The Smithsonian

Jed and I went back to DC on Sunday to visit the Smithsonian.


It is a huge museum. This is from the balcony looking at the main rotunda.


This is "Manny" in the Ice Age exhibit. :)


This is a movie prop used in "Night at the Museum 2." We had a good day just walking around the museums. Jed and I probably wouldn't have picked DC as a vacation spot, so it was a great opportunity for us that I'm going to school so close by. I had to say goodbye to Jed this morning...he is heading back to Utah and the single parent life. Thanks Jed for travelling so far to spend a couple of days with me! I had a great time! Love you.

Washington DC

Today we went to Washington DC. Here are just a few of the pictures and sights we saw.....

We rode the "Old Towne Trolly" and our first stop was the Lincoln Memorial.


It was very impressive and was one of my favorite stops of the day.

This is the view from the Lincoln Memorial.


Here we are in front of the White House.

This is the Rotunda inside the National Archives. We stood in line for over an hour to get in to see the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

We were not allowed to use flash photography, so my pictures are pretty dark.


It was a long HOT day and we still didn't get to see everything. We may go back tomorrow to see the Smithsonian.

Artscape in Baltimore

We had a few hours to kill so we drove back to Baltimore to see "Artscape." My camera batteries died so I only got a few pictures. We were told this is the largest free art show in America. It was scary interesting. Great place to "people watch."

These cars were covered in weird stuff. This one had doll parts all over it.


This van was covered in coins and strange metal objects.


I liked this one the best. If you look close you can see there are guitar pics stuck to it also.

This van was covered in cameras and lenses. Every kind of art you could think of was there. Sorry that I don't have more photos.

Rocks State Park in MD

We headed out to see Rocks State Park.

Nikki, Anny and Charma.

We wanted to see the "King and Queen Seats" that were once a ceremonial gathering place of the Susquehannock Indians.

It is a 190 foot rock outcrop.

That is Anny out on the ledge.

Nikki and I are the King and Queen! We are sitting in the "Seats".

We also wanted to check out the water fall. It is the second largest waterfall in Maryland.

Drum roll........ a grand 19 foot high waterfall. Well, it was pretty and a lot of people were out enjoying it. Looks to be a favorite spot to play.

It was a fun little trip. The countryside is very green and beautiful.

Baltimore Trip

Today we drove to Baltimore. It was only 25 minutes from our hotel and we got to see a lot of crazy interesting people and sights.

We first arrived at Camden Yards, home of the Oriole Ball Park.


Here we are: Nikki, Charma and Kortney with Babe Ruth.


The street between the stadium and this huge warehouse is called Eutaw.... ok, not real interesting.

Then we started walking towards Inner Harbor and passed a convention center which was having some sort of Internet Gaming event called O Call Us Crazy Otakon.

These guys look like they are into the same field of work as us! Hey, that mask looks a little familiar?!?!?

Believe me, these pictures only scratch the surface of costumes we saw today!

As we arrived in Inner Harbor, one of the first things you see is the World Trade Center.

We walked all around the piers.

Grabbed a bite to eat and listened to the live music.

One of the huge ships in the Harbor.

A Submarine.

A view of ESPN Zone, the Hard Rock Cafe and Barnes and Noble. It was a pretty neat looking building.

We came across this Holocaust Memorial.

A somber, quiet place with an statue that states: "Those who do not remember the past are destined to repeat it."

We found the cemetery where Edgar Allan Poe is buried. We left some pennies on the grave stone where the raven is carved. This is a tradition that visitors have.

The cemetery was creepy (I thought it was awesome). There were both grave stones and above ground tombs. I was disappointed that the church was not open today to give tours of the underground catacombs.

Then we drove to the Washington Monument. A lot of the streets around the area are still the old brick or cobblestone. Very neat.

Our last stop of the day was Charm City Cakes. I promised Erin I would go there. We love to watch "Ace of Cakes" on the Food channel. They don't let you go inside, but I did find Erin a T-shirt at the Inner Harbor with their logo.

It was a fun day trip!

Days 3 ~ 6 in MD

Ok, so there is not much to talk about when you go to class everyday and then just hang in your hotel room after and do homework. I haven't done much adventuring yet, because I want to save my money for the weekends.

My first class (Laboratory Essentials) is over and I passed the test! HURRAY! I'm not really looking forward to my next class (Process Residue Analysis Training) on Monday. URRGG!

MD Day#3

Not much to talk about today.... In class we were able to do a few in lab tasks, which helped to break up the day. At lunch I walked around and found a post office on base, so I was able to buy post card stamps.

Erin start checking the mail box!

There is talk about going into Baltimore this weekend. Not really sure what we will do there, our plans are still up in the air. I want to get my picture taken in front of Charm City Cakes and see Edgar Allan Poe's grave....hmmmm we will see.

Day #2 in MD

I promised Erin I would send her mail.... so after class I went to 4 stores to find post cards (surprising that I didn't get lost) but I still don't have post card stamps, just the regular kind. So I decided to send her some brochures of the area (kind of mostly for Jed) and a MD magnet for the fridge.

Look for your mail in a few days Erin... It should go out in the morning!!!

Now I'm going to put my feet up and relax and........ hmmmm I don't know, maybe read a book, watch whatever I want on TV, just go to sleep early?????

I'll hopefully have more (better) pictures to post later. Unfortunately we are not allowed to take pictures on base.

I'm Here!

Maryland, for 4 weeks!

Here is a view from my plane ride. There was a lot of water.

Here is our first toll road. $2.00 just to get through.

This is a tunnel that goes under a river. I thought it was pretty neat.

This is from inside the tunnel.

I will keep posting pictures of my trip...I am going to miss my family so much these 4 weeks! I love you guys!!!