A Trip I'll Never Forget

Yesterday Leyden and I returned home from an 8-day trip with Mom and Dad. We drove to Deltaville, Virginia to visit our cousins, Don and Alice Leyden. (Leyden LOVES seeing the Leydens - especially all of them at once - because she isn't the only Leyden when they're around!)

We had a fabulous trip, thanks to our gracious hosts. We had a wonderful sailing expedition, where Leyden Skipper and Skipper Leyden showed us a good time on the Piankatank River. We went sightseeing in the area, ate lunch on the York River, and took a day trip (by train!) to Washington, D.C. Hopefully, I will have my pictures on CD soon and will be able to post some of them here.

"Papa Don" and "Cousin Alice" were the sweetest hosts anyone could ever imagine. They had our days planned out and I felt like they really put out the red carpet for us. Leyden and I enjoyed visiting their church. The people were so warm and friendly, we wish we could go there very Sunday! Their village is so neat and inviting, and we really hated to leave. Leyden cried when we left and is already planning her next trip!

The trip to D.C. was quite exciting, because Mom, Leyden and I had never been on a passenger train before, and we had never been to Washington, D.C. before. We also took a cab to the Hard Rock Cafe, and Leyden will have to tell you how she felt about her first cab ride. (The cabbie didn't speak much English!) Union Station is amazing, and I am so glad that I was able to see my nation's capitol in person. TV and pictures don't quite do it justice!

We didn't have a whole lot of time in D.C., so we took a tour bus around the city. It made several stops, and you could get off and look around and catch the next bus. We didn't get off at every stop, but we got off at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Mom, Dad, Leyden and I saw the Hope Diamond, and it is breaktaking! Leyden and I visited the Butterfly Exhibit, which was smaller than the Butterfly Center at Callaway Gardens, so the butterflies get closer to you. One actually landed on Leyden's head. Then, Mom and Leyden and I navigated around the throngs of school children to see the dinosaur exhibit. Amazing - just like in the movies! We also got off the tour bus at the Lincoln Memorial. Mom and Leyden and I walked to the top and took our picture with Lincoln's statue. We also took pictures of the Washington Memorial across the little pond. Included in our tour was the Arlington National Cemetery. Quite a moving cemetery to visit, knowing that all those stones represent people who have helped provide me with the ability to live in a free country. We were able to see the changing of the guard and a wreath-laying ceremony. We also saw the graves of JFK and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. It was very moving.

This was definitely a trip I'll never forget.