We started our trip to DC in Chicago at the Dr.’s office. We had to have a physical exam, chest xrays, and lab work done by a specific immigration trained doctor for our Australian Visas. The office was in a strip mall and they seemed generally unorganized, but we got what we needed to done and were eventually approved!! Yay for moving to Australia!! But I am getting ahead of myself.
We met up with my birth dad, Andy, and got to see his new house, and the office where he works. His coworker gave us a ride to the airport and after a smoothie supper, were off to DC. Kathy and Jon picked us up from the airport and we drove 20 min to their house in Sterling, VA. We got the tour of their house, having had a virtual one previously, and planned out vaguely what we all wanted to do and see during our visit. The weather was very warm our whole trip; in the mid to upper 90s. Thank goodness all the museums were air conditioned!
Thursday we took the Metro to the National Mall downtown DC heading first to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. After, we came across a whole line of food trucks and had lunch. We kept walking to City Segway Tours for a three hour tour of the monuments. We went over segway safety and had a training course before we were off. Segways are pretty amazing and fun to use. Leaning allows you to stop, move forward and steer. I was never afraid of loosing control. Brandon wants one already. 🙂 All our segways had names and our guide brought us on roads, bike paths, and sidewalks to the White House, Capital Building, Navy Memorial, Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Monument, and a lot of buildings in between. It was so fun, but warm and after we were done, despite drinking water the whole time, I think I had a bit of heat stroke. We took the Metro home and I took a cold shower and crashed in bed, missing a lasagna supper.
Friday Jon was off of work so he was able to drive us all to the National Arboretum which hosted the National Bonsai Museum. Kathy had ankle surgery a few months ago so she was in an external fixture and needed a wheel chair to get around. We toured the National Herb Garden, National Capital Columns, and the Bonsai exhibits. Kathy and I stayed in the car while the boys looked at the Asian Garden collection also. I did not want to over exert myself in the heat and sun like the day before.
We drove to the Pentagon to look at the 9/11 memorial. It is a huge building and the memorial was very moving. Then we headed to Arlington Cemetery where Kathy and Jon took a tour and Andy, Brandon, and I hiked the hills to the Kennedys’ grave and the tomb of the unknown solider. The exhibit explaining the tomb was really interesting and informative. We even got to see the changing of the guard while we were there. We met back up with Kathy and Jon and went to eat lunch at a diner. We headed back into Virginia to a Cirque du Soleil show that Jon had got us tickets for called Kurios. It was kind of steam punk and really cool. Before hand we even got to walk across the stage. The singing and acrobatics were amazing. That night we had fish on the grill after grocery shopping and the boys fixed Kathy’s wheel chair wheel while I showed Kathy trip pictures. Kathy and Jon had lived in Australia for five years so we also did a lot of talking about living there and moving.
Saturday we drove back into DC to visit the Smithsonian Natural History Museum which had a cool gemstones collection and way better taxidermy animals than the one in Dublin. We went into the National Archives Museum to see the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. We returned to the car to eat our packed sandwiches and headed off to the Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy Museum near the Dulles airport. They had A Lot of planes from many different eras and also the Space Shuttle Discovery. Very cool place, also known as America’s Hanger. We ate supper at home and played pictonary on their basement white board where Kathy dominated.
Sunday was a more relaxed day. Andy, Brandon, and I went to church in Sterling after a french toast breakfast. We then played Nouns on the screen porch until lunch. We took in lunch at a local grill and then headed off to the airport and back to Chicago. We got into Chicago and our bag took a long time to show up. Another of Andy’s coworkers picked us up and brought us back to his house and our car. We began the long drive home after a late supper at Culver’s. No unpacking was done at home when we got there, just prepping for work the next day and bed.
We had a great time and a relaxing trip. We are very excited to have seen our nation’s capital before heading off to live in another country. 🙂 One more trip and then the move!! Oh my!
