sweet land of Liberty

2 weeks ago, Herm and I went to DC to visit a college friend Ashlee. She works in the House of Reps….and had the inside view of DC. It was awesome. It was so humbling to walk in such historic footsteps. We saw it all…I do believe: Washington, JFK, Arlington, Lincoln, Korean Memorial, Abe, Jefferson, the Mall, a Museum of Natural History, the Wall, the Capitol, the White House, the WWII Memorial, the Cherry Blossoms, Georgetown, Iwo Jima, the Reflecting Pool…oh, and PR’d (personal record) a 10 mile race on that Sunday at the Cherry Blossom 10 miler!

We played hard. I could barley walk when I got home…I was pooped. PS. Don’t wear your cowboy boots before race day and when you plan to walk 15 miles. Ahh…. What was I thinking? Oh and another cool- non-touristy thing we did: 1) eat Krispy Kreme Donuts at midnight…my treat=) YUM! 2) on our last day, we went to Reagan International Airport in the heart of DC. There is a grassy spot that you can lie down and watch the planes fly over-head…. I’m not kidding-the planes were so close to the ground it seemed that you could reach up and touch them…I tried! A (windy and loud) rush to say the least. (PS. Reagan’s statue is the most recent to be moved to the Capitol.)

a good quute

have you seen the tv show DC Cupcakes? Here you go! Yes, this is the waiting line to order a cupcake. Um...about an hour or so. NO- we were not that crazy. Instead, we went to another cupcakery and waited 30 minutes=) lol.

look closely- the 3 stages of the cherry blossom tree. happened to catch it just right. breath taking.

tomb of the unknown soldier. tears ran down my cheek as I witnessed the 'changing of the guards' ceremony. they do it every 30 min. there is a soldier that marches in front of the tomb 24/7. it is never left alone. what a tribute. Arlington. It was kept immaculately.

early morning of race day. This was one of our views.

check! going to Iwo Jima has been on my life 'to do' list.

this spot is the exact center of DC...and it's the exact center inside the Capital.

Jefferson.

after the race. All smiles=) A few people yelled out 'go iron man' as I was running. gave me an extra boost as it's nice to know that someone out there understands the discipline behind completing an ironman tri.

picking up race packets. Got me a new pair of running shoes!

me and herm

a fun market we found

DC was spirited and very clean and friendly.

me and herm before riding the Metro to the race

Ashlee- Herm- Me at one of the markets we went to. You wouldn't believe it if I said that about 20 min after we took this pic- it hailed on us for a small bit. HA!