two in a row... how about that?

we left on Saturday the 1st of March and came back Sunday the 9th. just in that matter of days, i had experienced the most awe inspiring trip from Washington DC and North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

we spent indefatigable 3 days in Washington DC. to the best of our ability we went to all 4 corners of DC while we were there. this has been a life long dream of mine to visit DC, and finally, after agonizing years, dreams do come true!

the trip to DC came as a bonus, as it turned out we had to stay there because of our airline ticket situations. prior to our date of departure, we contacted our Senator here in Montana and checked if we could squeeze ourselves to a hectic schedule to The US Capitol and the White House. in just a matter of days, we were granted to have a staff guided tour in the US Capitol but the White House was entirely questionable. however, the day before we left, we received an email from the Senator saying we can have the self guided tour in the White House. do i hear an echo? SELF GUIDED TOUR!?!?!? too good to be true? but it's true and... no, we weren't out of control either.

first day was spent in Smithsonian. got to see the
*Apollo 11;

here's the monkey that went to the Moon.



*the 1st plane;

... and remember the movie: "A Night in the Museum" with Ben Stiller? you know, the movie that was supposedly taken from there? we got to see that. uber coolio!!! the kids were in awe of the Dinosaur artifacts along with countless collections of God only knows. it RAWK!



*and multitudes of educational and historical facilities.

*i was able to touch the Washington Monument. i did a lot of "touching". i was totally your typical tourist





then Joe and i choose to go see the Holocaust museum and it was the most heart wrenching place i've been to. we went through inside a railcar in which the Jews suffered ( it was used to transport Jews from all over Europe to ghettos, concentrations camps and killing centers) and i opted to touch it, i swear you could feel it. seen the movie "Schindler's List"? if you haven't, you ought to. and could you believe that there are actually people who really believe that the Holocaust didn't take place?

unfortunately, no one was allowed to take photographs inside, and i don't think anyone could take it either. we got to the part where the "SHOES" were and all you could smell was the smell of leather. after seeing heap upon heap of shoes, you get a better understanding of the magnitude of it all: dead Jews. talk about unreal. this quote was written on the wall:

"We are the shoes, we are the last witnesses. We are shoes from grandchildren and grandfathers from Prague, Paris, and Amsterdam. And because we are only made of fabric and leather, and not of blood and flesh, each one of us avoided the Hellfire."

gazing at all of the horrifying displays, the gas chamber model, the authentic bunk beds, the disturbing images, reading countless testimonies was overwhelming...profoundly intense. i wanted to cry but i couldn't. i wanted to say something but i was speechless. all i could do was keep on moving in silence until we reached the exit.

and that's how we spent our first day.