Today we went to see The White House in daylight. As we are not American citizens, we could not go on a tour inside The White House.
After looking at The White House we went to Farragut West Metro Station and caught a train on the orange line to East Falls Church. We caught this train so we could visit my friend from Pre-School Shannon and her family. We have not seen them for seven years. We had a lot to catch up on. East Falls Church is in the state of Virginia. Therefore we crossed state lines from Washington DC into Virginia.
Our friends took us to see The National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center which is near Dulles International Airport. This was built in December 2003 to hold space and aircraft that could not fit into The National Air and Space Museum on The National Mall. The hanger that was holding the planes was enormous. While visiting this museum we:
- Went to the Donald D. Engen Observation Tower where we could see the main terminal of Dulles International Airport Runway. We saw a number of planes taking off and they flew across the top of the tower.
We walked around the Museum and looked at quite a lot of planes, some were really old. We saw a Blackbird military aircraft which is the fastest jet in the world. This plane was also used in the movie Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. We also saw some props they used in Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen and some sketches of the other transformers.
Other planes and helicopters we saw were from the:
- Pre-1920s;
- World War II;
- Korean Conflict;
- Vietnam War; and
- Modern Military.
The biggest exhibit was the Space Shuttle “Enterprise”. The “Enterprise” was the first Space Shuttle Orbiter and was built by NASA. I also saw a replica of the Mars Rover. A Mars rover takes pictures of Mars and sends the pictures back to Earth. This helps NASA scientists study Mars.
After looking around the Museum we went to Shannon’s house and spent time with her family.
Roger
May 27th, 2010Am so glad to see that you’re blogging about your trip. We really enjoyed having you and your Mum & Dad here the other day. Was great catching up with everyone after so many years.
Look forward to seeing you next year when we come back to Australia for our visit and Ashley & Shannon will be coming along too this time, so plenty of play time for the girls!
Enjoy the rest of your holidays and have fun in New York City this weekend. Can’t wait to see what you do, and your thoughts as you visit around the United States.
Mamma
May 28th, 2010Guess you are now in New York. Washington DC sounds like a really interesting place – such a pity you could not go on a tour of the White House. Visitors to Australia are lucky that we do not discriminate when it comes to our National icons.
It is Saturday here (2pm) – has been raining since late last night and is predicted to continue until Monday – there is 16mm in my rain gauge so far.
Hope all is going well with Dad’s work – love to you all – look forward to your next installment….
Hannah
May 29th, 2010Hi Roger, It was great catching up with you, Marnie and particularly Shannon and Ashley. They can definitely have a sleep over when you visit us in Australia.
I am having fun in New York and will be writing about the rest of my trip in the next few days.
Hannah
May 29th, 2010Hi Mama,
Yes, we are now in New York. It is very different from Washington and there are lots and lots of people. I will be writing about the rest of my trip in the next couple of days. We have been really busy trying to fit everything in. I miss you and will see you next week. Love you Hannah Bear xxx