So, truth be told, the trip didn’t start out on the greatest note. Due to thunderstorms, our five hour flight became a six hour flight while the pilot circled D.C. waiting for clearance to land. In the end, after trying a few different airports, we were forced to land in Pittsburgh at 1 in the morning. Not happy. And the vouchers for hotels didn’t work because every place we called was “full” (I personally think they just didn’t want to honor the vouchers since it doesn’t make them much money. But you know me. I’m always the conspiracy theorist). So we spent the night in the Pittsburgh airport!
It was actually kind of fun. There weren’t enough chairs to seat all of the disgruntled and hotel-less customers, so we stole some wheelchairs, made ourselves a barricade, and slept on the floor for an hour or so. Thankfully we were able to catch an early morning flight (other passengers weren’t so lucky, and we stuck there until late afternoon).
Unfortunately we weren’t able to surprise Devin, because when our flight didn’t show up, the Baers decided to tell Devin. Don’t ask me what the connection is, or why we couldn’t continue under our assumed guise of distant relatives until we arrived. But, even though we didn’t see Devin’s reaction, he was still very touched (he even choked up on the phone) that Chris could be there for his wedding. He was thrilled.
We landed in D.C. in time to go with Cassandra through the temple the day before her wedding (brave soul. I didn’t want to do it that way. Props I guess.). I think the Washington D.C. temple is the most beautiful temple I’ve ever seen, inside and out. Too bad the earthquake knocked the golden spires off the top. In Josh’s words, “How unin”spire”ing.” But we’ll get to the earthquake later.
We also really enjoyed attending Devin and Cassandra’s wedding dinner. I’m not one to gush on about cute couples (unless it’s me and Chris, haha), but really, they are a perfect, perfect couple. Too bad they aren’t living close, because I’d like to get to know Cassandra more, she seems pretty awesome. Their wedding ceremony was moving and satisfying. It’s moving when you realize the import of a marriage, and it can blow you away when you see two people look each other in the eyes and COMMIT, full of promises and hopes and happiness and resolve. And it’s satisfying when you watch a wedding, and can’t help but think “Score! They’re hitched!” as immature as that sounds. Good stuff.
They had a beautiful reception at Cassandra’s home. Chris helped the Baer brothers decorate the car. Unfortunately, the stake patriarch hosed it off himself for the two before they even drove away. Didn’t want the car damaged, yadda yadda yadda. He’s prolly right.
The reception was an afternoon reception, so we went to the Lincoln Memorial that night afterward!!
I love Abraham Lincoln!!! Gah! He’s my hero. This monument moved me to tears. Please people, if you are reading this, read “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln”. Don’t be intimidated by its size, because it reads like a good novel. You will gain a new respect for him and his many good character traits: not just his honesty, but his discretion, not just his personal views against slavery, but his commitment to not using those personal views to tear the country apart, not just his loyalty to the Union, but his loyalty to a difficult marriage, his balance of shrewdness and genuine goodness, his moderation, his good principles, the list goes on and on. I enjoyed visiting this monument enough that in spite of our limited time, we visited it again in the daytime on Monday.
So, Sunday came next. We were staying with a very kind family in Cassandra’s ward, and after Church, Sis. Smith took the time to drop us off for a while at the Jefferson Memorial. I also loved this monument. I just love learning about the complex, brilliant, Jefferson.
Monday was a full day of sightseeing! We went to the Capitol first, and thanks to Kim Wold (thankyouthankyouthankyou) we got a private intern-led tour from Senator Jon Kyl’s office, through the underground tunnels, through the main rooms (at a much slower pace than group tours), and ending in the Senate Gallery. It was SO COOOOOOOOOL.
To make this a tab bit briefer, I’ll try to pick up the pace. We visited the Library of Congress, made a too-short stop to the Museum of Air and Space;
peeked into the Sculpture Garden, walked all across the mall,
delved into The Museum of American History,
and went up inside the Washington Monument,
all of which was wonderfully fascinating. I was especially touched by the World War II Monument
and the Vietnam Memorial (although we saw this on Tuesday so I’m jumping out of order).
We also saw the brand new Martin Luther King Memorial!!!
I'm running out of time. Maybe I'll call it quits, or maybe I'll finish writing about the trip on the next post. Hopefully some of you have stuck with me in spite of my long lapse of writing! From now on I'll stop worrying about pictures and just make sure I keep my family updated. Thanks for listening!
No comments:
Post a Comment