Yesterday, D-1, we went to the National Geographic Museum and saw the Terricotta Wariors that were unearthed in China. However, we got there VERY  early and decided to browse around the rest of the museum untill the ticket booth opened. There were many things at the museum that we didn't explore, but we did look at other things. We saw many photos that a wildlife photographer had taken in the arctic and antarctic. There were many photos and writings that the photographer had done. There were many strange things in the animals behavior. One of the most interesting ones is that a leopard seal he was filming while diving had tried to feed him a penguin repeatedly untill it finally gave up and swam away.


  After the ticket booth opened we bought some tickets to see the exhibit, but the closest time that was avalible was several hours away. So we decided to take a subway and a short walk to the National Archives. When we got to the Archives we had to go through a security checkpoint before we could go inside. Logan couldn't bring his pocket knife in due to the fact that it's blade was too long. Luckily, my pocket knife has a shorter blade and I could take it in with me. Mom went and hid the knife in a bush outside. After we got inside, we went to a room with a large map of the Battle of Gettysburg under some glass on the floor. We were able to walk around ontop of the map and see the entire contryside and see where the Union and Confederate lines were. Later we went into the routunda and saw the Declaration of Independance, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. After browsing around we decided we should start heading back to the National Geographic museum. On our way to the metro station we ducked into an espresso shop called the Caribou Cafe. We got some very good hot chocolate and drank it on the way to the station. When we got back to the museum, we waited in a line for about six minutes before we got in the exhibit. When we got in we saw many ancient Chinese artifacts as well as the Terricotta Warriors. There were knives, coins, bricks, tools, and even a stone set of armor. Now anyone who is reading this may wonder why I put "stone" in italics. The reason is, that stone armor is easily chiped and cracked, as well as being much heavier then iron, bronze, or rawhide armors.  No one really knows why a stone set of armor was made. After we went through the exhibit we had to wait for an hour and a half before Mom and Dad finally came out of the exhibit. After we left the National Geographic museum, we took a train and walked back to our apartment.

IH

FIRST POST!!!!!!        Walking... endless walking that is the main thing you do in a city, walk. It seems that the biggest highlight of this trip is walking. The only time you are not walking is when you are on the train or in a building. The train dosen't give you much chance to rest though because it only takes three minutes to get from one side of D.C. to the other on the metro (another name for the train), then there's the weather. In the city it is either clear or fog. It is nice when the fog clears, you get a wonderfull view of the smog, and when the smog clears you see the city and then you wish for more fog.  The city is actually much better than I have portrayed it. It is mostly clear, there isn't any smog (that I have seen) and it has only rained once so far and it wasn't that bad when it did. The metros are fast so you don't have to wait a long time to get to where you are going on them. The walking isn't that bad and there is a lot of stuff to look at while you're passing by so you're usually not that bored while you are walking. We only have used cars for long distances or when we need more stuff than we can hold for a long trip on foot. We have seen the Airforce Memorial, the Navy Memorial, as well as the Washinton Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Pentagon from a distance. We have also seen the national Christmas tree and part of the Smithsonian museum.

CH

     The first time to Mount Vernon was spent mostly indoors but some of it was outdoors. We did lots of things from tour movies to meeting a camel. There was also an older form of hot chocolate from the 1700's. It has a ton of different spices in it including nutmeg,cayanne pepper, and more. It is a very different taste than you would normally have in hot chocolate. The camel was very sociable in that it walked up to the fence the second time we came to visit. He was very nice and did not get angry, I am glad of that because when camels get angry they sometimes spit and camel spit is some nasty stuff. We went through Washington's house and it was a nice place to be in his time, it is still a nice place to live in if they would let you. It turns out that the people who own it now bought it from the Washingtons a little bit before the Civil War.  The Washington estate used to go on for 8,000 acres but I do not know if it still does.

CH

2:10 P.M. December 17, 2009 A.K.A. D+2

   Today we went to see Mt. Vernon. We had to take a short walk to a ZIP CAR (which is a rental car that is parked next to sidewalks for poeple to rent.) and about a fifteen minute drive to Mt. Vernon. When we arrived at Mt. Vernon we bought year passes and went to the visitors center. (You can get year passes for about ten extra dollars compared to a regular ticket, and only one extra trip with a year round pass saves you money, so its a good choice for poeple who want to go there several times.) The visitors center had a museum with things like Goerge Washintons bottom dentures, the Diamond Eagles, one of which was the one given to L'Enfant by Goerge Washintons grandaughter, and many other exihbits. At Mt. Vernon itself there was a tour of the mansion set up, (no extra charge) and many singposts around the grounds that gave you information about the area you were in. Luckily for us, we came at the time that many extra things were there that come in anually. Some of these being, a camel that was just outside of the gate to the mansion area, a tent that had people demonstrating how they used to make chocolate, ( Free samples!) and the third floor of the mansion was open to the public. There were many buildings surrounding the mansion, as well as many outlying buildings that were out of the inner grounds. There were many interesting facts about Goerge Washington that a lot of poeple didn't know. After we finally left Mt. Vernon we started to drive back to our apartment. However, we had to get some things first. After we finished the errands we went to the Five Guy's Burgers and had dinner. They served the best burgers I've ever had from a resturaunt, not to mention the french fries. The french fries were not served in little paper bags or cadboard cups. No! They were served in styrofoam cups put in large paper sacks then dumping load after load of fries in the bag untill it was full to the brim. After signing a heart attack waver,  we sat down and had a good meal. (The "waver" part was a lie misderection  fabrication.) Later, we went back to our apartment and went to sleep.

IH