man who had a 40 shilling tab at my establishment. He wanted to pay me with N. Carolina paper money! Can you believe his audacity? So, I had to plead my case to the court. The justices conferred and he was told that paper money meant nothing in Virginia, only gold and silver meant something. He had to leave his horse and saddle, and find money within a week to pay me. It was very fun!

Following the court case, we went to the magazine house and learned about the stockholdings for the town militia. The armory was to come borrow weapons and ammunition when the militia was called out and didn’t have weapons. Leading up to the Revolutionary War the Governor seized the armory and dismantled many of the weapons so the Patriots couldn’t take the weapons and fight against the British. They had one musket there that weighed 40 pounds!

Next, we went to one woman show. This woman portrayed 3 different characters who would have been living during the Revolutionary War. First, she was a woman who inherited 354 acres, with slaves, from her father after he died. She was 18 and was married young. Her husband gambled all of their property away and ended up joining up with the Army. She and her 5 children followed the military, working, but when her husband and 2 children died of camp fever, she was destitute. They found work at a boarding house. Next, she was a Loyalist who had come with her husband from England to sell fine textiles. As events occurred and there was a ban on imports, her husband refused to become a Patriot so was tarred and feathered, jailed and then banished. She was left to sell off her property then join him. But when Charleston was taken over she was stuck. She ended up becoming a spy for the British as she housed, under “house arrest” British Officers. She believed that God had ordained King George as the leader and the work of the Patriots was treasonous. Eventually, she was able to return to England with her husband. Finally, she was Deborah Samson, an actual person who ended up joining the army as a woman disguised as a man. She was discovered when she became injured. This was very interesting as well. Her whole play was outstanding.

Finally, we watched General George Washington review his troops. There was marching, gun firing and saluting, cannon firing, and the children following the marching soldiers. Erin and Campbell jumped out to join them.

As we ended the evening, we briefly went to an museum but ended up eating real tavern food where we were serenaded with minstrels and a magician. Hey Mitz-we ate okra!!!

We made a mad rush for Yorktown – we had to do it, we were nearly there. The sun was setting so we didn’t see much BUT we were there!

This was a fantastic day. We could have spent days there. The kids LOVED it. In fact, towards the end of the day Daniel said, “This is more fun than Disneyland!” Music to his daddy’s ears!

Over the past 2 days, we have talked a lot about the events of our country. Would be have been Confederate or Union , Loyalists or Patriots?

Dennis’ Washington DC top ten (prior to family visit):
1. Time with his collegues
2. West Wing White House tour
3. Arlington Cemetary
4. Holocaust Museum
5. Norman Rockwell
6. 1st person experience with a Holocaust survivor
7. American History Museum
8. Monuments
9. Subway
10. AP Conference

Some funny extras of the day:

• Along the way we saw some real VA cows! We have never seen them before, Daniel thought they’d be good for Campbell’s bug collection! Daniel also caught a real Pennsylvania fly for Campbell’s bug collection yesterday, but Campbell didn’t want it…so ungrateful. Ha ha.
• Remembering from yesterday all of the names of Civil War men and how their names have carried on: Farragut, Bragg, Sam Houston, Sprague and Taney (the judge who stated that Dred Scott was not a citizen.)
• Ice cream in Yorktown,
• Campbell found a red dragon fly and a cicada for his bug collection!

Day 3 - Gettysburg Battlefield!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

From Daniel, the verse of the day: “…for out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks…” Mt. 12:33 He picked this verse because it applies to everyday life and it we have to apply it because we aren’t good with it. He was also thinking about what Robert E. Lee said to us (in person) he had no grudge against the Union.

After a good night sleep, we were up and at ‘em. We decided to walk to our car rental spot – it was just 10 minutes. Would you believe me if I said that we met, along the way, a real-live Montana Cowboy with his horse grazing along L Street in downtown D.C.? Well, we sure did, and we have pictures to prove it. As a disabled Veteran, who couldn’t get an audience with his own Governor, he was on a trek from Stevensville, MT to have someone to listen to his story and the story of those like him who are not getting the benefits that he thought he deserved. It is true, and he had been sleeping outside with his horse until that time came. See what we would have missed had it not been for a nice walk? It was a breeze to find our car rental place and Dennis did a magnificent job maneuvering out of the city as we made our way to Gettysburg, PA! Along the way we saw the architecture change as we approached Georgetown, crossed the Potomac River and entered the lush terrain of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Many of the homes are beautiful old brick, very different than in Spokane. It didn’t take too long to get to Pennsylvania. We were thrilled to be in yet another state, and document it as well. Daniel was the first to be in Pennsylvania. As a family, we even stood in two different states at the same time. Dennis and I took a photo of us at the Pennsylvania State sign stating "Scranton or Bust!" The air was very thick and humid as we arrived, but most of the day was spent inside a great museum. It started out with a movie that set the context of the battle of Gettysburg within the larger scope of the Civil War. It was excellent. One quote that I remember by Frederick Douglas, “What to the slave, is the 4th of July…” Following the movie we were ushered into a “Cyclorama.” This was a 42 ft high, 377 ft around painting by Philippoteaux. The way it was created made it look 3 dimensional. There was a short presentation where they lit up particular parts of the painting and described different portions of the battle. It was amazing. Next was a quick lunch and then on to the museum portion of the park. The first section was the introduction of the battle, a description of the three day battle, then the aftermath. Did you know there were up to 90,000 men fighting on one side at a time? We was curious how they communicated and we were shown in a hands on display how they paired a combination of the numbers 1 and 2 with the alphabet and then using a flag tapping either right or left they communicated from higher ground to the troops. Of course there was a heavy emphasis on Abraham Lincoln throughout the exhibits. It is interesting how at the end of the Gettysburg Address he stated that his words would not long be remembered…how wrong he was! One of the highlights for me was turning around and seeing, it’s true, Robert E. Lee and his wife Mary in the flesh! We were the first to have an audience with them. They spent a few minutes with us answering questions, and then, it was almost as if they vanished! I really enjoyed the quotes that were posted along the way. Here’s another from Frederick Douglas, “I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong…” We spent some time in the gift shop, then on to an audio/car tour of the entire battlefield. It is 25 square miles of monuments that numerous states have erected in honor of their brave brigades who fought in the Gettysburg battle. Did you know that at one point, 25% of those fighting were from North Carolina? We did find scripture today but unfortunately it was misused to create a framework for hatred: A copy of a book by Rev. Fred Ross called “Slavery is ordained by God” and quoted Romans 13:1 which states “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” I really don’t think that God intended this verse to be used to justify slavery. Here are a few highlights from the rest of the crew:

Daddy: Enjoyed seeing the actual battlefield, Pickett’s Charge and Little Round Top. He is also amazed by the amount and scope of history at his fingertips. He had about a 20 minute conversation with a clerk in the gift shop. He is clearly in his element.
Erin: Loved most the cyclorama of the battle.
Campbell: When pressed for a favorite, responded, “I kinda liked all of it”
Daniel: Liked the movie at the beginning of our tour and all of the weapons used in battle. He and Campbell both selected replica weapons for souvenirs.

We ended up having dinner in Gettysburg proper at Ruby Tuesday's. It was a humerous dinner because we kept spilling our drinks. Daniel especially loved the dinner because he had Tilipia for the first time and Campbell had the steak and lobster special. We enjoyed our waitress who went to school in Scranton...of course we had questions! Then we headed back to the city. Again, Dennis did an excellent job navigating, even when there was a bridge closure…he is so saavy! We are thankful again for another blessed day learning about the fascinating history of our country!

Tomorrow we will go further back in U.S. history with our visits to Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg. Plus Dennis will include his top ten experiences in Washington D.C. prior to our arrival.

Day 2 - Spy Museum and Ford's Theater

Monday, July 19, 2010

We slept pretty well, glad to be all together. Poor Campbell slept near the air conditioner and was pretty chilly. Dad made bagels and fruit for breakfast and we were out the door for the Spy Museum by 9:15. We decided to take a taxi which was nice and efficient. I realized part way there that I had forgotten the tickets to the museum that I had printed out, but it was no big deal. Upon beginning our tour we had to assume a spy identity and memorize the facts about our person…we would be tested later. Dennis was Dimitri Ivanov, from Kiosov, Russia, 48, fisherman going to Boston, MA for 5 days to visit family BUT really he was to go to the Visitors Center at Fenway Park to meet Manny Moaps who would give him a pamphlet with a microdot on it, he was then to return to headquarters. I was Greta Schmidt: 33, an astronomer, from Borstadt, Germany, going to London for 4 days of business, I was to meet Phoebe Ridley at the Royal Astronomical Society, where I would pick up a microdot in a book, then return to headquarters. Erin was Jane Meyer, 13, from Sweetwater, TN, student, going to Dublin, Ireland, for a vacation for 7 days. Daniel was Billy Henderson who was 14, a student, from Albella, Spain, going to London, for 9 days on vacation, he was supposed to find a woman and get a formula to return to Spain. Campbell was John Campbell, 34, born in Mt Pelier, Jamaica, flying to Budapest, Hungary, for business for 14 days. There were all sorts of cool gadgets – cameras, tools, bugs. It was like an Alias set…but better. At the beginning, lots of hands on stuff: identifying dead drops, surveillance options, etc. We learned about different spies, espionage during wars, etc. In one of the short videos on the Cold War spies, a man named Oleg reminded us all separately of Grandpa Jordon. Same mannerisms, voice, etc…could he really be a spy??? Ha ha. They had a replica of the Rosetta Stone, which was neat for the boys since they just read “The Red Pyramid.” They also quoted Numbers 13: 1, 17-20 as it describes the men who went to spy on Canaan: "The LORD said to Moses, 'Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders...When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, 'Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in ? Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.." It was also cool to see them describe the Prophet Daniel as the first cryptoanalyst when he interpreted the “writing on the wall.” (Daniel 5) (Our new challenge for the rest of the trip is to see how much scripture we can find this week. We are confident that each day, we can find some reference to scripture in something historical that we see.) After the museum, we headed to the Hard Rock Café for lunch. The food was really good. Dennis and I enjoyed the various 80’s music videos. Daniel and Campbell had a great picture by Bob Dylan for Dan Dionne. We headed off to Ford’s Theater to see where Abraham Lincoln spent his last night at the before being shot by John Wilkes Booth. We took tons of pictures as I’m sure we will throughout the trip, but at Ford’s it was also important because when the Haugen’s came last week they forgot their camera so we will share these with Mike and Denise. There was a self guided museum tour first. The kids had a ball taking a lot of pictures. They especially liked the statues. Either I had forgotten or didn’t know that there was actually a plot to kidnap President Lincoln prior to the assassination plot. After the museum portion we were funneled upstairs to the actual Ford’s Theater. An amazing National Park Spokeswoman gave an excellent and informative speech for 15 or so minutes. Campbell did not move a muscle – totally. Following this presentation, we went across the street to the Peterson House where Lincoln died at 7:22 am on April 15, 1865. We saw the sitting room where Mary sat and waited and the room and bed where the President was laid. It is interesting to think about how that event shaped history. What would have happened had he lived to the history of our country?

Periodically throughout the day, we look at one another and say “Hey, we are in Washington, DC, do you believe it?” We all have pinched one another a few times. The heat isn’t too oppressive today which is nice as well. It is also exciting to hear so many languages and see so many people who are different than we are.

Did you know??? That General and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant were scheduled to be in the box with the Lincoln’s that fateful night, but he backed out the last moment. The plot was to not only kill Lincoln, but VP Johnson, Secretary of State Seward, and Grant as well. Booth wanted to take down the administration.

Day 1 - getting there!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Well, we decided that we all had butterflies in our stomachs when we awoke this morning. It was a blessing to go to church first. We hung out with the Rieder’s after first service while Drew sang into the second service. The plan was to have Ang take Stephen in our van with their kids so that he wouldn’t be the only kid left in the car at the airport when we got there. Drew took us to the airport. We got a quick bite to eat at David’s pizza in the terminal and got on the plane. The kids were thrilled to be on a plane after four years and equally, or more excited to have a video monitor on the seat back ahead of them. We all had a good laugh as we watched the safety video with the woman who, as Cade Sanchez described saying, “Smoking is not allowed on any Delta flight,” as she wagged her finger at you. They were thrilled to watch “Sponge Bob Square Pants,” listen to the MP3 player (which thanks to Daniel’s expertise, was loaded with awesome music) and eat snacks. In Salt Lake City, we had a short layover. Everyone’s stomachs settled a bit but the excitement rose as we thought about seeing Daddy. The next plane didn’t have the video or the woman scolding us not to smoke. As we got closer, Campbell noticed that there was quite a lightening storm going on in the sky which was pretty spectacular. We had to circle the airport three times before we could land because of the storm. They deplaned us onto a people mover and we took a pretty long drive to the terminal…maybe even 5 minutes worth of a drive. The timing was perfect as Daddy had a hard time getting to the airport and was afraid he was going to be late getting...I loved having a cell phone!!! After I made it clear that I got the first hug from Daddy, the kids were jockeying for the position themselves. We met daddy on the way to baggage claim, Daniel honed in on my position…We were able to hop on to the super shuttle for our ride into the city. There were other nice people in the van, including a prison pharmacist from Kentucky, who had a delightful sense of humor and a student from Howard University. Our hotel is very nice. Daddy had set it all up for us: put clothes in drawers, placed pictures around, breakfast food in the fridge and even snacks for us too. We were all pretty tired so we went to bed, thankful to be here.