Cradle of the United States

I love DC more than I thought I would. I love the history and the ease of the Metro and the fact that there are no bad pictures of the Washington Monument. I like walking the streets and knowing that I'm a part of the heartbeat of the nation. I like the museums (as long as I don't spend too much time in them) and the weather isn't half-bad either. I saw snow! Okay, it was a flurry, but still. Snow fell from the sky.

What touched me most, caught my breath? In the Public Vaults of the National Archives, they had Pa Ingalls's original land deed to the house on the shores of Silver Lake. Remember what I said about being a literary dork? This is one of those moments, something that makes it real. I know the Ingalls and Wilders as well as I know my own family, but seeing that, with Charles Ingalls' actual signature, well... Yeah. Good thing I already had a stuffed up nose.

So, on our last day in Virginia, Tim's working and I'm sick with a sinus infection. Gee, what a shock.

See you in December!


The stinky old Bull Elephant, still holding court at the Natural History Museum


Pa's land grant for a little house on the South Dakota prairie


Country roads, take me home.


Tim's coworker Paul's cabin, which he's slowly restoring and chinking.


Dad's plane. No, really, he helped restore it and donated it to the Smithsonian when he was still working for Western Airlines.


Hoist the color high


The Wall. For Dad.


We go way back.


The price of freedom: Washington Monument and WWII Memorial