Weekend Warriors!

Few pictures but plenty of laughs, the Clan O'Bryan made it to town with Grandprize and Grandma. The kids played versions of ghost in the graveyard and made two trips to the store to refill the water balloon armory.  We hit the Zippin' Pippin' earlyish on Saturday and the lines were not that long considering the holiday weekend and left us time to even play a round of footgolf.  The Bard played the game with the classic gout his middle progeny would be limping around with a bum toe by the end of the weekend as well, although Jacob's story is better than just 'getting old."  We hit the Lake shore and picked through rocks for the best skippers and dribbled ice cream down the sides of our cones before heading a little further south to a more expansive beach and a rousing game of volleyball.

One last DC hike

We slept in a bit but had learned yesterday that breakfast want really worth rushing.  Instead we headed to a few cute places we had seen the days before and settled on a nice crepe place.  It filled out bellies nicely for our walk over to the natural history museum.  Animals, bones, skins and mummies of all types.  We were able to morph our faces into pre-human ancestors and walk through a living butterfly palace.  Several of the lepidoptera landing lightly on our limbs and locks.  Back across the mall fore a wander through the Smithsonian Castle and of to find some food trucks to fill our now empty stomachs.  Few tricks to choose from given the wealth of choices the day before and we had to settle for the lone taco truck left.  A burrito in the belly and we were off looking for the next museum.  We hit the museum of American history in search of Dorthy's shoes, but sadly they were out for renovation and the heals were so vast and we were unprepared with limited time that we left with out seeing everything but not feeling that much was missed.  Plus it was time to eat again and get or gear out of hock!! We moved hotels and had to get to Dulles but left everything at the first hotel.  A short but adrenaline pumping drive into Virginia found us bellied up for a round of bacon cheeseburgers and a couple quick games of chess.

On the Move for the Monuments

I believe we ate ice cream three times today, it was hot and we put on about 12 miles of walking.  A solid urban hike.  We headed though an upscale commercial district towards the Carnegie Library and the Trump International hotel on our way to the National Mall.  The Washington monument is closed so we could not ride the elevator up but it is impressive none the less and we cooled ourselves in its shadow.  We need ice cream to help.  We saw the human price of war at the Vietnam and World War II memorials.  The Korean War memorial was presenting wreaths from nations around the world for the soldiers that they lost as well. Calling out the names of those that did not return home.  We stood in Martin Luther King Jr's footsteps from where he gave his "I have a dream speech."  Looked out at the reflecting pool and the distant expanse of the mall.  We looked out over competing protest groups exercising their free speech.  Some of the chants we knew well.  Taco trucks and gyros, burgers and fries, food trucks of all variety served as our lunch before heading towards the White House we were always in the shadow of a massive and imposing Federal Government building, the DoJ, IRS, the Mint the FDR building.  It is the Nation's Capitol, doing the work of the Nation.  We watched a young lady get handcuffed and driven away outside the White House, Police and K9 dogs but we don't know for what crime.  The Washington Hotel was hosting the Indian Prime Minister, it was well guarded  and included a wall of snow plow trucks along one side.  We were stopped on the sidewalk to allow a police escort/motorcade to rip past us.  I love the hustle and bustle with so many languages filling the air and a constant police/security presence with full automatic weapons, the girls are still not sold but are loving the sites and are appreciative of all they get to see.  We needed ice cream so we taxied over to Union Station and hit a Haagen dazs. We grabbed the metro and headed back to the hotel to cleaned up for a late dinner, making a reservation at a great restaurant (farmers and distillers) on our way back to the hotel.  After dinner it was time for some ice cream, just a little....even if it was actually gelato!

Time to Travel!

it was an early landing in DC but that also means an early departure time from the house, it is starting to seem normal as we hit our fourth time zone in less than a week.  A section of the yellow line metro was down so we hit a bus from the airport and then back on to the metro line further down.  The girls loved the metro much more than the bus, but still aren't being swept up by big city life.  It is immediately apparent that the speed and pace of this trip will be much faster than the last week.  Our hotel is on the edge of Chinatown and with our bellies eating themselves we headed into the neighborhood for lunch.  From menus to storefronts we had difficulty finding something to accommodate us all, even with google searches and ratings reviews.  We did stumble on to a burger shop and with our stomachs filled and bladders emptied (after we used the code to the lock found on the bottom of our receipt) we headed into the city to explore.  First stop, International Spy Museum.  Artifacts from our own Civil War relating to spying right up to the current era of tricks of the trade.  There are certainly levels to our reality and much of our surroundings that go unnoticed.  We hung out on a hot marble bench outside the National Portrait Gallery and located Ford's Theater for our next tour.  It apparently was closed down after the assassination, gutted and retrofitted into Federal office buildings.  It has since been reconstructed and is an active theater with multiple shows a year.  We shopped at the street vendors on our way to dinner....Ella's Wood Fired Pizza's.  It was on the list for name recognition alone and it was an excellent meal.  Although we were eating early in the evening having had a long day and I would need a second meal from the hotel bar later and appetizers for everyone else.  Some hotel swimming and then it was off to bed in preparation for the next day.

Soccer Balls and Birthday Cake

We are back in the central time zone although not for long.  We did have time to hit two soccer games, a soccer tryout and a birthday brunch and party.  We do stay busy!  Grace had a game the night we got back and she was supper excited to play after her high altitude acclimation and was all a buzz on the way to the game.  Afterward she didn't think it made a difference, but she still played well.  Merrick played in the rain the following night and he also thought the high altitude affects on his red blood cell count didn't make the expected difference in his performance.  Good games to watch either way and we never count the score when it isn't in our favor.  Amy and the kids made two trips to the library in as many days and each of them stacked up on tomes for summer reading, none more than Grace.  She is proudly logging the minutes in her summer reading log. Sophia  entered into her 15th year and celebrated her the 14th anniversary of the day of her birth.  We headed out for an breakfast feast at a local grill and then is was back home for some cake and gifts.  

Get my kicks on Route 66

It was time to head towards home but vacation wasn't over, and that phrase became a family mantra.  We had a 4-5 hour drive, time changes make it confusing, back to Vegas to catch our flight but we hit the American classic Route 66 for some of the trip.  Big milk shakes and huge burgers in little diners was whatthe last leg of the trip was all about.  Well ...that and crazy heat.  The dashboard temperature got as high as 119 degrees and yes, it is a dry heat with only 3-5% humidity but it is also a heat that makes the asphalt under your feet feel squishy and your corneas burn through your contacts.  The restaurant was about 90 with the air conditioning on and the airport terminal was in the mid eighties for sure so it was a shift to land and have the temperature read 50 degrees on the dashboard.  The flight had its own adventures as the vacation wasn't over yet.  Grace plugged her ears and buried her face into Sophia's chest as a man filled a bag with his disapproval of turbulence.  I prevented a row of men behind us from another round of drinks due to a medical emergency that required Amy and all the flight attendants and some of their personal hygiene items, a cuticle trimmer, to remove an ear plug that I had pushed way too far into my ear.  Properly armed, Amy save my ear drum and we continued on.  It was a delayed flight and a late flight to start, having watched the sunset in the Grand Canyon the evening before there was perfect circle feel to watch the sun rise over lake Michigan as we drove home.   

South Kaibab and setting sun

It has been an interesting growth and thought shifting, hiking these heights with the kids.  The trail's edges now fall into afe or dangerous just as they always have but the definitions of safe and dangerous have changed.  Safe now means that if they fall it will only mean a broken limb or two, with dangerous meaning so much worse.  The trails range from 20 to 36 inches across so there is plenty of room but the heights are dizzying.  It is also rough terrain and we are there to look at the sights but it is a challenge to both look at walk at the same time and it is obviously a great temptation to do both.  The sound of a sliding chaco on dusty sands, ramps up the parental adrenaline as a kids' heel rather than a toe impacts the trail first.  We were on the trail by about 7 am to hike in the shaded canyon down to Cedar Ridge along the South Kaibab trail.  It is about 3 mile hike and Cedar Ridge is the cut off for day hiking in the summer, even with out excessive heat warnings.  The trail has over a 1000 feet of elevation change and spectacular views along the switch backs.  Prickly pear and century plant (agave americana) were blooming along the cliff faces in beautiful yellows and pinks that added to the color of the whole canyon already dressed in oranges, umbers and ochers.  We stopped at Ooh-Aah Point for a cookie break and to just take in the views.   Merrick and Ella are fighting colds which was a benefit along the mule-appled trail and its earthy aroma.  Heading up the trail we could feel the elevation changes with the heavy breathing but we made great time in our ascent and the whole hike was only a little over three hours.  It was time for stout breakfast but none was to be found so we headed into town for a Mexican lunch, a nap and some time at the pool to rehydrate and recharge.  Rested and ready we hiked from Pipe Creek Vista along the Rim Trail to catch the sunset .  It was gorgeous and as the sun dropped below a cloud into a narrow opening between the cloud head and the canyon rim, the sun appeared to fill the canyon with purple hues in a wave of color.  The return trip in the last light of the day along the Rim trail also gave us glimpses of a mule deer walking among the ponderosa pines.  A sweet smelling tree the combined with the juniper and the dryness of the trails creates an aroma therapy that could never be canned.