Sat., Feb. 21st we finally made it inside the US Capitol building! It was amazing!

This is the painting in the Rotunda

The beautiful paintings in the Rotunda

This is the mural portraying American history


This is Statuary Hall (where the Inauguration luncheon was held)

This is the new Capitol Visitors Center completed a couple of months ago.

On to the Library of Congress!

It was another great day seeing more of our nations history!

A Different Sort of Valentine Day

What happens when Valentine's Day falls on exploration day (Saturday) in a city where you've never celebrated Valentine's Day before when they are celebrating Lincoln's 200th birthday? You spend the day with your Valentine exploring the new city and new things and dining in a fine local eatery. At least that is what we did! It was quite different than our years of heart-shaped pizzas at Alfy's.

We started out the day in DC (no surprise there, huh?). In celebration of the 200th birthday of Abe Lincoln's birth, the National Archives held a four day viewing of THE Emancipation Proclamation. It was a piece of history that we wanted to go see. We had recently watched a History Channel special about Lincoln's motives for freeing the slaves and its impact on the nation and the war. We can hardly imagine the enormity of this act at the time.

The National Archives

(While there, we also saw one of the few remaining copies of the Magna Carta. If you are coming for a visit, you may want to stop here to see the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence. )

Photographs had to be sans flash, so we "borrowed" these (two of the five). It was fascinating seeing Abe's actual signature on the page.

From there we walked to Ford's Theater. On the way we stopped to see the Naval Memorial.

And passed by a beautiful old stone church ....

Then we arrived at Ford's Theater, where Lincoln was shot ...

And then toured the house across the street where Lincoln was taken to die, where he passed the next morning.

OK, all that sounds really depressing for a Valentine's Day, doesn't it? So my Valentine and I got all dressed up and went to Flemings Steakhouse for a wonderful meal,

and then home for a dessert of chocolate-dipped strawberries!

Now that's a Valentine's Day we will always remember!!

Punkin

How is it that pets become so much a part of our lives, and leave such a void when they are gone? Punkin, our cat, one that many of you know, is gone. This cat had a personality that gave more to like and dislike all in one package than any other pet we had. Yet for 18 years she was a part of our family.

Punkin, the cat that would allow a very young Kacie to "manhandle" her, up to a point ... and then would invariably bite Kacie somewhere on the nose, the cheek, the chin, wherever she could sink her teeth. Yet for years they remained buddies, and Punkin would spend at least some of each night sleeping with Kacie.

Punkin, the cat who got stuck underneath the garage door (before garage door openers came with mandatory safety sensors). The cat for whom a neighbor came to the door and said "you have a cat pinned underneath your garage door", and when we went to the garage she was completely pinned, almost crushed, and her little feet flailing in an attempt to free herself. We knew then that a cat who could survive that would be a feisty and long-living creature!

Punkin, the cat who slept with Barb every night, either at her feet or on her pillow. (To say Dan didn't like sleeping with a cat is an understatement, and Punkin, after being thrown off the bed a few times in the dark of night, didn't come back to him much at night any more.)

Punkin, who not only perpetuated the eat-puke-eat cycle known to many felines, but took it to legendary frequencies.

Punkin, who would come to your lap just as you were about to get up, and then nestle in with a deep and contented purr.

Punkin, who would not tolerate the presence of our sweet golden retriever, and would give a nasty "hiss" and a bat of her paw to tell Zoey to "get lost"!

Punkin, who would keep Barb company, following her whenever she was outside in the yard and wherever she would go.

Punkin, who would disappear for days at a time, and then would show up like nothing happened. More than once we had found her locked in a neighbor's garage.

Punkin, who in later years, became even more affectionate and loved to paw at our faces to get our attention.

Goodbye Punkin, we will miss you.

Back in Seattle Again

Hi everyone,

We had the great fortune to be back in Seattle again last week. Dan had to be back at Boeing in Everett and Renton for meetings that week. With this great oportunity, Barb found a really good airfare online and we made the trip together. It was a good week for the most part. During the days while Dan worked (and he had a total of 32 meetings in those five days), Barb kept very busy with doctor appointments (checkups only, nothing serious!), root canals (now that is serious) and a dental appointment for a crown. And in an unexpected development, our cat Punkin, who Nate and Shell had been keeping, became very ill. On Tuesday, Barb took her to the vet and found out how very sick she was. At that point, she made the decision to put Punkin to sleep. She was over 18 years old, a ripe old age for a cat, but it was a sad day for sure. (Gee, root canals, mamagrams, sick pets, how much fun can you have in a week?)

But in the evenings, we were most fortunate to see friends and family. The only downside was that Callie had to be away on business travel herself for several days, and we only saw Matt a little bit because of his work schedule.

One night we got together at Nate and Shell's for dinner, and had a great time except for missing Matt and Callie :-(

Here we are catching up with our very good friends, Bob and Lisa Jones. We hadn't seen them since our trip together to Lake Tahoe last October (click on the photo to enlarge it).

A late night snack at Scotts in Edmonds after the Lions' basketball games .....

And getting together for breakfast Saturday before we headed off to the airport:

We were glad that Bruce and Jo could join us that morning, too. (We had stayed with them a couple of nights but only got this one pic of them.)

We consider that week among one of our greatest adventures so far! And now for the picture of the week, our beautiful and slightly crazy daughter!!

Christmas in January

What do Abe Lincoln, the real Star Spangled Banner, and Bill Cosby have in common?

(Imagine the Jeopardy music playing in the background while you try to think of the answer.)

Well, the answer is ..... these are all things of which we partook last Saturday.

Saturday was Christmas reprised - sort of. That was when Barb took Dan to dinner and then to see Bill Cosby, both at the Kennedy Center in DC. This was her Christmas gift to Dan one month earlier. We had a wonderful evening - the food was wonderful, and had a good view because the restaurant was at the rooftop level of the Kennedy Center. And Bill Cosby is hilarious! He sat on stage for about an hour and forty minutes and told stories (he's not a joke-teller but a story teller) that had us laughing almost non-stop. At one point Dan had to massage his face because it hurt so much. We had great seats - third row left! People and events are much more "dressy" here, and we enjoyed getting dressed up for the evening. Barb looked great in her new purple blouse and slacks, accessorized with her blue sapphire pendant and earrings. Dan, dressed in a long sleeved merino sweater topped with a John Clarendon jacket.

(OK, OK, the fashion commentary was a bit over the top, but we really do enjoy the dressy atmosphere here.) Prior to that we spent a couple of hours at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. There were several interesting exhibits, but the two most interesting were 1) Abraham Lincoln, his life and his writings during the Civil War, (in celebration of his 200th birthday this year), and b) the real Star Spangled Banner. On display was the actual flag that flew over Fort McHenry in Baltimore during the war of 1812 that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the song, "The Star Spangled Banner" (later to become our national anthem). For more information, read this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Spangled_Banner

or this:

http://americanhistory.si.edu/exhibitions/exhibition.cfm?key=38&exkey=70

All in all, Saturday was a great day!

Inauguration - Epilogue

What more can we say about our experiences during the inauguration? During the week we talked with family and friends around the US - and Cindy in Malaysia - answering questions about what it was like to be here. It has given us a chance to reflect some more about everything we did. Writing this may be more for us than you, but read on if you wish as we describe some of our greatest impressions and memories ....

.... such as the crowds, huge crowds. How there were people of all sorts, some wearing fur coats and suits, some in every-day wear, some looking like street people, some waving Kenyan flags and singing. And despite the crowds, how orderly and friendly people were. How there was a real sense of celebration, camaraderie, and history in the making.

.... such as how massive the security was. The entire parade route fenced in, check points where people were searched prior to entering, police two-deep along Pennsylvania Avenue, bomb-sniffing dogs on patrol, military police helping out, helicopters continually circling overhead, bridges into the district closed, sniper-spotters and sharp-shooters on the roofs of buildings. This is only what we saw, not to mention under-cover security and hidden cameras and who knows what else. And despite this, we found ourselves occasionally anxious about the safety of our President, especially when he was walking along the route.

.... such as Julia, with whom we ate lunch and talked for quite a while ... a black woman, somewhat older than us, who grew up in Florida during some of the dark days of segregation. How she shared some of those experiences, told us that her sisters were the first to de-segregate a high school in Florida, that store-fronts had signs that read "Negroes enter in the back", and how her father taught her how to get through the barriers without hate, malice or prejudice to those who might mistreat her. How she never thought she would see a black president in her lifetime. And how, almost in passing (and certainly not boastfully, rude or pretentiously) she said "and that is why this day is so important to me."

.... such as how we well up in pride and emotion at almost every inauguration we watch, as it is the essence of US democracy for parties to peacefully transition power to one another. And how, even though we did not back Barack Obama, nor believe his were the best policies for the country, nor vote for him, we accept the outcome and recognize him as OUR President.

.... such as how fortunate we feel to have been able to experience this at least once in our lifetime. No, we didn't get tickets to view the swearing-in, and, no, we didn't brave the cold to stand in the mall and watch it on jumbo-trons amidst a sea of people, but we were there, in DC, and could feel the palpable buzz of excitement.

We will pray for our leaders, especially the President, because our country needs wise leaders now as much as ever. We hope you do, too.

May God Bless the USA.

Inauguration - Chapter 3

Well, we did it! We made it into Washington, D.C. for the inauguration! What a day! We decided if we were going to try to beat most of the crowds, we should probably leave home fairly early. How early?? Well, we left home at 4:17 A.M.! We thought we would go to the closest Metro station to park and take the Metro in to the city, but when we came up to the exit, the line of cars were backed up on the highway at least 1 mile from the exit and they were at a standstill. So we went to plan B and drove to the Boeing building in Rosslyn, parked the car there, and took the Metro just 4 stops in to the city. That ended up working very well! We DID end up getting there at 5:45 A.M., but at least we beat most of the crowds. We spent the next 4 1/2 hours sitting in a coffee shop reading the paper, having our lattes, and people watching.

The crowds did come!! There were security points set up to get into the parade route and people started showing up we heard around 4:30 A.M. I thought WE were crazy!!! We at least were warm!!

We had been invited to the Air Transport Assoc. offices where they were holding an inauguration day reception. We showed up at about 10:45 A.M. and were on the 11th floor overlooking the parade route. We watched the presidential motorcade as they made their way from the White House to the Capitol building for the swearing in ceremony. We then watched the ceremony on a big screen T.V. After the ceremony, the helicopter that took Former President Bush and Mrs. Bush to Andrews Air Force Base, flew by our building. Then we had a delicious buffet lunch while we waited for the parade to start.

The streets were lined with police and the building we were in and one next to us had sharp shooters ready for any trouble.

We were then ready for the parade to start with binoculars in hand!

Before the new President drove by there were several military groups who went by.

And then it was time for President Obama and his family. We were excited when we saw on the T.V. that he had gotten out of the car to walk, but unfortunately he got back in before he got to us. He is in this car in the back right hand seat. Barb was able to see him through the binoculars waving through the window! His car was surrounded by Secret Servicemen.

Vice-President Biden and his family DID go by on foot. He even looked up and waved at us on the balcony!

By the time the President and Vice-President had gone by it was getting later then we thought so we decided to brave the crowds on the Metro to get back to the car. It was jam packed, but people were in a great mood.

All in all, the 3 days were an amazing experience and we are so glad we braved the crowds and the weather to take part in this time in history!!