US Capitol/Arlington
Just realized that I never posted this one here. This was originally written on July 26, 2010.
***
On Saturday we woke up early and went around to the US Capitol building. First we went to the Library of Congress and wandered around for a few minutes, then went in front of the Supreme Court. After a long line we finally got inside, and went on a tour of the Capitol. After lunch, we went to the Smithsonian, and specifically went to the Natural History and American History, but most people went to others as well (Don’t tell them, but the kids were learning).
After dinner, we began a quick tour of various memorials. We went to the Jefferson, the FDR, and WW2 memorials. We spent extra time at the WW2 memorial, and our driver drove around so we could see the sights at night. Because we were having so much fun, we didn’t get back until around 10:30.
The next day we woke up early, again. This time we headed over to the Arlington Cemetery. We first went to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We then hiked over to the JFK memorial, and spent some time there. We walked back to the amphitheatre, and while waiting Dave and I jumped over to the memorials for the Challenger and Columbia. After we got inside the amphitheatre, we had a quick service on scouting by the chaplain for CPC.
After we left, we went to the Iwo Jima memorial for a few minutes, then went to Ford’s Theatre. There, we had a quick presentation on what was going on that led up to the assassination of Lincoln. We then went to lunch at the Smithsonian Air and Space museum, and went touring that and the Native American museum next door, among others that the kids might have gone to. While there, a big storm blew through DC, and the building was turned into a shelter. We were all told to keep away from the windows just in case. None of the kids seemed to mind, as they were all trading patches and weren’t paying attention. The warning lifted right before we left, and we went back to the hotel.
At this point, we split into three groups. One group stayed behind at the hotel to relax, one went to wash laundry, and one went to the LDS Temple in Maryland. The laundry led to some interesting events, what with mixed up uniforms. But everything was resolved this morning, for the most part, and we can all change our uniforms when we need to.
I’ll post the update about today as soon as the day ends for us.
~John Wardell
Gettysburg
Woke up around 6 AM today to shower and go to breakfast. We headed out for Gettysburg soon after, between 7:30 and 8. We arrived with about an hour before our tour, so we went inside the museum and saw a lot of cool stuff. Our tour guide was amazing, and was directly related to the guy who was on the very edge of the left flank in the battle. Got a good video of the troop ‘loading’ a cannon.
After Gettysburg, we headed over to FEMA and ate at the training center’s cafeteria. We went from there to DC to go around to different monuments. On the way, the bus for troop 723 broke down in front of us. After a lot of communication problems we were told to keep moving, rather than load as many of them as we could onto our bus. Turns out they waited about five hours for a new bus.
We then went to the Einstein statue, and then got some pictures of the White House and Washington monument. After dinner at the Reagan Center, we headed over to the Lincoln monument, and the Korean and Vietnam memorials. We were separated from two of our boys and a scoutmaster, which was an easily solved problem. We then headed back home around 10, and sent the boys to sleep.
I’ll be able to upload pictures later, currently having some issues getting those back home. The system I had planned on using doesn’t allow HTTPS without paying $30, and I need to find out if I can get a code for free. But things should start flowing soon, I hope.
Jamboree!
Today I headed out with my Jamboree troop at about 4 AM for Washington DC, Virginia, and other such places.Our first flight had a great captain and main flight attendant with great senses of humor. The captain told us to keep everything inside the vehicle because it would be going very, very fast. I mostly slept on both flights, although I did wake up long enough to have peanuts thrown at me. The second flight was fairly uneventful, I slept through the whole thing.
We leave the airport on time, and get to our bus. Our driver doesn’t have our dinner break listed, but we figure it out and go to the Pentagon City food court. We then head to the Marine Barracks in DC and watch a great show, with the band playing various songs and other things. We then had an adventure getting to our hotel, but now that we’re here, I’m going to bed. This is going to be a great adventure.
Facebook “Getting to know you” thing 2010
As with last time, I was tagged, but I’m posting it here so I will not be tagging anyone.
1. What time did you get up this morning?
8:30-ish.
2. How do you like your steak?
Cooked?
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinemas?
How to Train your Dragon
4. What is your favorite TV show?
Babylon 5.
5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
Germany.
6. What did you have for breakfast this morning?
Dirty rice (I wanted something spicy).
7. What is your favorite cuisine?
German.
8. What foods do you dislike (HATE)?
I don’t know, I haven’t eaten them yet.
9. Favorite Place to Eat?
Red Robins
10. Favorite dressing?
I don’t use dressing.
11.What kind of vehicle do you drive?
A bicycle.
12. What are your favorite clothes?
Whatever I’m wearing. Just not jeans.
13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
Everywhere.
14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
Are you filling it or draining it?
15. Where would you want to retire?
If I was going to retire, Boston.
16. Favorite time of day?
Evening
17. Do u have under garment piercing?
No.
18. What is your favorite sports to watch?
Baseball.
19. Who do you think will not tag you back right away?
As I tagged no one, no one will tag me back.
20. Person you expect to tag you back first
See previous.
21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?
No one, really.
22. Bird watcher?
Sure.
23. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Morning person.
24. Do you have any pets?
2 cats.
25. Any new and exciting news you’d like to share?
Nothing to share, no.
26. What did you want to be when you were little?
Uh… astronaut.
27. What is your best childhood memory?
Jamboree 2005
28. Are you a cat or dog person?
Cat person.
29. Are you married?
No.
30. Always wear your seat belt?
Yes.
31. Been in a car accident?
If you count it as one.
32. Any pet peeves?
Yep. Bet you still wish you knew what they were.
33. Favorite Pizza Toppings?
Pepperoni.
34. Favorite Flower?
Yeah, flowers are nice.
35. Favorite ice cream?
Chocolate or cookie dough.
36. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Burgerville.
37. How many times did you fail your driver’s test?
Haven’t tried it yet.
38. From whom did you get your last email?
Butch Keepers.
39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Uh… Newegg? Steam? One of those.
40. Do anything spontaneous lately?
I’m about to spontaneously do my homework.
41. Like your job?
If I had one.
42. Favorite veggie?
Carrot.
43. What was your favorite vacation?
Germany.
44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
Parents.
45. What are you listening to right now?
Flashforward season finale.
46. What is your favorite color?
Orange.
47. How many tattoos do you have?
None.
48. How many are you tagging for this quiz?
None.
49. What time did you finish this quiz?
7:51 PM
50. Coffee drinker?
No.
51. Who tagged you first ?
Mom.
52. Who is your favorite cartoon hero ?
Calvin and Hobbes.
Things not to say on a driver’s license test
- Whee!!!!!
- Vroom vroom!!!
- Excuse me, how much are pedestrians worth?
- Flank speed!
- Am I allowed to…?
- Uh… how do I do that?
- Sorry.
- Is that going to hurt my grade?
- Yeah, I tried to practice a lot in Mario Kart before I came here.
- Did I pass?
Lake of Dreams
Another explosion nearby shook Kyle to alertness. The others in his battalion had all decided that the mission they had been sent on was suicide, but Commander Reynolds had gone with it anyway. He had said that it was important to the goals. Whatever that meant.
Another explosion. In his trench, Kyle quickly looked around to see who was still alive. Ben was. Caleb was. Ted was… wait, Ted was just killed in the last bomb. He was one of the best, Kyle thought, someone who knew was to do. He nodded to Ben and Caleb, who nodded back at him.
Another explosion. A scream from behind. Kyle turned to see that one of the other battalions had been wiped out. Poor souls. They didn’t even want to be here. No one did. Ben had been a writer and journalist. Caleb had been a historian. Kyle couldn’t remember what he had wanted to be.
Kyle set down his gun. He was about to sit down when a sharp pain coursed through his neck. His body quickly grabbed the gun, put it to his shoulder, and fired a few times in the enemy’s direction. He hit the cannoneer, and another rifleman. The pain vanished, and he could set down the gun again. He turned and saw Ben and Caleb stiffen, stand up, and fire as well. The pain returned, and his arms grabbed the gun and fired some more.
A nearby explosion knocked dirt into his face. He closed his eyes and kept firing. He knew it didn’t matter if he couldn’t see, as long as They could see. He had found that out in his first week. How long ago had that been?
He began to drift to sleep, and dreams of his old life began to flow through his mind. The voices of his mother and father, the faces of his friends. The day the two men in suits beat him up, struck the chip in his back, and shipped him to the front. The sorrow he had seen in the others when he came, ,the look that said, “I’m sorry.”
He woke up on the ground, his gun sitting next to him. He was on his bunk. Guess I’ve been asleep for awhile, Kyle thought. He tried to sit up, but the pain in his neck was still there, telling him that his body needed to rest. He tried to fight it, but the pain grew and he couldn’t bear it, like an iron to the face, burning it…
He knew it was a dream when he found himself standing next to the lake. It was the same lake from his home, the one that he had played in since he was a boy. He heard something behind him, giggling or laughing he couldn’t decide, the words had lost their meaning. He slowly tried to turn, testing to see if the dream him was one that had the chip. It wasn’t, so he quickly turned, to see Sarah, his girlfriend from school. She was the one giggling/laughing, Kyle concluded.
“Kyle, are you okay?” Sarah asked. Yes, Kyle thought, I’m fine, I’m so happy to see you. But he couldn’t move his mouth, couldn’t talk. He’d forgotten how.
“Kyle?” She asked, “What’s wrong?” Kyle was gripped by the fear that he couldn’t talk to her. He managed to open his mouth, but all he could do was moan and gurgle.
“What have they done to you?” Sarah asked. They killed me, and sent my body to war, Kyle wanted to say. But he couldn’t. They wouldn’t let him.
Sarah cried, and began to fade. Kyle ran to her, but as he reached out to her she turned into a plate full of meal. In his hand was a spoon. He recoiled, and the world with the lake melted into the mess hall. The pain returned, and his arm took another spoonful of meal and shoved it into his mouth.
Anger flowed though Kyle. The pain in his neck got worse. Memories of the world that was, his life, began to flow. His dream of being the President. His time spent studying politics, the great leaders of America. His girlfriend’s constant support, his parents’ love…
The pain got worse than ever. He dropped his spoon, and his body jumped up. He then remembered the story that he had read two weeks before he had been taken. A simple story that he had only read. But it told how the government was taking away those who resisted, and sending them to the war that didn’t exist.
The pain grew so bad, there was nothing left. Kyle tried to cling to the memory of revolution, the idea of breaking free of the isolationist West. He would take his family, and Sarah, and run for the East. It had to be better than living a lie. But the pain, the pain! It overrode his mind, his thoughts, until all that remained were the thoughts of a small boy cowering in the corner from his angry father.
“No!” Kyle screamed. But it was too late. The thoughts, the ideas, they were all gone. Whatever they had been, Kyle couldn’t remember. The old thoughts returned, the new ones withering away. The pain died. Around him, the room was staring at him. Why are they looking at me? What did I do?
He sat down, and picked up his spoon. He didn’t really feel like eating, but a dull pain in his neck moved his hand from the bowl to his mouth, over and over. He slowly fell asleep, his body still eating, and he dreamed of the day when the lake near his home that he used to play in was burned, his private place that no one but he had touched had been destroyed. He would have cried, but a jolt stopped his brain from forming tears.
Watch for Driving Dogs
So I’ve been learning to drive, as you probably know. Recently, I’ve been driving to and from PCC Sylvania for my classes. Today, as I was going along, a big red truck decided to come out into the middle of Capitol Highway backwards. I assumed the guy had just been waiting for a long time, and that he was just in one of those moods. But he didn’t straighten out to get into a lane. As the truck pulled out right in front of me, I discovered that there was no driver. It was a dog, quite content to sit in the driver’s seat as the vehicle rolled out into the street. To say the least, I was surprised.
The truck rolled across the entire highway, went back into another parking lot, then was stopped and kept in place by two people. The dog still didn’t seem to notice or care. No one ran to take care of it, and I would have been late to class if I had waited around. But I will never forget the dog who drove backwards through the highway, and parked better than I could have given the circumstances.
Facebook “Getting to know you” thing
I’m gonna skip the first part of this. It’s something about if you are reading this you have to post your own, and tag 25 people or whatever. I’m posting it on my blog, so if you read it consider yourself tagged. Anyway, here we go…
1. What time did you get up this morning?
About 8:30.
2. How do you like your steak?
Not raw.
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinemas?
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in German.
4. What is your favorite TV show?
Babylon 5.
5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
Tubingen, Germany.
6. What did you have for breakfast this morning?
Bacon.
7. What is your favorite cuisine?
Ham.
8. What foods do you dislike (HATE)?
Can’t think of anything, most things I’ve eaten more than once I like.
9. Favorite Place to Eat?
Home.
10. Favorite dressing?
Don’t use it.
11.What kind of vehicle do you drive?
Bicycle.
12. What are your favorite clothes?
What I wear.
13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
Germany.
14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
Are you filling it or draining it?
15. Where would you want to retire?
Germany…
16. Favorite time of day?
Late afternoon.
17. Do u have under garment piercing?
?
18. What is your favorite sports to watch?
Baseball.
19. Who do you think will not tag you back right away?
Everyone, since I’m not tagging.
20. Person you expect to tag you back first
All of them.
21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?
N/A
22. Bird watcher?
I’m a photographer. If I want to take their picture, then yes.
23. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Night.
24. Do you have any pets?
Two cats.
25. Any new and exciting news you’d like to share?
I’m back from Germany… think that’s the most exciting thing in the last week or two.
26. What did you want to be when you were little?
Astronaut.
27. What is your best childhood memory?
Boston Museum of Science.
28. Are you a cat or dog person?
Cats.
29. Are you married?
No.
30. Always wear your seat belt?
Yes. Except on buses. They’ve got seat belts on some seats in Germany, which totally threw me off.
31. Been in a car accident?
If you can call it that.
32. Any pet peeves?
Yes. Bet you wish you knew them.
33. Favorite Pizza Toppings?
Peperoni.
34. Favorite Flower?
Not really, no. They’re all nice and full of pollen.
35. Favorite ice cream?
Chocolate.
36. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Burgerville.
37. How many times did you fail your driver’s test?
Haven’t taken the test.
38. From whom did you get your last email?
Glenn Fuller.
39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Uh, getting my house? Whatever that goes to.
40. Do anything spontaneous lately?
Yes. I worked at cub scout camp.
41. Like your job?
What job?
42. Favorite veggie?
Potatoes. Or corn, if you don’t count potatoes.
43. What was your favorite vacation?
Germany.
44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
Parents.
45. What are you listening to right now?
The Instance, the World of Warcraft podcast, so you don’t have to.
46. What is your favorite color?
Orange.
47. How many tattoos do you have?
None.
48. How many are you tagging for this quiz?
None.
49. What time did you finish this quiz?
12:48 PM
50. Coffee drinker?
No.
51. Who tagged you first ?
Emily Snedden.
52. Who is your favorite cartoon hero ?
Uh… Goofy. From House of Mouse.
Yeah, yeah, I’m late on this post
On Monday we went to Heidelberg. It was a long trip, and when we got there we headed directly to the University. I wanted to see the student prison (where they locked you up if you broke rules, and only let you out for tests), but it was closed that day. Frau Stubbs wasn’t feeling well, so we slowly made our way to a view of the castle. We didn’t go up because it was going through repairs.
When we got to the river, the group split in half. One half went to the Philosopher’s Walk, and the other half went shopping. I tossed a coin, and then Danyelle and I went to the Walk. It was really annoying to get to, because of a stone path heading up. And we were out of water. After we got to the top and walked around for a bit, we decided to go back down and find food and water.
We went to a place where Danyelle was getting food, and as we waited I looked out the window and saw someone using an EeePC 700! I was pretty excited, since I haven’t really seen them here (but every other Netbook is everywhere).
After we met up as a group, and were heading to the train, we realized we were late. We started to run to try and make it… and it left as we got to the platform. I think Frau Stubbs tells this part of the story better, so I’ll just link you to http://clevelandgapp2009.blogspot.com so you can read it on your own.
The next day was school, but I don’t really have to go to classes any more. I showed up closer to 8, and hung out with Danyelle (who also had no classes). After school, we went to the swimming pool, then went to my house to watch Spirited Away. At 7, there was a goodbye barbeque, which was a lot more fun than the welcome barbeque.
Wednesday, there was school. And it was raining. I wasn’t too happy to walk to school in really bad rain, but I had to. After school there was a tour of Nagold (which started in the rain, but got progressively better). I still don’t understand why we got a tour on the second to last day, but whatever. At the end, Danyelle, Amanda and I split off and got some food. We ran into Isabella (Sandra’s sister) and stayed with her until we got home, at which point us three headed off with Sandra and Madelaine to the Stern Center.
The first thing we did was find out if we could get a ticket for Danyelle. Which we could. Then we went shopping. I stayed with Danyelle and Amanda as they wandered through different shops. I finally gave in to my headache, and sat down to take a nap for 30 minutes. After waking up we went to get ice cream, then got in line for Harry Potter. It was a great movie, although we didn’t really understand as much of it as I would have liked. We got home around 12:30 (happy birthday had been sung to me in the car), and we went to bed.
All right, finally caught up. Time for today. We woke up at 5:15 AM, and left for EuropaPark at about 6:30. Our group was Madeleine, Amanda, Danyelle, Sandra, and myself. It takes about two hours to drive there, which takes us right through the Black Forest. The entire park is in German and French, with a small side of English here and there. We got there early, which worked out fine because we ran into Glenn, Maddy, Melanie, and Michael. Glenn came with us, and we went on a ton of roller coasters. There was this one blue roller coaster that had a huge loop and three separate corkscrews. It also had a heartbeat monitor on your harness, which was pretty cool. There was also this ride that was completely inside a dome, and it was space-themed. Danyelle, Glenn, and I kept joking about how it was like Portal. Then there was a coaster that had you spin around as well as all the quick falls and whatnot. It was a blast!
For lunch I had a pretty bad Pizza (pepperoni shouldn’t come with mushrooms!) At about four our drivers got tired, and decided to take us home. I packed up for the trip to Munich, and did some stuff on the computer. Then I posted this.
Final Weekend in Nagold
All right, as I said in my last post I woke up at 8:30. Nothing much happened until about 2, when Sandra and I went to pick up Danyelle. We then headed out to a Barefoot Park, where you get to walk around without shoes (of course) over different surfaces. It sounds less interesting than it is. I loved it. There was some REALLY cold water, rocks, mud, smooth glass, mud, rocks, mud, and a lot of different activities to do along the way. The whole thing is outside, in the forest, and it’s really cool. I liked walking on the glass, and all the balance beams. The whole thing is about 3 kilometers, I think.
After our hike, we headed to my house. Danyelle and I played Magic, as well as watching multiple shows on my laptop. We went to bed around 1:30, and woke up at about 8:45. We then headed out for what turned out to be a very boring adventure, with a few slight perks. We had thought we were going to explore Switzerland. Instead, we went to Madeleine’s relatives, and visted with them for… too long to be comfortable. Then, when we finally got to where we were going, only Danyelle and I felt like exploring the Swiss city we had gone to. Without even going to the castle, we went back home.
As far as perks go, I got some interesting shots from this whole endeavor. We sat down next to this interesting fountain, which had one of those huge chess boards that people can play on. Oh, and I got to go on the Autobahn at 190 kph. That’s a bit less than 120 mph, for you non-metric people. And hanging out with everyone (when we weren’t bored and out of place at odd relatives houses) was fun. We talked about different kinds of music that we liked, did a guess that artist kind of game. That kind of thing. But overall I’d rather have stayed home, or better yet gone to church.
Gallery
