We had to be at the bus stop at 7am, so we just ate protein bars in the room before boarding the bus for Pearl Harbor, where we spent most of our day. This ended up being kind of a theme of the day as we had nothing but snacks to eat until dinner in Waikiki later.
Day 2 started with breakfast at Tropics Bar and Grill right on Waikiki beach. Kate, Olivia and I all had yummy omelets, but Sara had a big stack of chocolate chip pancakes. It came a nice little downpour but luckily we were under an umbrella big enough to keep us from getting wet.
We’ve been planning this 11-day trip to Hawaii for quite a while. We told Kate and Sara about the vacation on Christmas Day and gave them each a lei and a special countdown chalkboard to track the remaining days. They started at 204 and this morning they hit zero, which meant the travel day had arrived.
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Photo taken at: Daniel K. Inouye International Airport
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Photo taken at: Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, Minnesota
Our final day started off chilly and rainy, which resulted in a change of itinerary from the National Zoo to the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia (beside Dulles International Airport). This is a companion facility to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on the National Mall.
As usual, we had a nice breakfast in the Tennessee Dining Room at the 4-H Center and then boarded the busses for Virginia.
Our morning began again with breakfast in the Tennessee Dining Room at the 4-H Center. We then boarded the busses for the US Capitol Building to meet with Senate Chaplain Barry Black.
When we arrived we grabbed a quick picture of the entire group before heading around to the back of the building.
Our day started with a buffet breakfast in the Tennessee Dining Room at the 4-H Center, and then we boarded the bus for the Museum of the Bible, which opened in 2017.
Upon arrival we were greeted by Heather who told us a little about the museum. She explained that it is comprised of seven floors and it would take nine days (8 hours each) to see and read everything that is on exhibit. She also told us about the world’s largest upside down LCD screen that covers the ceiling of the first floor.
My oldest daughter Kate is an 8th-grader at Lipscomb Academy, and this week I have the pleasure of being a chaperone for their class field trip to Washington DC. Our trip began with a 4am wake up and then a 5am Uber to the airport. The check-in was a bit of a hassle with such a large group but was otherwise uneventful.
