Where Have I Been?

Hi Everyone,

I guess a better question could be, "Where have I NOT been?"  Or at least it seems that way to me.  My parents came for a visit at the beginning of June, and we did a bit of sight-seeing.  We drove up to Arlington, VA one day to visit Mount Vernon.  I had been there before, but neither my parents nor my husband had visited.

The mansion was very interesting to visit--I barely remember the first time I was there, it was the summer before high school.  I did remember seeing the key to the Bastille, though, and we saw it again.  Such a fascinating historical object.  My favorite area, though, was in one of the outbuildings.

I loved the spinning room.  There was a loom set up, as well.  I have been wanting one of these large "walking" type spinning wheels for ages.  Not to spin, mind you, just for looks.  I have done a tiny bit of spinning.  Back quite a few years ago, I volunteered as a costumed docent at Old Fort Bliss, Texas.  Once a week, large groups of the area's fifth graders would come through and learn about life in the 1850s on the "frontier."  It was great fun.

Back to our outing, though.  We finished seeing Mount Vernon and had a late lunch.  Since we had lots of day left, we drove a short ways to Arlington National Cemetery.  We all had been there before, but it is still such a moving place.

These are the Kennedy graves

The Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

The views of the "District" were awesome and though we were tempted to go over there, it was getting too late.

The next day we stayed local and got up early to meet up with a group of birders.  None of us keeps a life list or are by any means big into birding, but we all do feed them, enjoy seeing them, and in my parents' case--photograph them.  My mom has actually had several photos published in Birds and Blooms magazine.  This group was really nice and friendly and had a huge desire to help us see birds we had never seen before.  I saw a brown-headed nuthatch, a pileated woodpecker, a horned owl, and most exciting of all:  a summer tanager. (They were all new to me.)

We took another day trip down to the Outer Banks.  I had no idea it was so close!  We went on a Monday so there was no traffic.  It was great.  We drove down the entire way.  My parents are big lighthouse people and Hatteras was on their bucket list.  I love lighthouses, too.  We saw three of them, but only climbed Hatteras.

Also on the Outer Banks is Kitty Hawk--site of the Wright Brothers first flights.

Do any of you have the National Parks passport?  We have had one for years, and in fact, it is so old that it is full, so several years ago, we got the new larger one.  The idea is that you take it with you whenever you go to a National Park and while there, you stamp the passport with their stamp which has the date on it.  Or, alternatively, you stamp a piece of paper because you left the darn passport at home/in the car/etc. We did a lot of stamping when my parents were here!

I have much more to share, but will end for now.  I promise I will be back soon!

Have a great day!
JoAnne