HIking Photos

 

Mile High

 

June 12

Went hiking with Trevor and Patrica. The beautiful spring flowers are out!

Kevin and the National Guard

New Fact! The military accounts for less than 1% of the population! And Kevin is now one of the elite!

It happened so quick! Yesterday Rich and I went into the National Guard office to fill out some paperwork for Kevin. He had chosen to join the guard and things moved fast after that.
It was quite a shock when the recruiter told us that Kevin could use the money to help his girlfriend and his new baby that was coming. Needless to say that was quite a shock to us! We were floored and kept telling him it was a mistake, but he kept saying, no, I'm sure it was Kevin. We went home feeling really sick.
Thank goodness 2 hours later Kevin called us and told us the recruiter made a horrible mistake and it was another kid. Those were a couple of really long hours for us!

Anyway, Kevin spent today taking tests and filling out medical papers. And then! He made it in! $5000 bonus, and another bonus of $200 a month on top of his pay. Full scholarship, and when he joins the ROTC, which he is doing, free room and board! He will be in training, first at Ft. Benning, in October, and will be training for 30 weeks!
It was awesome watching him sworn in! Logan and Chase were able to come and see it. And his mentor was there too!

I'm so proud of his decision! He has grown up so much! Only sad part is that I am now an official empty nester! Where did the years go?

Military Potluck Day

 

 

 

 

We had a wonderful visit with Kevin. Sadly he wasn't feeling well, and didn't eat much of the wonderful food that was there! And there was a ton of food there! Nate had brought a yummy chocolate cake for Kevin and he didn't even eat any of it. We had even brought him his favorite California rolls and he only ate a few of them. But he seems happy and is still doing well!

Washington DC

 

What a day! Can you say exhausted? I have done walking like this before, like in China! And the temperatures are like China too!

We began our day with a breakfast at the hotel, and then a shuttle over to the train station. We met some really nice ladies on the shuttle who helped us buy our tickets and get on the train. They were teachers too.

We got off at the Smithsonian stop and headed for the museums. We got lost, but it was a good lost because we found a cool bell tower with a great view, and a food court for later.

There is so many musuems within the museums that you can't possibly see everything! We tried, but petered out. Really we saw a ton. And it was so cool!

After the musuems we walked a few miles down to the Washington Monument, and Lincoln Memorial. I'm sure it was several miles! But is was awesome to be there. I have a bucket list, and can cross this off the list!

Mt. Vernon

 

Today we drove the rest of the way into Virginia and spent most the day at Mt. Vernon. What an awesome place to visit! We met "Martha Washington", and learned about her life. Did you know both her children died, and she ended up raising her grandchildren. She and George had a 40 year long love affair. After he died from a virus that closed off his throat, she died of what was probably a broken heart a couple of years later.

It was interesting to see all the working farms and buildings. There was a neat learning center and museum. Needless to say, we were exhausted at the end of the trip.

What an awesome leader George Washington was. A true inspiration. And Martha is an inspiration too. One of the quotes she gave today was:

I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.
Martha Washington

Botanical Gardens

 

We spent a lovely hour walking thru a lovely botanical garden near Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. I have never seen such beautiful flowers! And luckily the rain stayed away until we got finished.