Trip of a Lifetime

I had such an awesome time on my historical tour of Virginia and Pennsylvania. We saw so much - Please skip to the end where it says "Highlights" if you don't really care at all about me (like my sister Becky) and complain that my blogs are too long.

LE TOUR DE HOMES
Interwoven through the entire 10 days were homes of men who made an impact on our nation: Washington, Lee, and Jefferson. Fortunately and unfortunately, many of the homes are owned privately and large percentages of the items within the homes are donated by family members of the Lees, Washingtons, Jeffersons, etc. and other collectors. These items actually have copyright laws governing the photographing of these articles, which is why we weren't allowed to photograph the interiors of Stratford Hall, Mt. Vernon, or Monticello. Arlington, the homes in Williamsburg and the memorial home at Pope's Creek were photographable. The fortunate portion of being privately owned is the fact that, for the most part, the tour guides / interpreters were more widely knowledgeable and also more interesting! Also, being able to see actual objects that were in use in these houses 150 to 200 years ago was incredible!
The scale of each of the homes except for George Washington's birthplace were HUGE. I loved the tall ceilings, the unfinished floors, the vivid wall colors, and beautiful furnishings that filled all of the homes we saw. Highlights were George Washington's Presidential Chair at Mt. Vernon, and his humble gravesite which quoted scripture on the nature of the true resurrection -- what a contrast to his overpowering monolith in Washington, D.C. The unique features of Monticello were completely captivating -- the odd shaped cubbies for the beds with a built in closet above them and his impressive atrium that he used as a museum.

FOLLOWING IN FOOTSTEPS
Washington, DC and Gettysburg, VA were unbelievable! The scope of the battle at Gettysburg was immense. I was overwhelmed by the entire experience of seeing landmarks that I'd heard and read about for many years. We walked through Little Round Top, Devil's Den, the wheatfield, and the area where Pickett led his last charge. The monuments constructed by the states to various personages and to the men that died there were impressive. Between the memorials seen there, in D.C. and in Richmond, I thought a lot about what the purpose of a memorial truly is. There must be a balance between rememberance and honor and ostentation and ornate foolery. Many of the men honored in Washington considered it their greatest duty and honor in life to be a farmer, not president or vice president. On Jefferson's stone he lists what he considers and perhaps more importantly WISHES to be his three greatest accomplishments: writer of the Declaration of Independence, the Act for Religious Freedom in Virginia, and the founder of the University of Virginia. As such, I'm not sure that he would have been pleased with what man has built in his "honor." As I mentioned about Washington, the contrast between the humble tombstone on his native land and the enormous Washington monument couldn't be greater.

FEAR AND LOATHING IN DC
Other great contrasts included the interior of the great national buildings in Washington, such as the Library of Congress and Capitol building. They included such things as the apotheosis of Washington on the interior of the dome on the capitol -- apotheosis! Contrast that painting to the paintings that hang around the lower portion -- true depictions of major scenes in American history. The one of the Puritans traveling across the Atlantic in their ship has the emblem of a rainbow in the corner. Our illustrious tour guide (who didn't know her left from right) pointed to this rainbow and mistakenly attributed it to a symbol of the USA since the colors were the red, white, and blue, completely discounting any biblical symbolism. Quotes inside the Library of Congress included The true shakina is man! plus The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. One of the problems with our great capitol is that it attempts to embrace all without making definitive statements, or perhaps it reflects our nation's many fractured soul.
The architecture and design of all of the buildings in Washington were unforgettable! Walking down the mall and just gazing at these giant buildings -- I was a bit overcome both with a sense of history and a certain sense of the now. I suppose that is exactly what the designer of Washington would have wanted.

BONUS
One truly nifty thing we discovered was about the pageboy's in Congress. We met a family up on the Washington monument that was trying to take a picture of their elder son's "office" in the capitol and she told us all about it. They are 11th grade students who are selected to come and serve in the nation's capitol. They have school in the Library of Congress from 6:30-9:30 am and then run across the street to the capitol to begin their duties at 10 and continue until five o'clock or whenever Congress decides to quit. It's a semester program -- but it sounds SO awesome!

HIGHLIGHTS
Hanging out with the kids was so great. They are such an awesome bunch, and I thoroughly enjoyed some of the classic moments on our trip. Learning to "skate" in the RV, playing Rook by the rules found in the rook box, then by the rules that were in Chris's hazy memory, playing Boggle, fast Scrabble, Phase 10, Alhambra, Poker, Scattegories, and Cranium , but mostly Rook. I even learned how to play Rook with only 3 people. People coming disastrously close to "falling" into the moving toilet. This same moving toilet frequently became the phonebooth where people went to have a "private" conversation. Unfortunately, the walls weren't THAT thick. Learning to sleep while we had dueling snorers was also an experience. We discovered that we could survive the Washington Metro, Metrobus, and U of Md bus systems and schedules! (Or we tried at the very least). Any mistakes we made were able to be cured by at the very most 3 miles of walking. But, whatever! A box of Wheat Thins lasts approximately 8 minutes when there's 8 people chowing down. Most people do NOT appreciate salami on cream cheese on those self same wheat thins, but Wheat Twisty Pretzel sticks ARE amayazing! Potbelly's is not some scary name for a bong but a rather nice sandwich joint that we visited several times. Also, Mennonites LOVE Tuby Ruesday's -- it is the place to be on Saturday nights in Amish Country. The largest restaurant I have ever been to is called Shady Maple -- imagine Golden Corral magnified both in quantity and quality times 100. We drove through some interesting Amish towns such as Bird in Hand and Intercourse, PA. Go figure -- we weren't really sure what they were ACTUALLy referring to, either. Also, if you ever drive with Chris Strevel in DC be prepared for the appearance of "Salim" -- favorite phrase (in Indian accent, if you please) "OH, not good!" and "No speakie English!' I bet you can't imagine why he needed those two phrases of all. :-) All in all, I believe we survived 10 days in a hall on wheels rather well. The kids got along really great, and I think that they really learned a lot -- more than just history or architecture or anything that could be described by listing the places that we went to. As usual on these sorts of trips, the lessons are learned by what happens, not where you visit.

POST TRAUMA
Perhaps the favorite part of the entire trip was arriving home to a husband that missed me something terrible and did the most amazing thing while I was gone - he painted the bathroom, put up crown moulding and added bead board to two walls. He even bought new fixtures! He created the perfect surprise for me when I got home on Friday night! I couldn't believe how great it all looked. We had talked about doing this a while ago. . . Big kudos to my dear for staying up and slaving until the wee hours of the morning to have a surprise that blew me out of the water. I missed Josh like crazy, too, so it's been great to be back home. I think some of the kids were a little sad to be leaving the RV, but no regrets here!