McKenna and I went on a crazy trip. I've been trying to post about it for a week now and hopefully will get it all down before I forget important pieces. We have been planning on this trip for a year now. The school does a 7th - 8th Grade "New York/DC" trip every two years. We knew it was coming. McKenna had to earn half her money to go, the other half would be her 8th Grade graduation gift. (Yep, she graduated. Once this post is out of the way those pictures will follow!)
I called it a crazy trip...because it was. We met at the school at 2am to take a bus to the airport by 4:30. While checking in and waiting and standing around a kid in our group passed out. Locked his knees, hadn't eaten. Boom. He was fine, btw, just not the best way to start! We made it on the plane and flew to DC. Our luggage was loaded on a bus and we went directly to the Smithsonian. Phew! Here is what I learned from that. There are actually 20 Smithsonian's. They are all very big. We went to the Natural History (think Night at the Museum) and explored just a portion of it.
In this collage the 1st pict is McKenna with a teacher Mrs. Nunn who also loves "Wicked!" They are in front of Elphaba's dress. Below are the original Ruby Slippers, & the middle bottom is an original Harry Potter Cloak. You can see how excited they were. The crystal ball one is because it makes me laugh every time. That is McKenna's face but it took some time to get it just right. After I finally got the picture the guy behind her was bending down trying to figure out what she was looking at for so long. His face was huge and didn't even know it. Ha ha.
We went to see the Holocaust Museum. No pictures. So many emotions. Can not understand. Never will. But I will also never forget. I am glad we went - amazing stories, especially the survivor stories. Stories of hope and bravery. Of family. Of sacrifice. Unforgettable.
After dinner we went memorial sighting.
** Quick side note: I had decided to find something everyday that made me happy. Like spontaneous joy happy. The first evening in DC it was the surprise of fireflies. Totally forgot about those and chased them around like a crazy West-coaster.**
These pictures below are all from the Lincoln Memorial. The one on the right are the girls in front of the Washington Monument (too bad you can't see it, lol) which was under scaffolding from the earthquake a few months ago. Lincoln was so cool to see. A different feeling there, the only way to compare it is like a beloved Grandfather watching over the city.
Next was the Vietnam Memorial (top and bottom picture on left). There was so much symbolism with all the monuments I never realized. The Vietnam Memorial is built into the hillside representing a scar in the land. What struck me most there was when McKenna was running her hand along the wall of names, of people, realizing how many were lost she questioned, "Has all the work been done for all of them? We have so much to do!"
The bottom right and top pictures were from the Korean War Memorial. They call it the Forgotten War, which I suppose is true since I had not even known about this memorial until then. It was my favorite. It spoke to me. There is a winding path with larger than life statutes standing looking over the path. Where ever you are on the walk one of the soldiers are looking at you. Along the backside of the path is the granite wall (top) and instead of names the artist used actual pictures of soldiers who served and died in the war. I'm a visual person. There were over 2500 faces.
The middle right is the Martin Luther King Memorial. It is one of the most recent built and it, too was awesome. Behind him is a wall of stone which his memorial is carved out of signifying his work moving forward. It is also an unfinished statue signifying his unfinished work.
Next day in D.C. First stop White House. This was the only day the humidity was awful. Blech. They can keep that! Saw the snipers on the roof. Awesome. *This whole time McKenna and I had been playing "Slugbug" "PT Cruiser for a bruiser" and "Cop for a bop" We had to stop in DC because there were SO MANY COPS we had huge bruises!**
Next was Arlington Cemetery. Hot and muggy remember. Probably were a lot of cool things to see there but the only one that stands out was the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Wow. Courage, honor and bravery. The best of our country is definitely summarized there. Look it up on YouTube if you don't know it.
Next was the Capitol Building. Pretty. Cool. The California statue inside is Ronald Regan. That was cool, but the part I thought was cooler is the base of his statue is actual pieces of the Berlin Wall.
After all that and dinner and stuff it started to rain. When I say rain I actually mean TOTAL downpour. Soaking. We were on the bus, only one stop left - the Jefferson Memorial. Can't see it from the road. Did I mention DOWNPOUR?! Our guide asked the kids how badly they really wanted to go. There was grumbling. The teacher was pooped, the kids were pooped. Now remember above when I said I had decided to do something FUN everyday? What is more fun than dragging 36 people through the rain?! I said, "I'm going! I won't be back til who knows when. Let's go!" And guess what? It was so FUN!! The stairs looked like a waterfall. I tried to take a picture but the reflection of the torrential rain doesn't show it well enough. The sign says, "Caution Slippery Conditions" HA HA HA!
This one is for James. :)
Then off to New York!!! We went to the Rockefeller Center and the views are from the "Top of the Rock" as they called it. New York was crazy. So Much Noise. So Many People. I was having trouble tuning it all out and became so overstimulated it was ridiculous.
Next day we started at John Lennon's "Strawberry Fields" which is an awesome - and unexpected for me - memorial. It's one of the entrances to Central Park and it was beautiful. Very fitting I also thought. Our awesome tour guide was spouting all these dates and facts and important events throughout the park. I caught things like, "That's where Avenger's was filmed. That building was where Ghostbusters was filmed." (Bottom picture.) Ha ha, maybe that's why I had so much trouble in History class.
We went to the MET Art Museum. Honestly I could have spent all day there. We only had 1 1/2 hours so we had to pick what was most important to us. For me it was seeing an actual Monet and Van Gough in person. A.W.E.S.O.M.E. We walked all over the city and finished the night with the Broadway play Newsies. On Broadway. Yep, that's right. It rocked. Then Time Square. You can have it. Yeesh.
Almost done. So impressed you're still with me!
Collage of the rest of New York. Top right the ferry past Statue of Liberty. She was damaged from the Hurricane and was under repair but we got to see her and she is pretty dang amazing. Middle top pict is one of the new World Trade Center Buildings. Biggest building in NY right now. 400 feet taller than the last one. Super symbolic of not just New York's stubborn attitude, but of the country and it's unbeatable healing. Top right: just a fraction of the people on Time Square on a Wednesday night. Why?! Middle left:our guide and other crazy boys on the Subway. Middle right: Fun for the day. There was a guy who was dressed like Waldo. I had McKenna sneak a picture of me by him. Ha ha. Bottom left: Zombie Apocalypse on the bus. Was funny when driver SLAMMED his brakes and kids and cell phones flew everywhere. Bottom right: Matching sweatshirts from ChinaTown. Last minutes in New York.
This was actually our 1st picture of the trip as we boarded the bus @ 2:30 AM. Didn't know what to expect. Almost talked myself out of it 1000 times. Out of my comfort zone. Away from my family. Worried about food issues, kids, all the other stuff I worry about. However, I am so glad I went. I wouldn't have traded that time with my daughter on our adventure for anything!
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