Graves Mountain Lodge

Last Sunday was a beautiful fall day. It was the day we had planned to take an outing with some of our friends from church to Graves Mountain Lodge for country air and Sunday dinner.

The lodge is about 90 minutes southwest of us, right at the foot of Shenandoah National Park. The drive and the lodge setting were beautiful, enhanced by the crisp fall air and bright country sunshine. It was a wonderful day, as we were blessed by the beauty of God's creation and the fellowship of our brothers and sisters in Christ!

The View:

The Colors:

Good food and fellowship:

Warm sunshine and relaxation:

These people are an incredible blessing to us:

Couples (l to r): David & Carol Trujillo, Dan & Barb, Barbara & John Finity,

Paul & Kerry Kraft, Tracy & Mitch Darling.

Do we look like we enjoyed ourselves?

C'mon down and join us some time soon!

WIHS

What is WIHS? It is the Washington International Horse Show. Just like last week with the Redskins game, we were the lucky winners of tickets given away by Boeing Wa DC. Boeing was a sponsor of the show and held an employee drawing last week for the Grand Finale of the event on Saturday evening. We really aren't equestrian enthusiasts, but Barb loves horses so we decided to put our name into the drawing and WON! We counted this as another adventure.

The event was held at the Verizon Center in the heart of DC, the place where the Washington Wizards (NBA) and Capitals (NHL) both play. The Verizon Center is right around the corner from Chinatown so we went early to have dinner at the renown Tony Cheng's Chinese Restaurant.

We had pretty good seats - second row center, with a great view of the action.

All the horses in the final event were beautiful, powerful animals. They had a course of about 15 jumps that had to be completed in 77 seconds, hopefully without knocking down any of the rails.

We were so close we could hear the horses grunt as they leaped over the rails.

(No, this one isn't eating the flowers - it is jumping!)



All that was great, but the most entertaining moment was actually canine, not equine. In between events, the held Terrier races - Jack Russell Terriers chasing after a fake rabbit. Have a look at the video clips below and tell us you didn't laugh:

Like I said another DC Adventure!

Autumn in DC

While Dan was in Seattle last week, I decided to take one of our gorgeous fall days and go into DC to see how the fall colors looked against the monuments. I was NOT disappointed!!


Korean War Memorial


Washington Monument



Jefferson Memorial

World War II Memorial

Capitol building and The Mall

These photos were all taken at the Tidal Basin where the Cherry trees are and where we had taken our photos during the Cherry Blossom Festival.


Hard to believe this is our 2nd fall here! The colors are truly glorious!!

Great Falls Park, Virginia

Welcome to Great Falls Park, Virginia! It was a gorgeous fall day along the Potomac River! My friend, Paula, introduced me to the falls which Dan & I hadn't gotten a chance to visit yet! Just minutes from DC there are overlooks in Virginia and in Maryland. These photos were taken on the Virginia side.

Great Falls overlook.

It is a popular place for kayaks and canoes.

In 1785 construction of one of America's first canal systems started at the Falls and was completed in 1802. Overseer to this project was George Washington. It was in use for 26 years to ferry flour, corn, whiskey, furs, tobacco, iron ore,and timber from Georgetown to as far away as Cumberland, Maryland a market center in the Allegheny Mountains. It would take about 3 days to travel the 190 mile plus route.Here are some photos of parts of the canal still in existance.

There are quite a few trails to walk on in the park.

Above the falls, the river is much quieter.

It was a wonderful afternoon and Dan & I will definitely be going back!!

Redskins Football

On Sunday, October 17, we were able to go to a Washington Redskins football game. Boeing has a suite a FedEx Field that is used for various customer relations activities, but last weekend the seats in the suite were offered to the employees in the DC office. Dan put his name in for the drawing and got picked for two tickets! Now, going to a Washington Redskins football game is not on our "DC Adventure List" - really, never even thought about it. But the chance to see a game from the suite was just one of those little opportunities we decided to grab.

FedEx Field is a fairly new stadium just outside of DC in Landover, MD. We took the blue line Metro to get there.

This was our first time in a luxury suite at any event, so we were kind of excited to take in the experience. We found it completely stocked with food and beverage, at no additional cost to us (part of the luxury suite contract). Our suite looked out over the 30 yard line.

The halftime entertainment was a Marine Corp Band, who were very good. Note also the soldiers to the left re-enacting the flag raising on Iwo Jima.

The game itself was awful. The Chiefs were previously winless, but beat the Redskins 14-6, which tells you a bit about the 'Skins. Worse yet, there were no touchdowns. Just six field goals and a safety. The Skins fans are avid fans and the boo birds were out in force.

Barb told people that this would be her first time attending a professional football game. Dan tells her she still hasn't been to a professional football game. We had a lot of fun, though. See, we look happy even at a lousy game!

What little surprise adventure will be next?

Showing Mom the Town

Mom T was here to stay with us a week. Except for a very brief time last year, she really hadn't ever taken in the sights of Washington DC and the Virginia area. We made it our goal that she see everything she wanted to see ..... and she 'bout wore us out!!! Just like the ever-ready bunny, she just kept going and going and ...

Here are just a few of the highlights:

Outside the White House after the tour. What a beautiful place!

A drive along Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park

At the National Cathedral (l) and having a picnic lunch in a park near the White House (r).

At the Lincoln Memorial (in case you couldn't tell).

At the memorial honoring the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Enjoying the lobster special at Clyde's Willow Creek Farm in Ashburn.

Lunch at Gadsby's Tavern in Alexandria, whose patrons once included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James Madison. (To learn more about Gadsby's, click HERE.)

A beautiful day in Old Town Alexandria.

On a tour of the Capitol.

At the Library of Congress.

Come again, Mom. We loved having you and there is more to see and do!