Arlington to PDX

This is a high-healed shoe, the side of the hotel.  

We decided to take the metro into DC to the mall.  We got on at Court House and got off at Capitol South.

It was a gorgeous day for a walk.

Air and Space Museum.  We went in to the museum to use the restroom. We checked out the Mars Rover

We continued walking around the mall

The Hirshhorn

The building on the left is the one Nathan goes to when he goes to DC for meetings.

We took the Lyft back to the hotel.  Gathered our stuff and then took the Lyft to Sharon & Michael's place.  We had left-overs for lunch.

Grandma Pam got to read to Ella.

When Ella went down for a nap we played a game of Scattegories.

crashing after our exhausting game.  Waiting for Ella to wake up so we can take a group picture and then head off to the airport.

Ella is laughing but Michael's eyes are closed

Now Sharon's eyes are closed.

We were just getting ready to head out the door and we got a notice from Delta.  Our flight was delayed enough that we would miss our next flight to Portland.  ARGH!!! We scurried.  Jamie paid our Uber ride to the airport since the vehicle would not hold us all.  We tried to book another flight.  Whew.  Got one.  Instead of DC to Detroit to Portland we had DC to Raleigh/Durham to Minneapolis to Portland.  We thought every thing was OK.  We got to the airport and then we got another notice from Delta, the flight from Durham to Minneapolis was delayed.  Back to square one again.  

DC airport

This is where we hung out on the phone trying to come up with a 3rd plan.  Finally, we still went to Durham but then on to Atlanta and then Portland.  The flight to Durham was short.  No in-flight service.

We went on to Atlanta.  It was also a short flight, but long enough to get a free drink.  Some people did not get served at all. Luckily our gate was not far.  But we had to get a seat assignments at the gate.  None of us sat together and we each have middle seats.  The flight to Portland was long enough for me to watch 3 movies.  Rebecca met us at the plane. We were on our way home by 12:30 am.  So home safe and sound.  I hear Jamie and Pam made it home safely too.  What a nice Thanksgiving we had.  I was in bed by 1 am.

Saturday

We had a relaxed morning, with breakfast at the hotel.  We played a game of Scattergories with Linda via Skype.  She was ready for bed but she played 3 rounds with us.  That was fun.  We went on a neighborhood walk.  

We stopped at the Rosslyn metro stop to ride one of the longest escalators in USA.

219 feet long

We walked to the Dark Star park

It started to rain so we did not explore the park.  (Arlington's first major commissioned art project, Dark Star Park features large spheres designed to resemble fallen, extinguished stars. One section of the park contains spheres and poles with shadow-images inset in the ground. Each year on August 1, the day (in 1860) that William Henry Ross acquired the land that became Rosslyn, the actual shadows align with the shadow-images at 9:32 am.)

We walked back to the apartment.  

We ordered lunch from Sweet Leaf.  

I ordered a kale and spinach salad but they only put in kale.  Oh well.  

Grandpa Jamie's turn.

Nathan is telling Ella the facts of life.

Since it was raining we tried to come up with an idea of something to do.  We decided to go to the botanical gardens.  We took a Lyft.  Sharon, Michael, Ella and Pam came in the car.  They had trouble finding a parking space.

Definately raining

We wandered through the gardens.  It is a cool place.  Perfect thing to do on a rainy day.  Unfortunately we were not the only ones to think that.

It features our collection of DC landmarks (such as the U.S. Capitol, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial) made from plant materials, a model train show where the trains chug through a wonderland of buildings made from plant materials, one of the largest indoor decorated trees in the area, and a large display of poinsettia varieties.

We did not go to see the train because we would have had to wait outside in the rain to go to the room where the train was.

We took a Lyft and went back to the hotel to pick up a few things.  Because it was raining and cold we took a Lyft to Sharon and Michael's place.

We ordered delivery from a Thai food place. Sawatdee Thai.  They deliver using Uber Eats.  So with the Uber App you pay for the food and the delivery.  

Nathan's turn. 

When the food came we took a break from the game of hearts to eat.  Very good food.  Then we returned to the game once Ella had her bath and went to bed.

When we left Sharon & Michael's we hung out for a while with Jamie and Pam.  At least it was no longer raining when we went back to the hotel.