Continuing a tradition started in 2008, Deb and I were joined by Grandkids Elizabeth and Ben for our annual trip to Knoebels Amusement Park in Elysburg, PA. This year we enjoyed the company of some extended family for another nearly perfect day at the park. Liz, Ben and I were thrilled to get a long-awaited ride on Flying Turns, a coaster that has been under construction since 2006 which finally opened at the end of last year's season. Find some photos here.
Continuing with our trip to D.C. - These next photos were taken as we toured the city on the "Big Bus" which I would recommend highly to anyone planning to visit the area. It is convenient, stops at many of the points of interest along the way, and it is possible to take as much time as one likes at each location before boarding the bus again to continue the loop.
You are probably familiar with most of the sites along this journey, but feel free to inquire if there is anything that you do not recognize. Please excuse the multiple (sometimes many) views of the same location, but I enjoyed capturing the various available perspectives and was unable to limit the ones I wanted to share. Deb, Linda and I were all very much impressed with most of what we saw, especially the memorials.
Oh, I should mention that there are 90 or so photos and you might want to view them in multiple sessions.
In the middle of July, Deb, her sister Linda and I took a trip to Washington, D.C. Our primary objectives were visits to Arlington and the Vietnam War Memorial. We stayed two nights at a hotel that is located just 16 miles or so from the National Mall area and it was a relatively easy commute into the city, much easier than we've encountered on some earlier travels through the area.
We spent the first afternoon exploring the cemetery and were fortunate to be on a good schedule to be able to witness the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which was quite moving and amazing to watch. We also were able to tour Arlington House (former residence of Gen. Robert E. Lee) which sits high above the cemetery and provides an impressive view of the mall area.
Photos from this part of the adventure can be found here and the rest of the trip will be covered in another blog entry when I've had a chance to upload the rest of the photos.
