Virginia Trip

I've been wanting to take a trip to Virginia for a while now, mostly just to see my friends from my internship summer. Since Chase likes history and free things, it wasn't too hard to talk him into it. We were able to stay with the Jenkins, eat with friends, drive instead of fly, and free monuments and museums. A wonderful trip for newlyweds. Or recently married, anyway.  

First stop on Thursday, we went to The Care of Trees where I did my internship four years ago. I got to chat with some old coworkers, which was fun. 

Jeremy Baker was an awesome boss!

 By lucky coincidence, we visited DC and the monuments on June 6th. It was really cool to be there on the anniversary of D-Day. There was a ceremony at the WWII memorial, a park ranger giving a lecture about D-Day, and lots of veterans wandering around the memorials. It was fascinating and gave an extra gravity to the historical monuments. 

Chase loves hearing about history, so this was an awesome day for us. 

Washington Memorial

You can't tell from this picture, but we're at the WWII Memorial watching a ceremony honoring the veterans. 

Tidal Basin by Jefferson Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

 We went to the Smithsonian castle, and stopped by the Natural History Museum. There were SOOO many people, especially school groups. We had been walking all day and and we only managed about thirty minutes of museum time before we cried uncle and drove home. 

Survival Hint: Don't get eaten! 

This is his "Oh look, I was right and you were all wrong. I did get eaten by a shark" face.
And that's a megalodon jaw, not a shark (prehistoric ancestor of the great white shark).

 We had dinner with the Anderson family on Friday night. It was so fun to be "home" and I loved having Chase meet them. Chase was thrilled to be gifted with an old punching bag that had been hanging outside for years. Gail was equally thrilled to be rid of it. 

Saturday morning we went to the DC temple. I've been wanting to go through a session ever since Kalie was married there. It was so busy, and big, but it was beautiful. I'm very glad for that opportunity. 

 After the temple, we went to Arlington National Cemetery. We even walked up to the Iwo Jima memorial.

 Chase found Audie Murphy's grave. Audie Murphy is one of Chase's biggest war heroes. So I guess it was a pretty big deal. 

 On Sunday, we went to Church with the Jenkins and spent the day hanging out with them. I love my Jenkins so much! 

It was a great opportunity to see all my friends (or family, really. I like adopting family, and being adopted.) 

Hopefully, we'll be back up to Virginia before too long.