East Coast

I just got back from a week on the East Coast. It is nice to spend time out there if only to remind me why I like living where we do. Still, I really enjoyed the visit as I got to go to several places that I have always wanted to see. Tuesday, I had a relatively free day, only needing to make the four hour drive from State College to Kensington, MD, so I decided to take some time to look around. I drove down to West Virginia which was very beautiful. Having mostly stuck to the coast in the east, it was wonderful to be in the mountains covered with deciduous trees. The towns that I went through had some real character. From there I drove over to Delaware which was much less interesting, mostly looking like most of the coastal region that I had already visited. From there, I went to visit our good friends, the Houses, who live in Kensington, MD, just outside the Beltway, and kindly agreed to put me up for a couple of days. As I was driving down the beltway, I was surprised, as I have often heard I would be, by the wonderful sight of the temple. The Houses live only 10 minutes away from there so I got to go back the next night and spend some time on the grounds. I love the peace you feel walking on temple grounds, and that temple is sublimely beautiful at night.

After the temple visit, Brent and I decided to go down town to visit the sights. I had not even considered this a possibility, but thought it was a great idea. D.C. is beautiful at night and Brent took me to see many of the memorials around the mall. It was incredible being in the places that I have seen so many times in pictures, although in the heat of the moment, all I could remember was Forrest Gump; man, I should have never watched that movie. All of the presidential memorials were inspiring; the war memorials were haunting and somber. All in all, it was a wonderful night. Thanks to Brent for taking me down there.

The pictures are from our trip to Silverwood and Faragut S.P. We had a great time at the beach. I am still trying to recover from "Elvis" and his never ending Paratroooper adventure. There definitely is such a thing as too much of a good thing.