More photos from DC!  This is the Korean War Memorial - one of my favorites.  The wall behind it has 'ghostly' pictures on it - the camera doesn't do them justice.  

Here is the wall:

This is the WWII Memorial - much more traditional.  I do want to find out more about the symbolism used in the memorials.  One of the trolley drivers was telling us about some of the symbols used in this memorial, but there was so much, I know I missed half of it!

This weekend flew by!  I got the housework caught up from being gone for a week, and it was warm enough (90's!) to hang my laundry out on the line to dry.  Lovely!  Ralph and I made our first trip in to shop for flooring options.  We only went to Home Depot - just to see the options.  We plan on getting the flooring from a 'real' store, but - they aren't open on Sundays, so....off to Home Depot we went.  It did give me an idea of what kind of budget we will need, and the salesman was very helpful in explaining the different types of flooring.  We will try to get to a flooring store soon to see what they have.  Since we were in Home Depot, Ralph checked out the BBQ's - his is beginning to need a lot of help.  After our trip - he came home and checked out on-line sales, and ordered a new BBQ last night.  He should have it this Friday!

I did pick up some bark and flowers to dress up the back patio area as well.  I got them planted, and with AJ's help, got the bark spread out.  It looks good for now - we'll see if I can keep these plants alive!

More pictures!

The Jefferson Memorial - a long walk from the Mall, but worth it - beautiful!

The Lincoln Memorial - I didn't realize we were so close to the airport - a huge jet flew by every few minutes.

Me at the Lincoln Memorial

MLK Jr gave his "I have a Dream Speech on the steps of the Memorial - they carved this in on the landing area.

The Washington Memorial

Arlington - we were able to see the Changing of the Guards - Awesome - in the 'filled with awe' sense of the word.  I was able to locate where Rod was buried, but not able to go out there.  You can't just wander around in the cemetery.

Home again, home again, jiggety jig.  I got in late Friday night, and it already feels like I never went away.  Good thing I took lots of pictures!!!   The trip was awesome - lots of sights, and the conference was a great time too.  Lots of networking, and sharing of knowledge.  I started to upload photos, and realized I had way too many for one blog entry - I need to break them up a bit.

We flew in to Baltimore on Saturday - it was a day of "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" for sure!  We took the train from the airport (here we are - waiting for it now.)  It was kind of eerie - waiting for the train in the dark.  We were the only ones being picked up at that stop.

We took the train (Amtrak) to the Metro Central Station, and then took the Metro to our hotel.  The hotel was located right on the Metro, so we only had to walk up the steps (and there were LOTS of steps!) and turn into the building.  Lovely, considering we were all hauling suitcases!  Getting the hang of the Metro was a bit daunting but by the time we left, we felt like pros!!!

Sunday, we started out early (early for us!  The 3 hour time difference made it hard to get started in the morning!)  We took a trolley ride around DC to get a feel for the area - and to decide what we wanted to go see and do.  Sunday was actually the anniversary of Lincoln's death - I didn't realize that!  The line to see Ford Theater was around the block before 10:00 (when they opened).

Here we are on the trolley!

Some of the buildings and architecture we saw from the trolley.

I decided to play hooky. This session of the conference is about a module I don't use. So far. This is about the first real break Ive had. We kept ourselves busy in DC Sunday and Monday. I don't think I've walked so much in years. We took a trolley tour Monday morning and "saw" the town and made decisions about what we all wanted to see. We got off the trolley at Lincoln"s Memorial and explores the area, taking in the Korean War Memorial, Washington Memorail and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. We also went across into Virginia and Arlington. We were able to see the changing of the guards at Arlington, and the Kennedy graves. I was able to see where Rod was interred, but wasn't able to idiot the actual site. By the time we finished seeing Arlington, we were all starved so we headed back in toward town for some dinner. We headed back after we ate and saw the Vietnam Memorial at dusk and the Washington Memorial by moonlight. We wanted to see more, but we were just out of time and energy. Monday was supposed to be in the 90's so we decided to visit a few museums instead of walking around in the heat. We saw (and I use the term lightly) the Air and Space Muse and the Museum of American History. Too much to see and take it all in! Too many wonderful things, just too much to take in

I'm getting ready to start the day sightseeing. We got in to our hotel last night after 10:00. Talk a out a long day. We started out at 4:15 a.m. In Redding, drove to hours to Sacramento, caught out flight at 8:00 to LA. We had a two hour layover and then a 4 1/2 hour flight to Baltimore. From there we caught a bus to Amtrac and the the train to Central Station and the red line Metro. We got off the Metro, climbed a flight or two of stairs (yes, we had to climb one set - the escalator wasn't working!) and we were at the hotel. We had dinner around 11:00ast night.

I'm off on a new adventure! We are almost at the airport on our way to Waahington DC/Baltimore

THAT weekend flew by!  Alli and I stayed in Susanville until Saturday - had a nice visit with Mom and a friend that stopped by, and just had a nice relaxing time.  I took a quick trip down to try for a photo of the owl nest.  I got a nice shot of Papa Owl:

And one of the nest - Mama Owl is up there, but the photo wasn't clear enough to blow it up so you could see her.

I missed photos of the babies - I didn't even think about taking pictures the day we saw them out sunning themselves.

Alli and I came home Saturday, with Mom right behind us.  She came down for a quick shopping trip, which was doomed to failure - everything was closed on Easter.  I thought the stores would be open in the afternoon, but....I was wrong!  She did get some done on Saturday, but neither of us felt much like shopping by the time we got to Redding.  I did bake a nice pork roast for Easter - and made a spinach salad and broccoli from my veggie box.  So far, I have used most of each box before the next one was delivered (of course, I've only had two boxes!)  I still have some potatoes and some celery left from the box, and I get a new delivery on Wednesday.

We made to Susanville yesterday, but not without a little angst. I forgot clothes in the washing machine that I needs to take (Alli's undershirts for her brace) so they weren't ready to be packed when I was ready to pack them. I also had to go it to town on my way out of town - I has forgotten my checkbook the night before when I had my haircut. AJ was supposed to take the check in when he went to have his hair. I'd yesterday morning but he forgot. I finally got everything packed up and ready to go and Alli and I headed in to drop off a check. When I got out of the car at the salon, I realized it still had my 'house shoes' on. They are real shoes, just not shoes I wanted to wear on my trip. I debated with myself anout going back home for other shoes, but I was just going to Susanville and I didn't want to waste the time or gas. Since we got such a late start, I stopped at McDonalds for lunch on the way out of town. Alli immediately grabbed a chicken nugget and choked, throwing up all over herself. That settled whether or not I was going to go back to the house for shoes. Not only did I need shoes, Alli needs a complete change of clothes. Finally, Alli and I got on the road - a lot later than I planned.

I'm off to Susanville today - I planned on a earlier start, but.....it just didn't happen.  I still have laundry going, and an errand to run in town.  But, I've packed up all my projects to take with me - hopefully I can get some done while I am there.  I started my bookmarks for the Book Club last night - we meet next Wednesday - no need to rush!!!  I'm making a birthday cake for this month's bookmark - in celebration of the 'half birthdays' that it seems everyone celebrates.  From what I hear, they are a lot more fun than the real birthdays - everyone asks how old you are on your real birthday - on your half-birthday, they don't!  For those of us of a certain age (yikes - that's me now - I'm over 50 - how did that happen???) that is a good thing.  I guess I'd better start.  I missed mine for this year already - maybe next year.

Good thing I could sleep in today.  Not only did I go to bed late (scout meeting last night, and then too much TV!) but Allison was up three times during the night.  Each time, she got up and went directly to the bathroom, so I toileted her and sent her back to bed, and she was good for an hour or so, and then she was up again.  I don't know how much water Dad gave her last night, but at least she is getting herself up.  She doesn't quite have the timing down - two of her diapers were wet, but...one wasn't - yippee!  She slept in until almost 7:00 this morning, so I slept in until after 6:00.  Ralph's alarm starts going off at 6:00, so I was awake - I might as well get up.  I need to make a list of all the things I want to get accomplished today, and see how far I get.   So far, I haven't accomplished anything except feeding the dogs.  (And they were very happy about that, too!)

I did a blazing shopping run yesterday at lunch.  In an hour, I managed to by a new purse (my old one was splitting apart at the seams - yuck!) a pair of dress pants (size 10 - hurray!!), some shoes, and still eat lunch.  I've been looking for a pair of slip on shoes for traveling - easy on and off for the airport - and still have enough support for doing a lot of walking in.  Most that I could find fit one category or the other.  I found some at Payless that will do both , I hope.  I want to give them a bit of a trial run, but it is a bit chilly here to be wearing them outside still.  The sun is back, but it is still cold.  March sure went out like a lion!!

Here are some more pictures from our walk on Sunday:

I'm officially on vacation until Monday!

We took the dogs out for a walk/swim. The water is deep enough Koori has to swim.

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So I lied.  I thought yesterday we had traded the rain for wind, but....the wind was just extra.  When I left to go to the grocery store, it was pouring AND windy.  Alli and I were soaked by the time we got in the car (of course, because "hurry" is not in Alli's vocabulary, and she saw no reason to rush into getting in the car!)  Throughout the day, we had wind, rain, hail and sunshine.  March definitely went out like a lion!  Today it looks clear and sunny.  It probably isn't going to be really warm, but it is sunny (so far!)

I'm still a bit slow today.  Meredith and I went out to a play last night, and I didn't get to bed until after 11:00.  It was a wonderful comedy, and it was a lot of fun just to go out.  I had invited Meredith and family over for dinner before the play as well, but our wires got crossed, and just Meredith came over.  I made my second attempt at cooking salmon, and....it was good!  I may just have a new recipe to add to my repertoire!  Meredith had never cooked salmon at all, so we had the blind leading the blind, so to speak.  She watched me prepare it and decided that it wasn't so scary after all, and she just may try cooking it.

Since I had the same worries she did about cooking fish the last time I cooked it, I understood completely.  What if I ruined it?  What if it didn't taste good?  What if I under-cooked it?  Yesterday, the first time I pulled the fish out, it was under-cooked, and I showed Meredith how to tell, and then stuck it back in the oven.  It turned out marvelously!  Since I just season it with a little salt and pepper, I'm not 'ruining' the fish - all you have is the fish flavor - no fancy sauces or anything,  I did make a tartar sauce from scratch that went very well with it, or just plain old lemon available too.  I also made french bread from scratch, and a rice pilaf.  I was pretty proud of myself!  Meredith brought pie and ice cream, so after we got in from the play, we had tea and dessert.  Yum!  We need to do that more often.  It was a fun evening.

Since I actually got the house semi-clean yesterday (as I was having company come over) I think I will just try to get the laundry done, and nurse my cold today, trying to get over the remnants of it.  I'm feeling pretty good, but...still tired.  Of course, that may be because of my late night and early morning, though Alli did let me sleep in a bit.  This next week is Alli's Spring Break, so I don't have to get her up so early to catch the bus.  Not that I think we are going to sleep in, I just don't have to rush around like a mad woman to get her lunch packed and her showered , dressed and fed by 6:30.  I'm looking forward to that, and I'm also taking off from work on Wednesday, and heading up to Susanville on Thursday, weather permitting.  So far, Thursday is the only day we are expecting any rain - or snow in the case of Susanville.  Since the weather reports are usually wrong, I'm not too worried about it.

I do remember one Spring Break from college trying to get home from Yuba City in a major storm - I called every 15 minutes to see if the road was clear.  I drove through what looked like 3 feet of snow on the sides of the road up the Feather River Canyon in my little '59 VW bug, following the big rigs (and they were BIG compared to that little car!) since Highway 70 was the only highway open.  I ended up in a snow drift just outside of Westwood (the snow was much higher than 3 feet by then!) and some passerby's stopped and pulled me out.  I gave my last $8 (the normal fee was $10) to have chains put on my car in Westwood and then managed to make it home. That was the weekend I had tickets to fly out of Reno for Grand Assembly, and I HAD to get there.