We drove up north to go to a funeral wake. Gary’s Uncle died at the age of 92 last Saturday.

We were really glad we were able to be there for sweet Aunt Leona, and I think she really appreciated us being there. There were a lot of people that came to see her which was nice and kept her occupied in the receiving line. I think she held up pretty well, seeing as she had been somewhat dreading the date but looking forward to getting it done with, since Uncle Henry had died on Saturday but didn’t get buried until Friday.

It was my first dead body that I can recall. I am used to cremations, so I never had to actually see someone after they passed. I’m glad it was someone that was more distant, because I don’t know if I would be able to deal with seeing someone I was closer with in that state. Sad to say though, that Uncle Henry looked better dead than alive towards the end. I was fortunate enough to see him in May though (2 months ago).

Driving up on Wednesday the 4th was lovely, in that there was no traffic to get stuck in whatsoever. CNN news apparently said this would be the worst travel day due to low gas prices, but they were wrong. No traffic, not even in DC.

We made it to Baltimore the next day to pick up Gary’s parents from the airport. Beforehand we had time to go to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore for lunch, which unfortunately wasn’t the best, but we did get to stop in to massive Barnes and Noble.

We went to DC for a vacation with Gary’s parents for the weekend to celebrate his birthday which was last month. We had planned this trip a while ago, but little did we know that the record high temperatures we had back home only a couple of weeks ago were going to follow us and be record high temperatures for DC this time of year.

Between 100 and 106 degrees with rediculous humidity, we tried walking in the bits of shade from the hotel to the metro – metro to museum. How glorious it was to come back to the hotel after walking in the heat to our . . . as Gary put it “meat locker”. I’m pretty sure our hotel room was at a steady 60 degrees during the day and 65 at night, since as I put it “I’d like to feel my toes”.

On Friday the 6th, we went to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Saw all there was to see there. My favourite sections were seeing thoughts of flight, even before a plane was ever brought about. Such as the winged creatures and Cyrano de Bergerac aloft by bottles of dew tied to his belt. I also liked the sculpture depicting the big bang.

Sunday the 7th we went to the Smithsonian Natural Science Museum during the day, and the Washington National Symphony in the Evening (an outdoor event). I so absolutely love Natural History Museums. I think I want to visit every single one that I can. We saw most of the museum, including the (very small) ‘Korea Gallery’ which I have wanted to see for a while now, and the Hope Diamond my mom said, “you must see”.

The symphony was held at Wolftrap, an outdoor pavilion, which was a really great performance (that would have been even more enjoyable if we weren’t sweating so much) by the National Symphony Orchestra for this one night only. The conductor’s shirt was soaked by intermission … good thing he brought a change of clothes. Even with the sun set, it was still hot.

The evening’s pieces were a collection of popular John Williams pieces from movies. Superman, Jaws, Memoirs of a Geisha, ET, Harry Potter, and Star Wars.

The best pieces in my opinion (though all very good minus the bubble bubble toil and trouble choralle) were the Star Wars pieces. They even had storm troopers and other people in costume, which was kind of fun. I’m glad they didn’t have people dressed up for all the pieces, but it was apropos for Star Wars.

Sunday, Gary’s mom and I went to the Smithsonian American History Museum while Gary and his dad sat in “the hottest baseball game I have ever been to”. A quote said by both of them.  The museum was interesting, though not my favourite, but it was the closest walking distance from the metro.  So we went there for a few hours, had lunch, and then relaxed at the hotel lobby reading until it was time for us to drive home.