Washington, DC

I flew out of Unalaska on Saturday afternoon, great flight, no problems, spent the night in Anchorage and had to get up at 5 AM to go to the airport and catch a flight to Minneapolis. I got stuck in the window seat, which I don't really like, though it is better than the middle seat. I would SO much rather be on the aisle. Anyway, very long but smooth flight to Minneapolis, got in a little late and got to the next flight when it was boarding. No time to hang out. Off we went to DC, another good flight and finally arrived at 8:40 PM. This is our last retreat for the Healthy Native Communities Fellowship; my teammates Donna and Char arrived later the same night. It's a four hour time difference so we had the worst time getting to sleep and had to get up early the next day for training sessions. I think I am still on AK time and when we get up at 7, it's really 3 AM to me!

We convinced our trainers to let us have a few hours off yesterday in return for going back and working into the night last night. We got out and walked around in the sunshine--who would have guessed it would be in the 80's in DC? Not this one, who brought nothing but long sleeved shirts and sweaters! Oh well, I was just happy to be out in the sun and would much rather be hot than cold.

So here's my little gallery of photos from walking around. I loved that funky piece of art above.

Part of the Smithsonian. Of course, we had nowhere near the time to look at everything.

Cop on a Segway

Rockets at the Air and Space Museum

Monument and trees

Inside the Art Museum

Cool hand sculptures

Flowers are still blooming

Fountain

The Capitol

Monks at the Air and Space Museum

Shout out to my Air Force upbringing

On the street

Today we had a great speaker in the morning, Regis Pecos from the New Mexico Leadership Institute, who discussed the effects of 100 years of government policy on Native American culture. This afternoon, we visited one of the Upside Down Organization's schools nearby. I will post more about that tomorrow! In the morning, we are going as a group to tour the White House. We can't take anything with us but our IDs, so no photos. I am also hoping to see my niece Kristinn and family tomorrow night.

Hotlanta!

Saturday we went to Piedmont Park for the weekly farmer's market. The day was very sunny and hot.


I bought a pair of locally made earrings and, while in Georgia, of course we had to try the Georgia peaches, which did not disappoint!

Flowers are in bloom all over the city.

After the market, we went to lunch in a little tavern near the park and then drove to the Carter Center. I wanted to see Jimmy Carter's library and museum and especially the Center, which works on peace and justice issues. Unfortunately, everything was closed for remodeling so we just looked around the grounds.

The Freedom Parkway stretches from the Carter Center to the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, which was our next stop. The Site includes a large center dedicated to educating people about Martin Luther King's life and the Civil Rights struggle. It was fascinating and moving to see recreations of events that occurred during our growing up years, while listening to some of King's words playing in the background. Seeing signs that said "whites only" reminded me of my own life as a child in another part of Georgia. It is still hard for me to believe that, as a society, we were comfortable treating people so cruelly.

This is the house where Dr. King was born.

And the gravesite where he and his wife Coretta Scott King are both buried. It was a very hot day but there were throngs of people walking in the hot sun to visit this site, school classes, families wearing their reunion Tshirts, church groups and travelers. It just made me think that the dream is still alive and maybe there are enough of us to change the way of the world.

A view of downtown from the MLK site.

Walking to the Ebenezer Baptist Church.


This is where I want to work: The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. :)


From there, we went to Underground Atlanta, which is basically a mall under the city where there are still some old Civil War era buildings and streets. It was interesting to see the historical information but otherwise not all that impressive.

Yes, according to the Coca Cola building, it was 94 degrees. Not too bad!

We had dinner at a place called Pittypat's Porch, which also serves "southern" style food. We had fried chicken, ribs, black eyed peas, collard greens, cornbread, biscuits, mashed potatoes, salad bar and desserts of pecan pie and bread pudding. We were miserable afterwards. We have got to stop eating so much!

Back at the hotel, we watched "Gran Torino" on pay per view. This is an excellent movie by Clint Eastwood. See it if you have not already!

Today we drove to Augusta and had lunch with our old high school friend Terri, then on to Charleston where we are spending the next two nights. I'll add more photos and catch up on those portions of the trip tomorrow.

Road Trip

We have been discussing and discussing what else to do on the rest of our vacation. We considered going to Europe since plane deals have been good. We thought about another cruise. We pondered Hawaii and Mexico and the Caribbean. We have talked for months about renting a car and having a leisurely road trip. Every day, we'd get asked, "So what are you doing next?" and each of us would say, "I don't know." Honestly, it took us forever to decide. I told Rich I think I actually do better when everything is planned out in advance. This last minute spontaneity is not me! We searched the internet and discussed some more and, although everything sounded appealing, I just felt kinda tired and wanted to relax rather than spending more time on planes and running from one place to another trying to see everything. The road trip won out, which I think was really Rich's first choice anyway. We left NJ on Monday about 3:30 PM, intending to drive till we were ready to stop. We ended up at the historic Hotel Strasburg in Strasburg, VA, but not without traffic fun first.

I told Rich I did not want to spend all day every day in the car--definitely wanted to get out and wander and enjoy the sunshine that had mostly eluded us so far on our vacation. We got to the outskirts of DC only to find traffic backed up for miles and miles due to a bad accident on the highway (and then a couple of other smaller ones once we were already stopped). It literally took us 2 1/2 hours to go 3 miles. Not my idea of fun. Quite a few cars were speeding down the shoulder and then trying to worm their way back into line, as if that was really going to help them any. Eventually, we made it through all the delays and wanted to get past the city before stopping, which is what led us to Strasburg. We like to stay in local places when possible so we bypassed all the corporate hotels along the highway and meandered through town till we found the Strasburg, which was once a private hospital for the patients of a Dr. Bruin back in the day. We got the "summer special" for only $69 and wondered why the rates would be cheaper in the summer. The rooms were all left open so customers can actually stroll through and choose the room they want--each a little different in size and decor and amenities. And a continental breakfast was included. Sweet! We got up early the next morning and took a walk through town. We noticed that the confederate flag is still in vogue in these parts.


Rich is deliberating over possible gigs for semi-retirement and thought this one looked good.


A local man noticed Rich taking photos and came over to chat with us. He was a Navy vet and widower who has lived in the area for years and owns an antique shop. He was walking his dog named Holly and said that Holly "makes" him sing the "Howdy Doody" song to her every day, but he has to say "Holly Doody" instead. Hmmmm. We can't quite figure out how the dog "makes" him sing it, but okay.

An old church and cemetery in Strasburg

After our walk, we packed up and drove out to the Shenandoah National Park, planning to drive the 105 mile long Skyline Drive. What a gorgeous area this is, and the weather was nice and warm so I was in heaven.

We stopped in the gift shop to browse, finding a book about the mountain families who were displaced by the government in order to establish the park. Well, if that doesn't give me something to ruminate over. I had no idea that several hundred families were literally kicked off their land and told to relocate so we could have this national park. Apparently most national parks were developed in places where no one was actually living but the Congress at the time (1930's) wanted a park in the East, close to Washington DC. Virginia lobbied for the park and noted that there were a "few" small farms that were basically "worthless" so it wouldn't matter (and besides, the people were ignorant, crazy and criminal). Wow! My enjoyment of the Shenandoah was somewhat sullied at this point. I bought the book.

I kept hearing the song "Shenandoah" in my head. Love that song. Had to play the Springsteen version on my ipod for Rich.

We stopped at one of the park stores and were surprised to see a mama black bear on the ground right there in the parking lot. People had gathered around to take photos so she climbed up into a tree before we could get the camera out. She had three babies in the tree with her. She was not at all bothered by the humans, though I did have a little bit of fear that she might climb down and start charging us. Everyone kept a respectful distance and watched the four of them climbing the tree and eating leaves. So cute!


As we motored on, a deer ran alongside the road and then sprinted in front of us. Luckily, we had slowed way down to get a photo.

The rest of the day was pleasant and we aimed for Roanoke to spend the night. We had a terrible time finding a hotel in the downtown area--there was a big hotel and conference center but it was full and there didn't seem to be any more in the vicinity. We stopped at a convenience store and the guy pointed us toward a Days Inn a little further away. We have stayed in Days Inns before and found them to be just fine. We walked in and the desk clerk was a little terse and unfriendly, but what the heck. We went to our room and I was immediately struck by the horrible stinky smell. I sat on one of the beds to look up some stuff on the internet and realized that the comforter stunk like really bad BO and appeared to have never been washed at all. Even Rich, who is much more easy going and accepting of "whatever" than I am, was amazed and appalled by the smell. We made a very quick decision that we would be moving on, refund or no refund. I went back to the desk and told the still unfriendly clerk that the room was stinky, the comforters needed to be washed, and that we could not stay. He made a face, did something on the computer, and asked if there was anything else he could do for me. I said no, we were leaving. He told me to have a nice day. I did not ask if he was refunding our money and he didn't volunteer. At that point, we didn't care. Bye-bye, Roanoke. Your downtown looked interesting and we wanted to browse, but we have to move on. We won't hold one unfriendly clerk and a stinky room against you, but we ain't stickin' around.

We traveled a little further to the nice little town of Martinsville, where we had a very clean and nice smelling room at the Jameson Inn, a fabulous Mexican dinner at a local joint, and a good night's sleep.

Saturday

Aidan has been making great progress on his learning programs. He's already finished with one. I've been impressed with how much he's learned and how it's carrying over to every day life. And he doesn't seem to mind doing them so much any more, despite that look on his face. He's just concentrating. :)

I really have not been sleeping well with Rich gone. Aidan was up late last night again and we chatted in bed for awhile. He went to sleep and I tossed and turned. I finally got back up and read the N ew York Times book reviews on line till 3 AM. Just what I need, more book suggestions! I was still up early this morning and started trying to get the house cleaned up for our house sitters. Later, Aidan and I drove out to the world famous Alaska Ship Supply to do some shopping for presents for him to take home. There he noticed the kids' boots and had to have some X tra Tuffs of his own after all!

We stopped at the WWII V isitor Center and checked out the memorabilia.

BB eware of low flying aircraft!

We did a little more gift shopping and he had to have some "wonder dough" for himself. After stops at the Post O ffice, the library and the hotel to check the mail, we spent the rest of the night at home, cleaning, doing laundry and beginning to pack.

Since we don't know if or when Rich will be able to join us in Jersey, I made reservations for us to ride the Amtrak from N ewark airport to Philadelphia, where my mom and/ or sister in law will pick us up. I think Aidan will love riding the train and I just wasn't up for renting a car and driving after flying for two days and sleeping in the Seattle airport. :)

I don't know what's up with Blogger tonight but it's writing letters over letters and putting in extra spaces but won't let me correct any of it. Either that or it's my computer...who knows...

Wildlife and big fun

A sea otter on the way to Summer Bay.

View from the bunker on the top of Mt. Ballyhoo.

Ptarmigans on Ballyhoo.

Exploring

Today Aidan and I stopped by the Wellness Center to say hi to my former coworkers. Here "Ms. Healthy Unalaska Biggest Winner Coordinator" Alena sneaks Aidan a whole handful of mini candy bars. Okay, he's skinny enough--I guess they won't hurt him. :)

Alena, Melanie and Patty were teasing Aidan about being a celebrity since everyone seems to know he's here for a visit. Never doubt the power of blogs and facebook. :) We then went to the Behavioral Health office to see Darcel, Donna and Judi, and of course I forgot to take my camera in. But we are having breakfast with them tomorrow so they may not be off the hook.

Aidan was only trying to help me out when he apparently locked the car yesterday. He isn't used to small island life where we leave the keys in the car and don't lock it (shhhhh, don't tell anyone!) Imagine my surprise when we went out to leave today and couldn't get into the car. He tried all of the doors three or four times, just in case. Last night, he turned the bathroom lock and pulled the door shut from the outside, but Rich was able to get it unlocked with a knife. This convinced Aidan that he could do the same thing with the car. :0 I searched high and low throughout the house to find the extra key, to no avail. Luckily, Rich knew right where it was, though we had a little laugh about how surprising it was that he actually remembered. We are always forgetting where we put things. So now Aidan and I have a deal--before he moves to lock the car, he is supposed to say, "Gigi, do you have the car key?"

It was cool and overcast and drizzly today but that didn't stop him from playing outside and somehow managing to splatter mud up the back of his sweatshirt and pants. We picked up our box of fresh produce and stopped in at the store to buy a few more items, including some very green bananas, which he thought were hilarious.

After taquitos for dinner, we had some mean games of Slap Jack and Go Fish before bedtime. He went to his own room tonight but still didn't fall asleep till 11. Oh, to have that much energy!