Washington D.C. trip

Stardate 58051.5 (5-15-2005)
Guess I should write up another blog entry, considering it’s been more than a month. It’s been a busy time. 

Rachel and I had a great time in Washington, D.C, a couple of weeks ago. It was a lot of walking. We had a hotel a couple of blocks from the Capitol building. The first building we walked by was the Taft memorial. We did not find out until later what it was.

Rachel spent a lot of time with the Hope diamond. She also took pictures of all the gems. She also got to hold some insects. 

Museum Of Natural History

The big cockroach

The cherry trees were in blossom

Air and Space Museum

The National Zoo

Atop the Washington Monument

The bad part of the trip was the security. We could not get into the capitol, and it would have been nice to show Rachel the House of Representatives. She also wanted to see a sculpture of three women suffragettes. You could get tickets for a tour, but that was just not the same. When I was there in 2000, we wandered the building, looking at a lot of the statues and memorials. Everywhere there were metal detectors, and I was wanded twice. I tend to get tired of being looked at as a potential criminal. 

My dad was finally sent home Thursday of this week. He is happy about that, but I think he assumed that life would go back to the way it was before he broke his hip. He is restricted to his home except for a few hours a week. He is not to drive, which really bothers him. But he is home, so we are making more progress. 

I was shocked, along with a large number of other people, to learn that a friend, Ray Graham, passed away last week. The funeral on Thursday hit hard. I will miss him. It was good to hear the number of people whose lives he made brighter with his good humor, and I was pleased to hear how he made each one feel unique. I feel a very bright light has been dimmed.

We purchased two new (but used) cars this week. A Ford Taurus, and a Mazda MPV. The old Mercury Villager was developing a few problems. The Altima was fine, but it was over 200,000 miles, so it was time. 

Another person turned in his notice at work this week. We did have one more start as I went on vacation. He came from another healthcare company, so he understands the industry terms and business pretty well. He is doing good so far.

End of Entry