Farewell to February Hodgepodge

March is coming, Hodgepodgers, and Joyce From This Side of the Pond is giving us a little tease. I’m posting this a day early because I’ll be busy until the evening of the 25th. I’ll be visiting y’all then.

My photos from Washington D.C. are all from a visit in May of 2011.

1. America celebrates turning 250 years old this year. Primary cities set to lead the celebrations on July 4th are Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and Washington D.C. Other significant locations for celebrating will be Charleston SC and the ‘historic triangle’ which includes Jamestown-Williamsburg-Yorktown Virginia.

Of the cities listed how many have you seen in person?

I’ve had the privilege to visit Boston, New York and Washington D.C.

Of the cities listed which would you most like to visit this year?

I’d love to visit Charleston S.C. or Williamsburg some day.

Any plans to do so?

Not at the present.

What’s one place in America you think everyone should see?

Washington D.C. because there is so much history documented there and so much to see and enjoy.

If you’re not American what’s one place in the US you’d like to see?

2. Three sounds you love to hear?

I love to hear “hello mom” or “baba!” I love the sound of any music that is honoring to God and lovely in general. I also enjoy pure natural nature sounds like birds and other animals or water flowing, etc.

3. Three sounds you hate to hear?

Loud nonstop cussing. The screeching of brakes. Smoke alarms.

4. February 24th is/was National Tortilla Chip Day.

Are you a fan?

yes

With salsa, guacamole, queso, or just plain please?

Salsa and guacamole, please

Do you like nachos? With what on top?

Nachos are okay but not what I prefer to order or make.

Is there anything (besides nachos) you make that calls for tortilla chips?

Taco salad is good to have with chips.

5. We March into March with next week’s Hodgepodge…what’s one thing on your March calendar that makes you smile?

I cannot choose just one!

The following selfie is from this past Sunday, the 22nd of February.

Two March birthday girls, the oldest and the youngest girls in our family!

We have so much to smile about in March. In March we will visit Budapest and embark on a river cruise with stops in Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, and a bus trip to the Czech Republic, too, and then we will end our international trip in Cambridge U.K.

We travel home from London on my birthday and then our family will gather to celebrate our granddaughter’s birthday which is in March, too. Whew!

And for the record the 14th of March marks my 75th birthday on this earth! We will be at airports and on airplanes for all of my birthday. I will count it all joy!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I didn’t think I’d be able to participate this week in the Hodgepodge but we’ll be hunkered in a hotel room this evening and I’ll have the time to participate. This won’t be the case for the next two Wednesdays. Cheers!

One more photo from Washington D.C. This is the Washington National Cathedral.

My First Plane Ride…

In 1970 my best friend and I were able to plan a trip east to see her family and meet up with friends for a wonderful tour including Mackinac Island, New Jersey, New York City, Buffalo, Boston, Connecticut and Washington D.C. This would be the first time I took a trip that included flying in a plane. Here are my old photos from that trip.

I’m really not sure exactly where we started from and where we ended this trip. My friend Heidi and I traveled from Los Angeles. One of the spots we stayed was in Michigan at our friend Faye’s home. Faye’s dad was our pastor at Bethany Baptist in L.A. for several years. When they left L.A. they settled in Troy, Michigan. Faye and Heidi were best friends through high school. We also spent time on the lake at Peter and Ruth Leonovich’s home. Peter and Ruth took the three of us to Mackinac Island for a day.

We had loads of fun riding bikes around the island. On the way to the island there were threats of rain and I remember Pete stopping the car so the 3 of us could do sun dances instead of rain dances. Looks like it worked.

In New Jersey after we visited Heidi’s grandmother and uncles and aunts we were guests at Peter Leonovich’s brother’s home. Al and Babs treated us to wonderful meals and a trip into New York City to see the sights including the Statue of Liberty.

Somehow we also ended up in Buffalo New York with more “friends of friends” who took us to see Niagara Falls and we had the most delicious barbecued corn during a backyard barbecue that I had ever tasted.

Andy Semenchuk was our amazing tour guide to Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Washington D.C.

Boston was beautiful. I remember how shocked I was at seeing how small Plymouth Rock was.

Because we were from California we had to pose next to Junipero Serra in the National Statuary Room. Turns out the first school Dear and my two sons attended was Junipero Serra Elementary School in Ventura, California.

George Washington’s Mount Vernon

Looking back I’m so humbled at how hospitable everyone was to us. A place to lay our heads, food, sightseeing trips, and transportation everywhere we needed to go and didn’t need to go but these amazing people wanted to treat us to these sights. Thank you, thank you, to Andy Semenchuk, the Al Leonovich Family, Peter and Ruth Leonovich, and the Chechowich family. You broadened our horizons and our world view and modeled hospitality to us! I am forever grateful…

Land of the Free…

…and the Home of the Brave.

Happy 4th of July to all in the U.S.A.

Nothing in the United States symbolizes democracy more than the U.S. Capitol Building. For nearly two centuries, it has been home to both chambers of Congress and has evolved and expanded as times changed and the nation grew. The building itself has more than 16 acres of space and 540 rooms. The Capitol Grounds cover about 274 acres with sloping lawns, splashing fountains and beautiful terraces.

The bronze Statue of Freedom crowns the dome of the U.S. Capitol. Her right hand rests upon the hilt of a sheathed sword; her left holds a laurel wreath of victory and the shield of the United States with thirteen stripes. Her helmet is encircled by stars and features a crest composed of an eagle’s head, feathers, and talons, a reference to the costume of Native Americans. A brooch inscribed “U.S.” secures her fringed robes.

At the Capitol…

Oops! The people I stopped to take a photo of me in front of the Capitol cut off “Freedom” at the top. Oh well…I zoomed in so you could see her!

Here’s a link about her.

Photobucket replaced all my photos with blurred out versions and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

District of Columbia

Dear and I are enjoying the sights in Washington D.C. but not so much the internet at our first hotel. We are moving to our new hotel today and hopefully the internet access will be more cooperative for me. I haven’t been able to load pictures onto my blog like usual. At the end of the day after seeing so much my brain goes into a very uncreative mode so I’ll save most of my D.C. posts for when I get back to Washington State. Yesterday we visited the Washington National Cathedral and did a drive by all the major D.C. stand outs. Today we are going to Arlington National Cemetery. We’ll do indoor stuff like museums after today because the weather is threatening to turn on us with rain and thunderstorms. The photo above was taken from the Tour Trolley as we passed the Capitol.

Hope all is well…

Forty Years Ago…

…was the last time I was in Washington D.C.

My girlfriend Heidi and I took a trip to Michigan and the East Coast staying with friends and family along the way.

In Michigan we stayed with our former pastor’s family. Their daughter Faye was Heidi’s best friend while Faye’s dad was the pastor at our Russian Baptist church in L.A. From Michigan we also visited Heidi’s grandmother and aunts and uncles in New Jersey. We were in Buffalo, New York and stayed with Russian friends there. We got to see Niagara Falls. We went to a Russian Christian Camp in Connecticut and then got to see parts of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and made a quick drive through Washington D.C. We were also treated to a day trip to New York City with some other Russian Missionary friends.

Because Dear has a conference to attend we decided to go a couple days early and take in some sight seeing together. When his conference starts I’ll be poking around on my own. It will be interesting to see how much time I’ll end up on the computer. If you don’t hear from me you’ll know what’s up.

I’m hoping to get some before and after photos of these same scenes.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

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