Washington DC

Washington DC - as Forrest Gump liked to say, "our nation's capital". I guess that only applies if you are an American though :-) This is a really beautiful city, very easy to get around, and the people here rivalled Texans as the "nicestAmericanswe'vemetsofar". For once we did have a favourite part - a visit to the Georgetown University Hospital where we saw the ultrasound and heard the heart beat of our little baby!! We are ecstatic to let you know that we will be parents at the end of December :-) We had hoped that this would happen (yes, yes, we've heard all the jokes about getting up to mischief in the back of the bullet!!) and were delightfully surprised in Yosemite (yes, all the way back then!) when a home test said positive....followed by two more positives over the next 10 days! We had things confirmed in Arizona by a doctor, and followed that up with the appointments in DC. We have attached an ultrasound below.

We know DC isn't a state, but it still deserves a border photo :-)



Yes, it's ours!

Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, Arlington Cemetery

Changing of the Guards, Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, Arlington Cemetery

Civil War Graves, Arlington Cemetery

Arlington House, Arlington Cemetery. Robert E. Lee (who was married to the step-great-granddaughter of George Washington) was a Confederate General who lead the Army of North Virginia in the Civil War, but who distinguished himself for the previous 30 years in the US Army. The US Army was deeply offended when Lee refused the offer of leading the US Army and 'defected' to the South, and took over his home in DC and buried Union soldiers all around it so that he could never return home.

View from Arlington House to the Lincoln Memorial along the Memorial Bridge. The Lincoln Memorial was intentionally built in line with Arlington House as a sign of peace: Lincoln was the President of the USA and Lee was a General with the CSA - Confederate States of America - both highly respected, and now they both see each other every day!

Graves of JFK and Jackie Kennedy Onassis, and the eternal flame

A big White House that we came across :-) no Barack and the girls though!

National Mall area in DC - a lovely, open, green space for wanderings and also where the memorials are.

Lincoln Memorial from the front

Abraham Lincoln

From the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Memorial, with the Reflection Pool in the middle.

Korean War Memorial

World War II Memorial

(Thomas) Jefferson Monument

Washington Monument

From the Washington Monument back to the Lincoln Memorial

Iwo Jima Memorial - this memorial is a tribute to the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and features the very famous flag-raising on Mt Suribachi, Iwo Jima, in February 1945. Three of the six armed forces men depicted later died on Iwo Jima. It cost $850,000 to make and every cent came from former and current Marines.