Rolling Thunder

Good morning y'all. I know you are sleeping because I am 3 hours ahead of you but I am up and ready to go. Some of you have been here before so skip what bores you please. What an exciting time to be in our Capitol. Activity all over the place. We camped in the same KOA as our last trip. Took a shuttle into D.C. and was amazed at the changes. The Rotunda of the Capitol building has sscaffolding because of Earthquake damage and retrofitting. The Freedom Statue on top, 19 1/2 feet tall is the tallest in the city. No ststue can be over 19 feet tall so nothing will ever cast a shadow on Freedom. Lincoln is 19 feet tall but wouuld be much taller standing up. We went thru most of the Smithsonian buiildings in our two days here. Never enough time to see everything. I was amazed at the size of The Iwo Jima monument on the way to Arlington National Cemetary. Loved the story of the Cherry Trees around the tidal basin. Thousands of them. When it was time to build the Jefferson Monument, some had to be cut removed. People chaained themselves to trees to save them. Our then President sent down tea to warm the protestors and then water. Lots of water. When they had to go to the bathroom, the trees were removed. Pretty clever. The Korean monument was very moving. All the services represented in the 19 statues. The wall itself is highly polished and has actual faces of service men and women etched in it. When you look at the wall from an angle the statues are reflected, making 38 soldiers to represent the 38th parralelll between North and South Korea. I climbed the stairs to See Me. Lincoln. Another thing off my bucket list. Very powerful moment. Lots of veterans all over , many elderly and in wheelchairs. They were all being pushed by young people in matching shirts. Most vets wore hats telling of their branch of the service and a few were actually in their original uniforms. I thanked a lot of them for their service.

When we got to the Viet Nam wall, we stopped  to say a prayer of thanks that we had no names to look for, especially Bob's. Still many momentos left at the base if the wall. Many people making rubbings of names. There are flags all over Washington and some places are blocked because of getting ready foe different cincerts and celebrations. When we got to the White House we could not go to the fence. In fact the whole street in front was closed off. We had to walk on the other side of the street. I talked to a secret service agent and he let me take his picture but he said he would not pose. Police and FBI cars all over. No one would tell us why. 

I love odd facts and Trivia in case anyone didn't know that. Pennsylvania Avenue is the widest street. No building can be taller than the width of the avenue. Except the building Trump bought and is renevating into a hotel. It has a tower on it that is Grandfathered in. Figures!

On the second day, we were at The Union Station and I was talking to the man at the tour bus booth. He turned out to be the General Manager of the company and he gave us special VIP passes so we rode free the second day. People are sure nice to this little monkey. One of my favorite things to see was our first flag. I was not allowed to take pictures. I had no idea it was so huge. 30 feet by 34 feet. I used to be 42 feet wide but pieces were cut off for souveniers. Mary Pickersgill made it with the help od her daughter, two nieces and an indentured servant. She was paid $405.90. That was more than anyone in Baltimore made in a year. Saw Mrs. Obama's jewelry and dress from the inauguration. Lots more stuff before we got on shuttle for home.

Camp is very exciting too. There are bikes all over the place. Rolling Thunder is here. Biles from all over the country are here to make their annual parade ride around our Capitol. There was a Christian Band here in camp and lots of bikers to talk to. Today is the blessing of the bikes here in camp. Don really enjoyed sharing stories with some of the riders. Okay, enough boring history. I am off for new adventures.