Travels, Return to California, 2009

Click on any of the little pictures to see it at normal size. Click on the '=0=' after the picture to see it in giant size (about 2 minutes to download on dialup connection and larger than screen size). This could be useful if you wanted to really look at one part of the picture or to make a print.

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When I had visited D.C. previously, the Washington monument had been very easy to visit. You justg went and waited in line, and then could climb up the stairs for free, which I did back in 1975. Now you have to show up very early to get tickets (which are free) for a later time, that day only, OR, make reserevation on-line for a fee, but it has to be about two weeks in advance. I got tickets for all of us for the evening of July 25, after SUUSI 2009. Below are pictures of the Washinton monument. As we got off the Metro, there was a light rain and indications that a hard rain had finished recently. We were feeling pretty good about that.	=0=
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The web site had mailed the tickets back to my mom's address (as it was what was on the credit card), but we got 'will call' tickets without problem. However, when we got the monument itself (here) at precisely 8PM, we learned that they close the Washington monument whenever there is lightning and we could see lightning a short distance away. We weren't able to go to the top of the Washington monument. We hung out for a while, hoping that perhaps the lightning would move away, but it got closer. Mark took the pictures below of Eric and I. How do you like my SUUSI 2009 tie died T. They do lots of tie dies at SUUSI (for the kids and such), but on Thursday afternoon they open it up to community and this is my 2009 shirt.	=0=
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At the Washington monument they have spotlights coming up from the ground and I thought the picture above might be a funny picture (taken by Eirc), but the spot light pluc the flash mostly just highlighted my beard. Oh well. From the Washington monument there was a great view of the Lincoln Memorial. I used my cameras zoom, but, sadly, could not hold the camera still enough. To save the $230 bucks, I had accepted some pretty bad times and had a 6:30AM flight the next morning, so they just left me at the airport. I had gotten a light and inexpensive air mattress (pool variety) and just stayed the night in the terminal at Reagon National Airport (shown here). I checked in with Delta, but my flight was with Northwest (now part of Delta) and had to walk to the old terminal I had used as a young man (arrivals and departures are on the same level) and was off to Orange County (close to LA), CA.	=0=
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