R.I.P. Butternut

R.I.P. Butternut Squash

We enjoyed you while you lasted.

Garden Update

It's been a while since I had a garden post, so for all of you who can't get enough our garden, here you go.

Today started off nice, but warmed up pretty fast.

This giant sunflower is growing in a neighbor's backyard.

Dragonfly in the garden

some kind of brown butterfly

We've had a couple of white butterflies in the garden since spring.

Pentas came back. Looked like they weren't going to last for a while.

Collin is very serious about his job as Garden Assistant.

Maggie has grown a couple of feet this year.

the okra section... my favorite food part of the garden

pink morning glories blooming with the blue ones

I always love roses.

the Tropicana rose

The end of the butternut squash plant.

The zucchini smothered is. :(

The okra is growing quite well. It loves the heat.

Today's harvest.

Gonna be some good eating at our house.

It's a dog's life....

Washington DC tour Day 2

No rain today to cool things down. But, compared to Texas it's cool at 92.

We rode the tram again and explored Lincoln Memorial. Wow! That place is massively majestic. Looking into the face of Lincoln brings an insightful calm. His eyes seem to speak volumes.

Since 1922 Lincoln has rested at the west end of the National Mall, facing east toward the reflecting pool. At a seated height of 19 feet, if the statue were to stand it would be 28 feet tall.

Lincoln's second inaugural address carved into the wall of the monument

One can only wonder....

What did Martin Luther King feel standing on the top step of the Memorial delivering his "I Have A Dream" speech? How many hundreds of people have stood on these same steps declaring their views on issues of diversity and unity for our country?

Washington DC tour Day 1

Today's schedule ~

12:45am - arrive at hotel

1:00am - go to bed and can't sleep

1:15am - sleep finally

8:15am - alarm to wake up; snooze

8:30am - alarm to wake up; snooze

9:00am - finally get up :)

9:30am - breakfast at the Hampton Inn; yum

Fast Forward:

11:30am - begin Tourmobile tour of Washington DC

A sneak peek at some of the things we saw today:

Capitol

Arlington National Cemetery

Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Lincoln Memorial

Washington Monument from across the Potomac

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

Don't worry, Collin. Randy isn't replacing you with a dinosaur.

You're still #1 family pet.

Randy said I can only look at the 45.25 carat Hope Diamond.

I can't have one. :)

Union Station

Postal Museum

Dinner at the Sunflower Vegetarian Restaurant :)

Stay tuned for more fascinating moments from Washington DC!

Whew! This was a long day! Getting some sleep ready to do it again tomorrow.

Dallas to Dulles

Flight #1962... good sign/my birth year.

Flight was delayed 15 minutes by the time we got to the airport. We boarded at the time it was supposed to leave. And sat and sat and sat.

The pilot came on the speaker and said the runway was closed due to lighting alarms and weather delay in DC. 30 minutes later he comes back on and says the runway has been cleared. Five minutes after that he comes back on to let us know another bolt of lighting flashed so the runway is closed again. We ended up leaving at 6:45 for a 5:25 flight. But the flight number was a good number. :)

Even Randy said the flight was bumpy, so you can imagine how I felt. I took Dramamine before the flight and was still nauseous. At one point the plane visibly rocked side to side. I had visions of every plane crash movie I've ever seen and looked for the floating device. Then I remembered we were over land. So much for that.

There was an Indian family sitting across the row from us. Mom, Dad, two kids, Grandma, and Grandpa. I enjoyed listening to them talk. If Sarah had been there, she could have had a conversation with them. Grandma was wearing beautiful Indian clothes.

Our landing at Dulles was "smooth" according to Randy. I just wanted my world to stop moving.

Dulles Airport - now that's an experience in itself. A mile and six escalators later, we got to the tram to take us to more escalators and baggage claim. They had flags of all 50 states flying inside the airport. A nice distraction to walking forever and the maze of escalators.

So we get to the train amidst a mechanical lady's voice cautioning to "Stand clear. Incoming train." With a grand total of 10 seconds to get onto the train, Randy made it. I didn't. :/ For those of you who know me well, the significance of this minor detail is monumental. A rough flight, lots of walking with sore feet, in an unfamiliar location that was quite intimidating, and getting separated from Randy, my rock. My heart is racing just thinking about it.

OK, Julia. Get a grip. An eternally long 60 seconds later, another train roars in. I made this one. Thank goodness for "handicapped/mobility impaired priority seating." The train went from 0 to 30 mph in 10 seconds - literally. Awfully fast for a 60-second ride to the next stop.

Randy found me when I got off the train. The deer-in-the-headlights look on my face was probably the biggest clue he had found the right person. Haha!

Then, guess what - more escalators to get to baggage claim! Woo hoo! Coming off the escalator the first thing I saw was..........

Wait for it..........

Waiting...........

TEXAS ORANGE! A man waiting for someone was wearing a Texas orange t-shirt! This is gonna be a good trip after all.

Oh, and did I mention - we got got lost on the way to the hotel and arrived at the hotel at 12:45am!

Happy Independence Day!

Emma (and her mom and dad) came over for July 4th. We grilled burgers and hot dogs, went swimming, ate watermelon, and looked at the flowers in the backyard. God Bless America!