We're Here!

We arrived in Washington DC safely yesterday evening.  It was an interesting day.  Here, I'll take you along with us.   We left home at 3:55 a.m. to drive to the airport. This was our welcome to sunny Portland, OR where we had a 2 hour layover. Mt. Hood in all it's glory from the airplane window.  Gorgeous.

Percy the train was photographed all along the journey and the pictures texted to Piper. Here he is on the famouse PDX airport carpet.  😄

We weren't sure we were even leaving Portland because of the nasty weather in DC.  We actually left 25 minutes early as they were hoping to get there before the storm got too bad.  No such luck.  The last two hours were very turbulent and then we circled the airport for 45 minutes (after a 5 hour flight), while they tried to clear the runway.  Finally the pilot came on and told us that we only had enough fuel after our cross country flight for one landing attempt.  If we didn't make it, we would have to divert to Norfolk, VA.  As we came in to land you could have heard a pin drop inside the plane it was so quiet.  But they did it!  We landed and the entire plane burst into applause.  We were the last big plane to land.  Right after us a Jet Blue plane touched down and literally skidded down the runway. It was a very scary experience.  I have flown a lot and don't remember ever being that scared on a flight before.  You could see the wings covered with ice.

This was the runway with the wing in the foreground.  Can you see the ground is completely covered in snow and freezing rain?  Because by now it had stopped snowing and freezing rain was pelting down.  We waited at this spot for another 40 minutes until they cleared the jetway of snow with tractors and dump trucks.  Finally we were off the plane.  Brad was waiting for us and we began the normally 45 minute drive to their house which took well over 2 hours.  But he's a great driver and we made it!

And today we went here.  Look at that beautiful blue sky.  What a difference a day makes!  The academy is in Annapolis, MD, about 10 minutes from the kids' house.

One of several of the flags on display.

This anchor was huge outside of the chapel.  

Gorgeous stained glass all around.

This is a three dimensional ship that is hanging from the ceiling.  Amazing.

A navy officer in stained glass.

I have many more pictures of this gorgeous chapel but I don't want to bore you. So much history.  I love history and to see in person many of the places I've only read about and studied is so wonderful for me.

The shops and buildings around the academy are over 200 years old.  I admired the architecture....and the name of this shop!  Sorry about the car.  There were cars everywhere and pictures of them were unavoidable.

And here was Polly when we returned home.  Smart dog, staying inside by the fire.

The two grandpa's really enjoy each other's company.

Now, I love my Mandy more than life itself, as I do all of my kids, but this little girl.  Well this little girl holds my heart in her tiny little fist.  She was so happy to see us.  She couldn't even talk.  She just grinned and grinned and squealed and jumped up and down.  I don't think she believed we were anywhere except inside the iPad anymore.

She was so tired here tonight, at the end of a busy day.  And she still loves her Grandma.  I am a happy Grandma.  Excuse me if you don't see or hear from me much for the next few days.  I'll be playing with Miss Piper.

The end.

Blessings,

Betsy