Travel, Springfield and Carthage

After leaving the Udvar-Hazy Center we drove a few hours, crossing into Maryland, before staying in LaVale, Maryland for the night.

We enjoyed using the exercise equipment for a bit before leaving the next morning.

Matthew, intent on walking fast.

Maryland wants us to come visit again :)

We spent most of the day driving.

Crossing into West Virginia (state 46 for Me).

Into Pennsylvania, which decided to welcome us this time (unlike when we drove into Philadelphia).

Back into West Virginia.

Into Ohio.

We stopped in Cincinnati for dinner, to get an oil change on the car and for the kids to do the Lego mini build. They built an octupus.

We drove into Kentucky (state 47 for Me). We spent a little extra time there as the kids fought in the car. U and Me enjoyed looking at a purple house and a cardinal. Once things settled down, we headed back into Ohio.

We then drove into Indiana (state 48 for Me) where we stayed the night in Indianapolis.

The next day, we headed into Illinois.

Notice how Kentucky is the "Birthplace of Abraham Lincoln," Indiana has "Lincoln's Boyhood Home" and Illinois is "The Land of Lincoln." Clearly we had to do something Lincoln-related so we stopped in Springfield to visit Abraham Lincoln's home. (This was actually a planned stop on our trip unrelated to all the states claiming Lincoln.) The kids did the Junior Ranger program to earn their 10th badge of the trip.

On our tour of the Lincoln home.  The ranger said that 90% of the home and much of the furniture is original since the Lincolns sold it to friends and relatives when they moved to Washington DC.  People held onto them and have donated them back to the Park Service.

Climbing the stairs. The handrail is original to the home.

Lincoln's shaving stand and mirror are the originals.

Some games and toys in the children's room.

The kitchen.

Matthew, Megan, Me and Sarah in front of the Lincoln home.

We then drove to Carthage, where we toured Carthage Jail.

Living quarters of the jailer's family.

Me, Matthew, Megan and Sarah in the jail.

Door to the room that Hyrum and Joseph Smith were in before they were killed. The bullet through the door is original.

Matthew, Me, Megan and Sarah in the room.

The second story window is the one through which Joseph fell.

Our family in front of Carthage Jail.

Matthew and Megan with Joseph and Hyrum.

The brothers with the jail behind them.

This bird decided to hang out on our mirror for a bit.

We had a yummy dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Me with steaming fajitas.

U's dinner was really good.  It was kind of like fajitas but all the meat came in a bowl with a really good sauce.

We then headed over the Mississippi into Iowa to our hotel in Fort Madison.

Washington DC: The End

All good things must come to an end and so did our trip to Washington DC.

Our hotel was located on M Street. We enjoyed looking at it from our room. The best part was seeing ambulances and fire trucks drive up M Street the wrong way with lights flashing and siren blaring. (This happened several times a day.)

Sarah, U, Megan and Matthew on the sidewalk in front of the hotel

There were some apartments across the street. Most kept their blinds closed but this one always had them opened. A baby lived there and it was fun to see him looking out the windows and playing.

Our room. There was also a pull-out couch.

Statue of General Washington at Washington Circle.

We went to the National Archives for a docent-led tour. It was really interesting! We were able to see the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights before the Archives opened to the general public. In the rotunda where the Charters of Freedom are located, there are a couple of beautiful pictures, one representing the Declaration and the other the Constitution with many of the figures involved being represented. The docent led us through other areas of the Archives, giving us a description of the area and then letting us explore. We saw an original George Washington letter and Abraham Lincoln letter. We saw a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation and an original 1297 Magna Carta. We saw Pa (Charles) Ingalls's land deed with Mr. Boast testifying for him. We've been reading the Little House books so this was neat. Given the nature of the Archives, no pictures were allowed inside.

Me, Megan, U, Sarah and Matthew outside the National Archives.

The National Archives

We visited Q?rius at the National Museum of Natural History where the kids enjoyed exploring.

Looking at Sarah's finger under the microscope.

One last look at the Washington Monument.

U and Matthew with the Monument.

Megan and Sarah on the metro.

Matthew on the metro.

We went to the Udvar-Hazy Center, which is part of the National Air and Space Museum located by Dulles International Airport. There are lots of planes including a Concorde and the Enola Gay.

Apollo 11 in the restoration area of the facility.

Cool looking satellite.

The Space Shuttle Discovery.  It looked really different than I envisioned it. Instead of looking like a sleek machine, it looked like a patchwork quilt.

U with Discovery.

Neil Armstrong's helmet and gloves from the Apollo 11 mission. They are working to have the entire suit ready for display for Apollo 11's 50th anniversary in 2019.

Megan and Sarah "flying" a small Cessna.

Matthew and Me. It was cool to see how to control the yaw, pitch and roll of the plane. (And it's neat to realize that the Wright Brothers really did have the fundamentals of flight down--it's no wonder their plane actually worked!)

At the Observation Tower. It was fun to watch planes landing and taking off from the airport.

One of the planes we saw.

Megan really liked this little plane.