What a Wonder!

This summer has been crazy busy with a fun trip, my calling, catching up on some things (or trying to), and ending/starting a new school year.
So it's time to share my wonderful trip.....This summer allowed for a great get away.  The key was a travel buddy, and it helped that Leonee offered to go in the first place. It was much needed trip and didn't go by as quickly as I was afraid it might.
We left on Sunday, July 7 after taking the Sacrament. We drove to my cousin Teresa's house in Mesquite to stay the night. She graciously fed us dinner, and we had a good time visiting and doing some wedding research just for the fun of it.
We got up Monday morning, and my Uncle Chris drove us to the Vegas airport. We were on a plane for over eight hours. We even escaped being thrown up on, but it was a close call. We got to Baltimore, grabbed a bite to eat, and went for a walk to see the fireflies. We were so lucky that my friend Stacie allowed us to stay with her which helped lessen the expense of the trip.

A great picture Leonee snapped as we were flying

Tuesday brought a day in Pennsylvania....We ate at an Amish family style dinner where we had soggy bottom shoofly pie. We also discoverd that a mix of chocolate ice cream and oranger sherbet tastes like tootsie rolls. We walked around the Amish shops, enjoyed the green, and got poured on our way to the car. We made a visit to Hershey to explore Chocolate World and had to try Frozen Cocoa. Then, my friends let me stop to see my high school I graduated from 12 years ago. My school has since been torn down and replace. What a gorgeous building. It was more of an emotional experience than I had expected.

 

Wednesday brought a tour of the United States Capitol. My friend Stacie had a friend who gave us a tour including a ride on the underground trolley. It was quite an in depth tour. We even came across Brigham Young all the way in DC. That evening we headed to Alexandria, Virginia. We enjoyed the Potomac and met up with another of my high school friends from Germany. It had been 14 years since we saw each other. We had a great time.

The very center of DC

Thursday allowed for a trip to Gettysburg. It was quite the experience. We bought the self guided CD tour to put on in the car and drive around. We stopped for free slurpees and to eat at Lincoln's Diner. Apparently, the parking lot there is dangerouss. We headed back to DC that evening to see the monuments all lit up that evening.

Friday was left to two Salt Lake girls venturing out on our own to explore DC. We made use of the metro as we had for most of our trip. First of all, we went to Arlington where we saw the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier. We toured the Custis home and enjoyed the awe inspiring sights there. It was amazing! Afterwards, we saw the three houses of government and were able to enjoy the American History Smithsonian. It was wonderful. I really enjoyed it. We did some souvenir shopping when we happened to come across the Ford theater and the home where President passed away. That night we had to go see White House Down while in DC. It was fun to have just visited so many of the places shown in the movie. 

Saturday brought a trip to a market, the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial, and a night in to rest from such a busy fun week.

Sunday brought church, a visit to the DC temple, and time to enjoy the company of some of Stacie's very entertaining friends. I was quite bummed that the DC temple was closed while we were there.  It broke my 2 1/2 year streak of going to the temple every week. And NO the "matching" outfits were not planned. Great minds think alike. :)

 

Monday morning came early at 4:00 to get to the airport to catch our flight. We got to Vegas, drove to St. George, and enjoyed lunch and the pool before heading off to the Tuacahn to see Mulan in the indoor theater where we found a great quote, "I'd date me."

Tuesday brought some much needed rest, a trip to the temple, more yummy food, pool time, and Thoroughly Modern Millie at the outdoor theater. It was a wonderful play.

And our vacation finally came to an end on Wednesday when we drove home from St. George. This trip was wonderful. I also found out how great of a friend Leonee is because I wasn't close to sick of her at the end of it all! Until next time.....