Snow Shoeing in Rocky Mountain NP

I am just catchin' some rays out on the lake.
Raven showing her skills.

It was a great first day of Snow Shoeing!

Hot Springs and Snowy Peaks

A fun hot springs pool we found that was not "adults only".  It was fun, warm, and refreshing.  It was just after the blizzard that we drove through and came upon this great find.
This is a hot springs just outside of Durango, CO.

Twilight Peak

Headin' North

Us overlooking the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.  We were on our way north after a few great days of skiing in Sipapu.  In search of good snow to pull the snowshoes out on.
Oh, wait!  We found a blizzard!
We drove smack into it and found this pullout that snowmobilers were using as a camp (I think) 
 Blinding, blowing snow on this pass.  Didn't pull the snowshoes out yet, but it's comin'.

Ski Sipapu, NM

Our first destination of Spring Break 2010 was Sipapu, NM.  A great find!  Friendly folks, fun place to learn to ski and great place to connect with the family.

Raven's first ski lodge experience, morning before skiing, enjoying hot chocolate as we get ready for the day.
Me with my coffee.
Luke getting ready to go up on the lift.  He took to skiing really well.  He loves snow, likes going fast and didn't mind the falling while learning.
 Raven & JB going up the main lift.  Going up and skiing down fun; me getting off, not so much fun!

Cold Visit to the National Christmas Tree

As this day drew to an end and the sun was beginning to set, the cold was too beginning to set in on us.  In front of the White House is the National Christmas Tree along with trees to represent all of the states, plus the territories.

I loved the trees around the White House.  I could imagine the children and families that have lived there playing in the trees, running around the lawn and playing on the hills.  It occurred to me that the loss of reverence and privacy of the President's family in the era in which we live, that innocence of climbing on those trees, playing hide and seek and whatnot are lost.  Nonetheless, I thought these trees beautiful.

Here's the infamous White House Garden.  Being very late December, it was covered.

 We surveyed all of the state trees and found the Oklahoma tree to have Origami figures in glass balls.

Great View - Old Post Office Tower

The Old Post Office Tower was constructed in 1899, it was the first government building to have it's own electric power plant (fun fact).  We went up to the top, where we could see DC in all directions.

  The Old Post Office Clock Tower has the official US Bells of Congress, they were a bicentennial gift from England.

Hidden Treasure: National Postal Museum

The National Postal Museum, totally unassuming Smithsonian location, holds an incredibly interesting and interactive set of exhibits.  Everything from the history of mail delivery, to lost mail, to mail fraud, to a Stamp Gallery.  There is also a totally interactive exhibit of how direct marketing really works.

These are some of the more creative mail boxes on display.

This is the exhibit about the Unibomber.  These are the handcuffs used in his arrest and an unopened package.  Interesting, living history.

Union Station DC

I had never been inside of a large train/travel station like this before. I was really excited that we were able to visit.

Here we are with another large Christmas Tree. This is the one in Union Station. It's covered in little American Flags. Nice touch.

This was a miniture train set inside of the station. It was a good stop.

National American History Museum

Route 66 exhibit

National Air & Space Museum

Being a very cold day, right in the middle of Christmas vacation time, the National Air & Space Museum was very, very full. Millions of people visit each year, and I am pretty sure that 1 of those million were there the day we visited. This fact alone made the visit to the other Air & Space Museum all the better. The exhibits here were interactive, high-tech, interesting and at times hard to see and really enjoy. Here are a few that we were able to really take advantage of:

Raven & the Wright Brothers

JB & the Starship Enterprise:

Luke & Raven at Lunchtime:

Library of Congress Christmas Tree Capitol, and National Museum of the American Indian

The Library of Congress in one AMAZING place. It houses over 145 million items and over 33 million cataloged books. It is the largest library in the world. And it is always growning, collecting more books and other items. Not just printed or other wise recorded artifacts are on display at the Library of Congress, but we found Houdini's actual cuffs:

It is awesome to see the preservation of print in thie digital world in which we live.

It was a very cold day when we visited these locations. The Capitol tour was quite informative. The building has so much history, so many have been through it's halls, to see it in person was a wonderful experience.

The National Museum of the American Indian is the 16th museum of the Smithsonian Institution and the first to showcase and preserve the life, heratige, history and arts and the Native Americans. This unique structure houses collections of artifacts from all around the Americas.

Inside the Museum of Native Americans

Raven loves when we see anything that is a Raven. Here on the upper level of the museum is an exhibit of How Raven Stole the Sun.

Inside the graceful expanse of the National Museum of the American Indian there are visually stunning works of art, expressions of visceral feeling on the history that the Native Americans have experienced as this land became the United States.