Washington DC 8/28/2010

8/28 Rally

Saturday was our final full day at Washington and the reason why were even there. We woke up really early like 4 am and headed down to find a seat. As we arrived, we were quite shocked to see how many people were already there. We waited 5 hours for the rally and watched more and more people flow and pack into the parks. By the time the event started, they had people all the way back to the Washington Monument and over flowing into the side parks of the Washington Mall. They estimated about 250,000 just in the Washington Mall and another 200,000 in the out lying parks.

The 8/28 rally was great, I thoroughly enjoyed the message that Glenn Beck brought to this mass of people. He spoke to us about bringing this country under God once again and to raise up families of great people. He asked who would be our next Abraham Lincoln or George Washington. He also stated just because it is an inconvenience we should still do it. George Washington wanted to be a farmer not a soldier or a President, but he did it because he loved the people in this great country. He was a great speaker and won me over even more for his love of this country.

Front view of how many people attend.

View of the Lincoln Memorial at 5 am. As you can see people were gathered already for the
rally at this early morning hour.

John waiting for the rally to begin.

After the rally we decided to see the last Smithsonian of American History. As we were walking we got a perfect view of the White House.

World War II Exhibit


When I saw this tribute to the mechanics of WWII, I could not help but think of my dear Grandpa Cox. The caption they had with this display, basically said, that without these men and women that worked on the machinery, the war would have ended early. But because of their hard work and knowledge they made it possible for all the machinery to run and work accordingly, enabling them to win the war.

I also took this picture because I don't think as a nation we give much thought about the women behind the war. Especially the nurses that cared for the fighters. Also, it reminds me of the great work my mom does as a nurse down in St. George.

Washington DC Temple

After we were finished with our touring of the National Monuments, we decided to go have dinner with the Jenkin's family. It was fun to spend some time with our wonderful hosts. Following dinner, we decided to see on last tourist trap the Temple of Washington DC. As we drove on Highway 495 it just appeared as if it was floating on the clouds. It was remarkable and I could see why they had to dim the lights of the temple because of it causing accidents as you drove up the hill. Visiting the temple was a great end to our trip. We had seen everything we wanted and now we got to put the cherry on top by visiting this beautiful, peaceful temple.

We didn't think we were sunburned until we saw this picture.

We look like ripe raspberries.

Sculptures in the visitor center up on display depicting our Savior's service.

Sunday we arrived home after a 2 hour delay at Minnesota. We had a great whirlwind of a trip at DC and in St. George. I actually needed a vacation from our vacation.