Day 7: June 10, Thursday
Someone found the heat switch today and if it wasn't for a slight breeze we would had melted for sure. We planned an outside day at Arlington National Cemetery. We succumbed and bought a tourmobile (translation: bus with benches and no sides) pass when I saw the amount of hills there were to climb. What a beautiful, peaceful place. We saw the Kennedy family plot with it's eternal flame and the memorial for the Challenger space shuttle astronauts among others. The changing of the guard was super impressive with their smooth marching, rifle checks, and heel-click turns. We even got to see two groups of middle school honor students place wreaths on the Tomb of the Unknowns. There was also a large tomb/memorial for the remains of 2,111 civil war soldiers that was neat. Over 300,000 people are buried there and they have approximately 25 new burials a day. Rows and rows of marble headstones flow over acres and acres of beautiful green hills--breathtaking. It was also fun to learn about the history of the Robert E Lee home, known now as the Arlington House, which is on the property. Hearing more about his love of both the union and the love of his family and native Virginians, my heart went out to the guy who was basically in a no-win situation from the start.
Then we were off to see the Pentagon--well sort of anyway. We went there but have no pictures to document the experience since they wouldn't even allow photographs of the outside of the building. Top secret stuff! The place is huge and we know firsthand or should I say firstfeet since we walked about a "pent" and a half to see a memorial to the 187 people who were killed on 9-11. Wished they would have had some kind of tours but the security is tight, tight, tight there.
Our last adventure of the day took us to Kensington, Maryland to the Washington D.C. temple. Getting there was a feat in itself and luckily we found a taxi to take us the last few miles--set us back $15.00--I would say it was literally highway robbery but at least we made it. The temple is in a word: massive. They didn't have as many workers as one would expect so we were wondering and wandering a bit. The session was small but it was fun to sit right next to Rheid since there is no aisle. The celestial room was heavenly--wow. After the session we went outside to call a cab and take pictures while we were waiting. One problem, the cabbie gave us a bogus number that didn't work of that area. Argh! So while Rheid went inside to see what he could find out, I stayed outside and said a quick prayer for help in my heart. Not more than two minutes later, a sweet little lady passed by me then came back and asked if there was something I needed. When I explained the situation to her she cheerfully said, "I know where the metro station is--let me take you!" So sweet-little-old Sister Catmull, a missionary from Riverton, Utah, whose husband was from Burley and who is related to the Whittles, became an answer to prayer. We were truly blessed with tender mercies today!
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