2009 Coast Trip with Wilsteads

Easter weekend 2009 at the Coast

The Wilsteads came to the coast with us. We stayed at the Residenc Inn


Kaela became the official door opening, perfecting the key and green light.

Cannery Row was great fun. Toll House and Bubba Gump Restaurant were among our treats for the day.



The infamous 17 mile drive was as breathtaking as I had hoped.








John Steinbeck made Salinas, California bright spot for the coastline. He become famous and wealthy after he published The Grapes of Wrath.

Ava loves to laugh and get others to laugh with her.

Monterrey Bay Aquarium was the highlight of the weekend.
I thought Josh would love this picture of Nemo.

Sunglasses and umbrellas -who could ask for more? (Especially inside the aquarium!)

It was a beautiful weather all weekend.



The Jelly Fish display was my favorite. Ava loved getting wet with the plastic fish. She didn't like wearing the yellow apron to prevent her from becoming totally drenched with water but to no avail.

It was great fun at the aquarium. I'm looking forward to return trip.

The Coast with the WILSTEADS

Washington DC March 2009

We arrived at the Ronald Reagan Washington Airport and our first adventure was to get to the hotel via the Metro. The taxi was going to cost 25.00 each and the Metro was 1.35. That was a no brainer. Between the four of us we managed to get to the hotel (only 5 miles from the airport) without mishap.

The Metro was usually filled with more people; but it was midnight, so it's not that busy.


The Metro goes by that fast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Residence Inn was a great hotel. Not only was the breakfast complimentary, dinner Monday through Wednesday was as well.

This is the buffet at the hotel. There were eggs, sausage, waffles, oatmeal and much more. We are celebrating our 31st wedding anniversary on Wednesday so we naturally enjoyed the free dinner. What a treat; free and deeeelicious.

I thought it was interesting at the light signal it gave the number of seconds you had to cross the street.

**************************************

This is taken from the Lincoln Memorial looking at the Washington Memorial.






I enjoyed the Lincoln Memorial. It isn't shown here but I took a picture where Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke his infamous speech, "I have a Dream."





*******************************************

The World War ll Iwo Jima statue. Their expressions were life like.


**********************************


The Vietnam WALL was solemn for us. Needless deaths. Andy looked up a friend's name on the wall. They both were moved to tears; we didn't stay long, it weighed heavy upon them. Andy was drafted but got a school deferment and at the end of the semester he was to report for service. At the end of that semester the war efforts were beginning to wind down. It was a close call for him.




*********************************

Mt.Vernon was a pleasant experience. The Washington estate was set upon a breath taking view of the Potomac river and rolling hills. It was actually purchased by a group of women who believed our President Washington's home should be a museum. His nephew was selling it for 250.000.00 in the 1800's because it was in such disarray. He couldn't keep up with the cost of repair. A group of women organized themselves and have continued to be in charge of the estate since then. The picture below shows the first president of that women's organization.











George and Martha raised her son's two youngest children as their own. The children's father had died unexpectedly, and their mother knew she couldn't raise all four children on her own, so she gave the youngest two to Martha to raise. George actually never had any children. Martha's first husband died and George married her with children.






The blue flag next to Steve is the flag that George Washington carried during the Revolutionary War. It had 13 stars representing the 13 original colonies. This is where George and his wife are buried.

******************************************


My camera ran out of battery so I didn't get the actual memorials but this is the sign for the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial. It was so sad to see innocent women and children's names on the memorials.





*****************************************

Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum was probably Steve's favorite. It was fascinating listening to him talk about each gem, mineral, metal and everything in between. He was in his element. The Hope Diamond was truly exquisite.

I've messed up AGAIN, so I'm going to post this and forget adding all the other picture. I can't tell you how many hours I've wasted on this activity trying to upload pictures, but I'm finished. I just erased 30 pictures for the fifth time.....IT IS MADDENING. Know there is more to the trip. At any rate Andy, Rosanne, Steve and I had a wonderful time. My favorite photo was with President Obama. I just had it disappear on the screen and of course I'm such a novice I don't know how I messed it up, anyway a teacher I work with told the students I was invite to Washington DC to receive and award for Teacher of the Year. I posed with President Obama (life size poster)and had a great laugh over it. I was able to tell the students that I indeed posed next to Mr.Obama....I just didn't go into any great details. Toooooo Fun!!!!!!!