Limber Pine Hike

Up at Bear Lake there is this hike called the Limber Pine Trail.  We haven't done it for years, until someone last weekend suggested we do!

It was so fun to see the wildlife and we nicknamed it butterfly alley because literally everywhere there were bright orange butterflies everywhere where we looked!

I love doing the forgotten parts of a vacation over again to remind yourself how much you love something :)

Our first taste of Coronado

So we have these fabulous friends who tell us about their adventures in Coronado every year and how beautiful and amazing it is. 

When we went to visit family in Cali for labor day, we decided to spend a day in Coronado and boy was it not enough!  We should have taken their word for it and planned to stay an extra day.

The beach was so warm and empty and the views were incredible.  While Brian was napping I took a long barefoot walk along the beach just snapping pictures and taking it all in.  It was amazing how close the seagulls let me get to take their pictures too!

We brought some boogie boards but the water was pretty chilly.  That didn't stop me though.  Brian took a gazillion pictures of me out in the waves getting hit again and again.  They are pretty hilarious.  Too hilarious to post on the blog.  You might fall off your chair laughing :)

After we went exploring the hotel del coronado.  We heard some ridiculously cool stories about the hotel from locals and even got to ride in an old fashioned elevator with an operator and cage and everything. 

By the time the sun was setting we had made up our minds we would be back and this time for more than a few hours.  Coronado is truly one of our new favorite places.  

National capitol

Can I just say that this place is so much bigger in person? I had NO idea. Stunning too.

A day at the museum

I am SO into museums it is not even funny! We were lucky to spend a few hours at the Smithsonian natural museum of history while in D.C. and I was like a kid in a candy store. I told Brian someday we will come back just for the museums because there are 12 different Smithsonian museums. I want to see it all!

Lincoln and Ford's Theatre

This was an especially emotional stop for me on our tour around D.C. President Lincoln was my favorite president and I love learning about him.

I didn't even know that Ford's theatre was a stop on our bus tour so it was a pleasant surprise when I heard it.

I was surprised that this old historical theater was on a busy street and right next to a tavern and a strip mall. I guess I always kind of pictured it in a really old fashioned area, and might be kind of isolated.

Inside they had remodeled it so it looked completely different than it did in Lincolns day, and across the street was the house where he was taken after he was shot, and later passed away.

I tried to imagine what it would be like during that time. To see everyone in commotion and his family rushing him across the street to that old house to care for.

It was pretty hard to do with all the cars passing and noise from the bar, and I thought how amazing it was that this place had changed so much in 150 years. If they could only see it today they would hardly recognize it I bet.

Tomb of the unknown soldier

At Arlington cemetery there is a monument dedicated to the unknown soldiers buried there. It is guarded 24 hours a day, every day of the year, rain or shine. Every hour on the hour a ceremony is performed calling the changing of the guard. I had only heard of this and seeing it in person was something I cannot describe with words. It was incredible and only magnified the feelings I already felt while visiting the cemetery. I am pretty sure there wasn't a dry eye there. They had veterans involved and seeing the young and the old salute together, unified in their cause was something I will never forget.