Now when people I know talk about the arches, they are referring to the Arches National Park just north of Moab Utah. During our three hour visit, we walked out to the Windows, the Double arches and the balanced rock. The formations were amazing!
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Arches
Growing up in the Midwest whenever someone mentioned arches, I always thought they were referring to the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. I have driven by it numerous times but I've been to the top only once. It's not that exciting to go to the top so we just stopped for a quick photo.
Corvettes in Kentucky
Did you know that Corvettes are assembled at a plant in Bowling Green Kentucky? If not you probably didn't know that the Corvette museum is across the street from the assembly plant.
As Bowling Green was on our way back east we did a quick pit stop to visit the museum. We have been to lots of car museums such as the Mercedes Benz and Porsche museums in Stuttgart and earlier on this trip the Henry Ford museum. Well I hate to say it but the Corvette museum was not very good. It did have nice cars on display but it didn't feel like I was getting a history lesson of the car when walking through. It felt more like a commercial that we walked through.
The best part of the museum was the area dedicated to the incident from a few years ago when a section of museum floor collapsed into a unknown cave and took many priceless Corvettes with it. The display had lots of geological area history (Kentucky has lots of caves). And the cars too damaged to restore were on display.
As Bowling Green was on our way back east we did a quick pit stop to visit the museum. We have been to lots of car museums such as the Mercedes Benz and Porsche museums in Stuttgart and earlier on this trip the Henry Ford museum. Well I hate to say it but the Corvette museum was not very good. It did have nice cars on display but it didn't feel like I was getting a history lesson of the car when walking through. It felt more like a commercial that we walked through.
The best part of the museum was the area dedicated to the incident from a few years ago when a section of museum floor collapsed into a unknown cave and took many priceless Corvettes with it. The display had lots of geological area history (Kentucky has lots of caves). And the cars too damaged to restore were on display.
Go West, young man! (and visit the caves)
It was finally time to start out journey back to the other side of the country. Our original plan was to go south to Monticello and see Thomas Jeffersons place and down to Memphis to visit Graceland. Unfortunately we spent too much time going East so we needed to shorten our itinerary on the way back.
Our first stop was at the Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. Mammoth Caves is the largest cave system in the world. To see the cave you have to make reservations for one of the many tours provided by the park service. The short and less strenuous tours were already booked by the time we were looking at the different tours. We ended up on the Drips and Domes tour which was a 2 hour tour with lots of climbing and wedging through tight spaces. It was a great experience, a nice contrast to all the museums from the days before.
Our first stop was at the Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. Mammoth Caves is the largest cave system in the world. To see the cave you have to make reservations for one of the many tours provided by the park service. The short and less strenuous tours were already booked by the time we were looking at the different tours. We ended up on the Drips and Domes tour which was a 2 hour tour with lots of climbing and wedging through tight spaces. It was a great experience, a nice contrast to all the museums from the days before.
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Last day in DC
It was getting harder to go out and explore the city by our last day due to the 95+ temperatures. To properly see everything in DC, I recommend a minimum of 5 days, and hopefully when it's not so hot!
For our last day we went to the Museum of American history. Lots of cool items on display including the original flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the war of 1812 and was the inspiration for our national anthem. My favorite was the display of Julia Childs original kitchen.
There were lots of other interesting exhibits as we were there almost the entire day. We only left as we realized that the Hope diamond wasn't at this museum but at the museum of Natural history. Fortunately that museum was next door so we rushed over before it closed.
For our last day we went to the Museum of American history. Lots of cool items on display including the original flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the war of 1812 and was the inspiration for our national anthem. My favorite was the display of Julia Childs original kitchen.
There were lots of other interesting exhibits as we were there almost the entire day. We only left as we realized that the Hope diamond wasn't at this museum but at the museum of Natural history. Fortunately that museum was next door so we rushed over before it closed.
Its hot in DC!
We started our morning with plans to visit the Smithsonian's Museum of American Art, the Portrait Gallery (which are combined into the same building) and then the National Archives. We parked over by the Museum only to find out it wasn't open for a few more hours. So we walked a few blocks down to the National Archives which normally would not be a big deal, except that it was already 90 degrees in the morning so it was a hot walk.
The main attraction in the National Archives are the original Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They were on display together in a very dark room, controlled by lots of guards. They tried to keep the people visiting this very large dark room in smallish groups so that we could view the documents without too much crowding. It was amazing to see the original paperwork, though the Declaration was hard to read as the ink had seriously faded. Definitely no picture taking allowed, and no touching of the glass as well!
The American Art museum had lots of photographs, art and portraits. I think the presidential portraits section was closed. I don't think the boys were that impressed especially since they have experience with the Louve.
Despite the super hot weather, we went to Arlington National Cemetery. We were probably thinking it would be shaded... Nope. It was a long hot walk to the tomb of the unknown soldier. We watched the changing of the guard, and we're in awe of the guards and their discipline in the full 98 degree heat.
The main attraction in the National Archives are the original Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They were on display together in a very dark room, controlled by lots of guards. They tried to keep the people visiting this very large dark room in smallish groups so that we could view the documents without too much crowding. It was amazing to see the original paperwork, though the Declaration was hard to read as the ink had seriously faded. Definitely no picture taking allowed, and no touching of the glass as well!
The American Art museum had lots of photographs, art and portraits. I think the presidential portraits section was closed. I don't think the boys were that impressed especially since they have experience with the Louve.
Despite the super hot weather, we went to Arlington National Cemetery. We were probably thinking it would be shaded... Nope. It was a long hot walk to the tomb of the unknown soldier. We watched the changing of the guard, and we're in awe of the guards and their discipline in the full 98 degree heat.
Friday, July 21, 2017
Spaceships and Planes!
The Air and Space Museum is the favorite of the Smithsonian museums. It seems that any flying item of significance is on display. Spirit of St Louis, Chuck Yeager’s X1, John Glenn’s Friendship 7 and the Wright Brothers original Flyer. The Apollo 11 command module is normally on display but not during our visit. We spent over half of our day admiring all the displays before driving out to the Udvar-Hazy annex by Dulles Airport. The annex has even more flying machines like the space shuttle Discovery, the Enola Gay,and the Dash-80. We stayed till they booted us out at 5:30.
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Shortcut via Canada
After Dearborn, we decided to stop at the Niagara Falls for the night. We crossed into Canada from Detroit which was pretty quick compared to our normal crossings in Washington state. Driving though Ontario was uneventful but with lots of traffic heading our direction. We arrived after 10p and we found out that the Falls would be lit until midnight. We walked down to the Falls in the rain took a few photos (which didn't come out as it was dark and raining) and walked back.
The next morning we went back down to the Falls after breakfast. It was already crowded. We admired the scenery, took our obligatory photos and left for Washington DC. We crossed back to the USA via the bridge just downstream of the Falls which had a nice view (and no line at the border crossing).
The next morning we went back down to the Falls after breakfast. It was already crowded. We admired the scenery, took our obligatory photos and left for Washington DC. We crossed back to the USA via the bridge just downstream of the Falls which had a nice view (and no line at the border crossing).
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