D.C.

We were able to get a tour through our Senator Orinn Hatch's office. It was nice because we had one tour guide for 12 people. I saw that some of the other tour groups were huge. We had a cute little intern from Kaysville named Ryder.

We walked into the waiting room of Senator Hatch's office in the Hart building and there were some pretty strong scents. We sat down and I look at the desk of one of the young men working in the reception area and there on the drawers next to his desk sat a tray of DoTERRA oils. I started to laugh and said to the kid behind the desk, “REALLY, DoTerra oils!” He said “oh yes, we had an atomizer on but we had to turn it off because it was too strong.” Don and I are literally laughing at this kid. I said “it smells like Utah.” I thought the kid was going to try to sell us some oil but thought better of it.

As we were sitting in our hotel room tonight I pulled up the pictures of the oils and Don said “I bet Hatch doesn’t even know those oils are sitting at the desk out there.” Hmm, I wonder. I googled Hatch and DoTERRA and low and behold Hatch and Essential Oils and vitamin supplements have a long and prosperous relationship. Don and I thought the whole oils in the office was ridiculous and funny but  none of the other Utahns in the office shared our humor.

The capitol is under construction to help it withstand earthquakes. The dome is not pretty because it's covered in scaffolding but it's unique. My 7 year old was pretty bored with the tour. Gorgeous ceilings and unique statues.

This is steel that will go on top of the capitol. They are performing all sorts of structural testing on it.

This is a replica of the statue that goes on top of the Capitol. The Capitol is under construction to improve it's ability to withstands an earthquake. It looks like Utah's Capitol when ours was under construction. I never even noticed there was a statue at the top of the Capitol.

Gorgeous ceilings. I know that DC and Buenos Airies are very different but I also felt a lot of similarities. The beautiful architect, the pride of a nation, all the statues. The Washington Monument, the obelisk, bands on the corners, homeless sleeping on benches. DC was considerably less of a party town and their public transportation totally rocked.

Muhlenberg

 I am not a history buff by any means but I did hear some historical fiction on the tour. My favorite is the story of the subject of Pennsylvania's statue of Muhlenberg. Our guide said that, on January 21, 1776, Muhlenberg a preacher preached his last sermon, and at the end of which he ripped off his clerical robes and was wearing an army uniform underneath he issued a call to arms and his congregation followed him to war. I said to our tour guide "I'm guessing he wasn't a Quaker." I thought I was pretty funny and the tour guide just looked at me and said "no, I don't think so." I don't think anyone else appreciated my joke. (No one seems to appreciate my humor in DC!) There were a couple other statements that I thought REALLY! Still, it was interesting as long as you don't believe everything you hear. Every state gets two statues in the Capitol building. Utah has Philo Farnsworth, the father of television and Brigham Young. I always thought Philo was from Idaho because there is a sign in Rigby Idaho claiming him. Apparently he was born in Beaver Utah and moved to Idaho as a young boy. Some Jr High Students petitioned in 1985 to have his statue placed in the Capitol for Utah. They must have been persuasive students.

Group selfie.

In front of the Capitol

Sean had three "must dos" on his list. See the statue of Abraham Lincoln, the Washington Monument (because he gets it confused with the one he saw in Argentina, and see the real Declaration of Independence.

I've been walking at home the past couple of weeks trying to toughen my feet up but I still ended up with blisters. We walked about 7 miles the first day. It was probably more but I didn't start tracking our walk until the monument and my feet already hurt at that point. Sean was complaining that his legs were tired and Sean is a trooper when it comes to hiking. It's tougher than I am.

It was 2 1/2 miles from the Lincoln Monument to the Washington Monument.

I saw other's taking a really cool shot but I couldn't get their hands close enough. 

Asleep on the bus ride home. He insisted he just had his eyes closed. I guess that's why he was drooling all over my arm. We drag that kid all over the world and he is always a trooper and a great traveling companion.