Washington DC

The first days of our vacation adventures were spent in Washington DC. We knew we were flying into DC so we planned to stay and see some of the sights. Briant's parents drove down from Hershey and meet us there. Our luggage didn't make it on our plane from our layover flight. I was so mad; I was sitting right next to the window and I could see our bag just sitting there. The pilot came on the intercom and said they were just doing some last minute paperwork and we would be off shortly. Well, shortly ended up being 20 minutes! Plenty of time in my opinion to load my bag... so I was a little upset for those 20 minutes. Anyway, the next flight in, turned out to be only like 1 hour later, so we just went to get some dinner then went back to get our luggage. Dumb airlines!
Anyway, we wanted to go to the Washington DC temple that night and we did end up making it to the last session. This temple is a beautiful one! I first saw it driving on the turnpike... interstate... whatever it was, in 2004 when we went out to visit my brother. Ever since then I've wanted to go. Sorry, it was dark when we got out so this picture isn't very good.
The next day we went into the city and saw the sights! First, we went to the Smithsonian - Air and Space Museum. Honestly you could spend like 3 days there. Here are some of the cool stuff we saw:

The Wright Brothers First Plane
(yes this is the ACTUAL one)


The Spirit of St Louis!
You guys all remember this one from history: The first plane to fly over the Atlantic Ocean with Charles A. Lindbergh as the pilot.

This one is the first to break the sound barrier

Really, there are so many planes there. We saw the cockpit for a 747 (the whole plane wouldn't have fit into the museum). We saw tons of war planes; WWI & WWII! We saw space shuttles, and lots of missiles. We even got to go see a movie about fighter pilots at the I MAX theater (that was awesome). I think we spent a good 3 hours there.

After a quick lunch (HOT DOGS!) We headed over to the Lincoln Memorial (another one I've always wanted to see). One the way we passed lots of other memorials:

The Washington Memorial

The WWII Memorial
Of coarse we each had to represent our own

We also saw the Vietnam Memorial and the White House from a distance too.
We loved the little ducklings in the Reflection Pool. AWW!

And finally, we made it to the Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln was an amazing man, whom I truly respect. I read his Gettysburg address and I get goosebumps (Now I wish that I would have memorized it). I know the Lord's hand was in his works and words.

It is so fun to see our nations history. It's amazing to see our progress over the years and the new things our country has learned. It's also very humbling to see all who fought and died for our nation. People just like you and me in every aspect, except their overwhelming courage. I look up to these people and their selflessness. I hope and strive to make them proud, and to not let their achievements be in vain.

Oh, but that is not were this day ends. We hurried back up to Hershey for a Hockey Game. The Bears ended up losing in the end, but it was still a fun experience. LETS GO BEARS!