Washington DC 2012, part 2

 No trip to DC is complete unless you spend time in the museums.  With a group as diverse as ours we split up to see as much as possible.  The Aerospace Museum is a must see, even if you're not into aviation.

WWII floatplane

The Wright Brothers flyer.

 The Kitty Hawk exhibit honoring the Wright Brothers and their success on flying was on display here instead of Kitty Hawk NC.  It was a beautiful exhibit.

The Spirit of St. Louis nose cone with everyone's signature.

Saturn 5 engine cone

 

 From Air and Space, next stop:  the museum of Natural History.  From rocks to fossils, to dinosaurs to mammals; you can spend an entire day there and not see it all.  I think this was my 3rd time here.

Washington DC, June 2012 Part I

The day after Ken's memorial at Arlington was set aside by the family to play tourist.  We split up to see the sights and museums.  Bill and I had been in DC several times before and felt like we knew our way around.  Doug, David and the granddaughters had never been to the Nation's capital so it all a grand adventure.

The first adventure was the Metro subway.  No biggie for me but the girls found it intimidating in someways.  San Diego doesn't have subways.

 The Washington Monument was closed to anyone wanting to climb it because of earthquake damage.  There were lots of signs explaining the damage and the plans for repairs.

 The World War II memorial is awesome.  Pools and fountains, lots of plaques honoring all the countries involved and the people lost.








 David at the WWII
monument.

David and Bill at the WWII monument

The White House courtesy of  a great zoom lens.

The Lincoln Memorial from the WWII monument.

 The Vietnam Memorial

 The Lincoln Memorial

The Washington Monument from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

The reflecting pool was empty and under construction.

DC War Memorial

 David holding up a tree, Washington Monument in the background.  Some of the trees along the paths are beautiful, massive and very old.

 Korean War Memorial

The entrance to the WWII memorial.

 The Jefferson Memorial

Lincoln's statue inside the memorial

May of 2012, Memorial Day weekend.  I, along with Ken's children and two of his grandchildren placed his ashes in the niche wall at Arlington National Cemetery.  It had been his last wish that the urn with his ashes be placed there and I honored that request.

Ken's family.  Granddaughters Laura and Tonya, sons David and Doug, with Gayle, Doug's fiancee, myself and Bill Peterson, Ken's brother-in-law and Gerry's brother.

 

 
 

 It was a nice day for a memorial and Ken was interred with all of the military honors he was entitled.

I was given his flag.

The Honor Guard played Taps and performed a military salute.

 

 Doug placed the urn containing his father's ashes into the wall which would be sealed.  Each of us said a few words at the site and the memorial was done.