EASTER SUNDAY
What a great day! Today Bill & Karen Ludwig and their daughter Danielle and I drove to Vienna where we parked and then rode the Metro on into Washington DC. The weather was around 55 or so, and it rained off & on most of the day. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom and the trees were really spectacular. We got off the train at the far end, near the Lincoln Memorial. From there we walked to the Vietnam Memorial, which again reminded me how lucky I am to be an American. The awe and respect of that black granite wall was evident as people quietly walked by or loningly stood nearby, some reaching out and touching, trying to bring that person back. There were quite a few Easter boquets on the ground at the wall, and several vibrant boquets of daffodils. There was even an Easter basket with a stuffed bunny and chocolate candy in it. From there we walked down beside the Reflecting Pool and headed for the Washington Monument. I wanted to go up to the top, but the tickets were already sold out for the day, so I missed out on that. After that we headed for the White House and got a few pictures. They weren't doing tours today on Easter, but they were getting things set up for the Easter Egg Hunt scheduled for tomorrow, and that was interesting to watch. After that we headed for the US Capital and then went to one of the Smithsonian Museums, the National Museum of American History. I especially enjoyed that and wished I had a lot more time to see all that was there.
The last place we went to was the National Aquarium, which I thought was really neat. I had kindof wanted to go to the Zoo, but the wet weather made me change my mind. Besides, the day was busy enough without trying to do that yet. Maybe next time. By 4pm we decided to head back (they picked me up at 6:30 this morning!) so we got back on the Metro near the Smithsonian and rode back to Vienna. My feet were tired but I was feeling great! What a wonderful way to spend Easter, and what a magnificant time to be there, when the cherry blossoms are in bloom! It was also just a glimps of what is yet to come. Tomorrow will be a critical point of this trip, because it is here in Winchester VA where I will veer off from the original plan and head north to Maine, instead of straight east to Washington DC. Starting here at Winchester VA, tomorrow I'll head north on Hwy 11 and take it up to Chambersburg, PA. From there I'll take Hwy 30 east to Gettysburg, York and through Lancaster. That'll take a couple weeks, and I should be in Lancaster around Apr 17-18. Y'all take care and I hope you had a nice Easter weekend. KB