Day 8 - Washington DC

With great excitement and sadness, we packed up from the Chris and Kate hotel and headed for DC. We drove straight to Uncle Norman's house to pick him up. He dropped us off at the Metro and took the van back to his house. We rode the train into our starting point: Arlington National Cemetery.

It was a beautiful, if hot day. We found our way to the gravesites of my grandparents: Norman and Geri Van Dam who are both buried in Arlington along with one of their sons, David. After a visit there, we walked up to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was blazing hot in the sun as we watched the changing of the guard.

We then began the first of two Long Marches. We walked to the Lincoln Memorial, crossing the Potomac on the big bridge that leads from Arlington to the Mall. By the time we arrived at the Mall, we were hot and hungry. We bought hot dogs and sat near the reflecting pond enjoying the food, water and place.

Feeling better, we climbed the Lincoln Memorial and stood at his feet. From there, I pointed out the field, just north of the memorial, where as an 14 year-old Eagle Scout, I built bridges and towers as part of the Bi-Centenial celebrations in 1976. We then walked the Vietnam War memorial. As we inspected the book at the end, I found Franklin Angel Caras, the father of a friend and it was good to be able to connect what we were seeing to specific people we know.

Long March II followed as we walked from there to the museum of Natural History. We were really glad to find cool air and cold water there. We explored several sections of that museum and then headed for the Air and Space museum. We spent the rest of the day there, until they kicked us out at closing. It is fun to be in such interesting places with the kids.

As we walked back to the Metro stop, we purchased a quarter watermelon from a street vendor as a treat. Uncle Norman met us at the end of the Metro line and we headed to there house for dinner.

Tresa's relatives Ancel and Melba Hendricks met us at Norm and Karel house for dinner. We had a pleasant evening together and finally got the tired kids into bed. It was a great day.