Washington DC

     this past week i was able to visit america's capitol, Washington DC. i went only with my two parentals and we left for maryland at 5 in the morning and arrived around 4 pm. we quickly hit the aviation and space museum located right next to the dolles airport. after getting our rental car for the week we headed straight for the museum. the museum closed at 6:30 and we didn't arrive until 5:30 so we had limited time to see everything before it closed. naturally i started snapping pictures the minute we walked in. and WOW what a museum, i was blown away. planes as old as the 1900's to new space shuttles filled the rooms.

     after the museum we went and checked into our hotel in downtown DC. once we were all settled, we knew it was time for us to eat. i suggested (a fan favorite) cheesecake factory. we stuffed our faces w/ food & cake and then soon started back to the hotel.

     the next day we woke up early in the morning and headed to g. washington's house at mount vernon. this incredible experienced opened my eyes on how people back in the day lived and went about things in life w/out technology & normal appliances. g. washington was such an inspiring man who had so many hopes & dreams for our nation. he was a humble man and never let the power get to him.

     later that night we decided it would be a genius idea to go to sprinkles cupcake in georgetown. wellll we got there and asked what cupcakes remained, and they informed us that the only cupcakes left were gluten free & vegan, so we quickly vetoed that idea, & went to georgetown cupcakes (aka DC cupcakes) we each grabbed our favorite flavors after waiting an hour in line, & then headed back to the hotel to eat our delicious treats & to watch the olympics. (s/o to michael phelps)

     the next day we woke up early in the morning again & began a long road trip to monticello virginia. on the way there we stopped at an lds church and attended a ward in charlottesville. we quickly got back in the car after sacrament meeting and got to monticello. monticello has thomas jefferson's home in their little city. it was blistering hot, but luckily they had just added air conditioning units into thomas jefferson's humble abode. we saw where he lived, where the slaves worked, and things that the people in that time era would do for entertainment. we didn't get home till 7-ish from monticello so we decided to stay in & to watch the olympics while eating our second helping of georgetown cupcakes from the previous night.

    on the third day, we woke up around 7 am and quickly got ready for our tour of the united states capitol building. we scheduled a tour through our senate and got a VIP tour with a intern from university of utah. when we met the rest of our tour guide group we ended up being with a girl (and her family) that i had met on instagram because she had recently been called to my mission! we freaked out and got to tour the whole capitol together! it was such a tender mercy being able to meet someone going to my mission before i got to the mission.

         

    then after the capitol we took an uber over to the holocaust museum. what an amazing & humbling experience i have ever had. i got to see a little glimpse of what life was life during the wwII era. i was in complete disgust w/ the nazis and the lifestyle that was lived then. i'm so grateful for the end of the evil power hitler possessed. many tears were shed through this museum, but i have a heart full for the people of germany.

    the following day me & my mother decided we wanted to sleep in while dad went to business meetings. our day consisted of sight seeing & touristy travels. we went all over DC from the museum of natural history to the abraham lincoln memorial. we took tons of pictures and lived off of ice cream cookie sandwiches. yum. my favorite museum was the museum of natural history by far. i loved this stop because i loved learning about the heritage and innovations of our ancestors. the way people lived in the 50's excites me so much. the inventions our founding fathers came up with to the iphone steve jobs created, all of it is thrilling.

    our last day was jam packed with traveling. we got up early in the morning to try and go see the money museum, but w/ no luck we missed our chance. so we ended up just taking some cute pictures. we then had to call an uber to take us back to the airport. our plane ride to slc was a bit chaotic. we hit turbulence coming into the slc valley, and almost couldn't land at the slc airport. the pilot informed us we would be circling for awhile and that due to the turbulence it was going to be a bumpy ride. he sure wasn't lying! we landed safely after an hour of trying to land, we finally made it safely.

     this trip opened my eyes to the history and heritage of america. my love for this country continues to grow and will always because of the sacrifice of my founding fathers. i love america and i loved going to DC. this trip will always be a special one in my heart.