Vacation Update!

Richard and I had an absolute BLAST on our vacation on the East coast. It was packed with fun every day, and I was able to fulfill some of my life's dreams! I'm going to have to think of some new ones now!
July 3
We were traveling most of the day - We flew from LA to Denver, had a 2 hour layover, then flew in to Baltimore. We got there at midnight, so we went straight to our hotel for the night.
July 4
We took a bus to the Subway station, driven by this crazy lady. She was yelling the whole time, and driving like a maniac! It was great. We were only scared for our lives for part of the time. Then, we took the subway to Arlington National Cemetery. It was my first time on a subway, so I was a little nervous. But it turned out to be just fine, and it made it really easy to get around. The Cemetery was amazing. I felt so much gratitude for all of those soldiers who would give up so much, even their lives for the sake of a free country. It was overwhelming to look in every direction, and see headstones as far as you could see. The thing that really hit us while we were there, was that you can't just look at the people who died in war as one big group. Each one of them had families and people who loved them, and who grieved their death. They paid a high price to give me freedom. Even though I know that I sometimes take it for granted, I am so thankful to live in a free country. I am glad that I can do the things that bring me joy, and that I can choose to live according to my own conscience.
Anyway, after Arlington, we went to D.C. to see the Smithsonian museums and the fireworks show. We saw the "America at War" exhibit in the Museum of American History, which we thought was very appropriate for the 4th. It started from the Revolutionary war, and went all the way up to the present. I've never been super interested in learning about war, but I actually found the exhibit to be really interesting. I really enjoyed it, but I think Richard's joy exceeded my understanding. He just ate everything up. We spent a looong time in that exhibit. We also went to the Museum of natural history, which was pretty cool too!
After that, we met up with the Patterson clan, at the Washington Monument, had dinner and watched the most amazing fireworks show I have ever (and probably will ever) seen! It was so cool, they were so big and close, I could feel the booms in my chest, and my arm hairs were vibrating. I LOVED it!
The next few days, we hung out with family, and were able to be there for some family milestones: John's baptism, and Stephen's Eagle Court of Honor. It was great, we were glad that we could be there for those. OH, and we also took a short tour of Gettysburg with the siblings and Grammy. That was pretty interesting, too. I think I forgot the importance of Gettysburg until we went and visited - it was the turning point in the Civil War, when the Union army started winning.
For the last half of the week, we drove up to New York, and went through countless toll roads (I'm still kind of bitter about all the extra money we paid to drive) to get to our destinations. Our first place we visited in New York was the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was amazing. I could hardly believe I was there! I loved all of the history behind all of it, and was sad that we didn't have enough time to really soak everything up. Hopefully, we'll go back again someday! After our time in Manhattan, we drove to Times Square, and got to have a special parking garage experience.... Parking there made me really see the value in riding the subway. Not only do you save yourself the trouble of dealing with ridiculous traffic, and aggressive drivers, but you don't have to pay a fortune to park, and still wonder if you'll ever see your car/possessions in the car again. Picture this: You drive into a dimly lit parking garage, with disintegrating cement floors, and cars parked haphazardly all around. Not only that, but scattered all around the cars are these little carts that are packed full of stuff, and covered in plastic tarps that you can't see through... hmmm. Was it wrong of me to worry?
Anyway, after that warm fuzzy experience, we went to do two of my life's goals in NYC: 1) eat New York Pizza IN New York and 2) see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway!!! Man, that was one of the best days EVER! I loved seeing the Phantom of the Opera, it was an amazing show. I was really impressed to see such a quality production. I only wish I hadn't seen the movie so many times, so that I wouldn't have compared their singing voices the whole time. But I loved it, all the same. it was amazing, and I'm so glad Richard thought of doing that!
The next day, we drove to Palmyra, NY for the Hill Cumorah Pageant. That was pretty amazing too. I have never seen effects like they used on stage for that. It was very impressive. Not only was it a high quality production, but the spirit was there. It was amazing. I just loved every second of that.
I loved being able to go on this trip with Richard. He's so fun to be with, and he just makes everything so much better. And this whole trip was his idea! He's amazing.
Well, sorry to write such a long post, I guess its more of a journal entry/history keeping kind of thing this time.