Thursday, March 26, 2009

Thursday and it's raining



Hello all. Well Thursday is done, it rained on and off all day, great, luckily we didn't have to spend a lot of time outside. Our day started at the National Cathedral, a pretty impressive place. We went from there back downtown to the Supreme Court building, and the Library of Congress. We got to go into the library of congress this year a personal first for me. I was a very impressive place, inside we saw the personal library of Thomas Jefferson and a special showing of papers and artifacts from Abraham Lincoln.

From the library we next went to the American History Smithsonian, my personal favorite, and I could tell it was some of the students favorite by comments like yeh a bunch of old stuff. Oh well you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink.

After supper we when to the Marine memorial for photos and then came back to the hotel. Three hours at the hotel hope for the best.

Tomorrow we leave for Arlington at 7:00a.m. We lay a wreath at the tomb at 9:15. We will pick up a couple of the last memorials and maybe the museum of Natural History if we have time. This will be our last blog until we are back at home for a wrap up. Thanks for following along.

Guest bloggers:
Eric McKee-
Yesterday and today, in my opinion, have been the best days so far. The Holocaust Museum yesterday was very moving. It was also very interesting to hear from John, one of our guides. As for today, the National Cathedral was amazing. It was definitely the coolest and biggest church I have ever seen. Our tour guide for the National Cathedral told us that it was long enough to fit the Washington Monument inside of it...wow.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Just another monument al day.


Slow day today. We started at the White house getting our picture taken in front. Pretty cool today first time I have ever seen the snipers on the top of the white house. The shift was changing and you can see them walking up and down from the roof with what looks like a guitar case on their backs.
Next we went to the Holocaust Memorial Museum. Very interesting but a little depressing. It is incredible what humans can do to each other.
After that we got to meet with Senator Grassely for a picture op. and get a tour of the Capital. They have built a new entrance to the capital for security reasons it is very nice.
From the capital we walked to union station for supper and shopping, followed by a guided tour of the Memorials. We saw the Washington, Lincoln, Korean, Vietnam, Jefferson and World War II.
The students happened to mention that this seemed to be a busy day. The adults didn't seem to notice, because thats just the way we roll.

Guest bloggers.
-Gage Ray
People like to ask us where we've been all today and there are just a few answers. Questions like that remind me of a Johnny Cash song, in the fact that we've been everywhere. The groups been to all the major sites, like the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the particularly moving National Holocaust Museum. We've seen all the big spots and bought many a stolen good, but we're not quite done yet so be sure to check out more blogs.

-Makaye Smith
So, today we went to the Capitol in the morning. It was really cool to see all the statues, etc, that are historical in some way. We also went to the Holocaust Museum. That is probably my favorite museum we've gone to. It was very..emotional. I saw many women and men crying walking through reading all the facts. There were also movies being played of people recalling memories of their childhood and surviving the Holocaust. I would definitely go there again if I get the chance.


Clayton Schmidt
Today we went to many places and is hard to choose the one that was the coolest to see. I would have to say it was the Holocaust Museum. There is so much to see in there you could spend a whole day in there. The second would probably be the White House. While we were at the White House we got to see the snipers change their positions.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Tuesday in DC



We started the day in Williamsburg. As we toured the old town and were told about life there in the 1700's several of us got to dress up for the occasion. After touring the town we got to do a little shopping in Ye olde shops and then took off for a three hour trip back to DC. Our first stop was the Air and Space Smithsonian. The students seemed to have a good time looking and wandering. We spent about an hour and a half there, not near long enough for some and of course too long for others. Following the museum we walked to the National Archives. Where Mr. Mehrhoff was yelled at for using his camera even though he had shut off his flash already. You can't take some poeple anywhere.

Following the Archives where we saw the Delcaration, Constitution and the Bill of Rights. We walked to the Hard Rock for some shopping and a meal. Heavy on the shopping. Our last stop of the night was a brief stop at the Kennedy preforming arts Center to look at the City by night from the terrace. A truely impressive sight at night.

Guest bloggers:

-Gage Ray
We have found ourselves as a whole collectively tired as we retire to our rooms, but know full well that we have gained much knowledge. I not sure if they don't educate us in Iowa well or what the deal is but, we are always learning somthing we had not previously known. We been everywhere around the capitol but the capitol itself. You'll have to identify with me as I am currently to distressed and tired to write everything we've done but I can assure curious persons reading this, this is quite trip and there is no possible way we can walk away without a greater appretication of history and our nations capital.

-Eric McKee
There was a lot of interesting things to do today. My favorite part was the Smithsonian Museum. There was a lot interesting planes and air crafts in there. The whole time I kept thinking my dad would like this stuff. It was also cool to get to see the Delclaration of Independence. I thought it was cool that most of the places we were walking famous people like George Washington had also walked there in the past. This city has so much history, I just wish we had enough time to see it all.

-Makaye Smith
Well, I have to say that these past two days have been quite tiring. Today was definitely not as bad as yesterday, as I actually got to sleep in a real bed, instead of plane seats or bus seats. Anyways, today we toured the Colonial Williamsburg before heading off to a 3-hour bus ride to Washington D.C. In D.C, we went to the Air and Space Museum. That was really cool, especially to see the different space crafts, etc. Then we went to the National Archive. The whole time we were there, I kept thinking, wow Nicholas Cage was in this very building, bought the same type of Declaration of Independence copy as I did, when he filmed National Treasure. I wish we could see and learn a lot more, but the experience has been great so far.

Tomorrow we will see the White house (from the outside), the capital from the Inside. the holocaust Museum, and a Night tour of the Memorials including Washington's, Jefferson's Lincoln's, the Vietnam Wall, the Korean War Memorial, the WWII Memorial and the Roosevelt Memorial. Another big day.




Monday blog
Sorry this is a little late the first hotel we stayed at didn't have FREE wireless internet and I wasn't prepared to pay for some. So here is Monday and Tuesday in the same day.

Arrived Charolette NC at 10:30 local time. Let it be know that Eric and Mr. M had to sit together and did manage to make it ok.

We had are first celebrity sighting. In Kansas City airport John Cena asked if he could have his picture taken with all the cool CAM students.

Boy are we tired. Only 13 more hours before we get to the hotel.

Guest Blogger talk about what they liked best on the trip so far.
Eric McKee
My favorite part was going to the seafood buffet. I’ve never had some of those foods. They were a bit odd. I also thought it was great how much room I got on the plane. Mr. Mehrhoff and I, the two smallest people, got to sit by each other on the plane.
Clayton Schmidt
So far my favorite part was going on the plane. It was my first time going on a plane and take off was a blast. Last night we went on the Ghost tour around Williamsburg and it was neat to hear all of the different stories about the ghost.
Makaye Smith
So far, we’ve only been to Mount Vernon and the Ghost tour. So, my favorite would have to be Mount Vernon, as it was daytime when we went, and not freezing outside. It was sort of hard for me to wrap it around my brain that Mount Vernon was Washington’s home. But it was great to see, and I’m glad we went.

We also went out at night to walk around Williamsburg while our night guide told us about the ghost of Williamsburg. Interesting but kinda cold. Didn't see any ghosts this year.

Got back to the hotel about 11:30 so only about 36 hours straight with not sleep.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Here we go.




I hope everyone's ready. The students are meeting at the school at 10:30 Sunday. I don't know how close anyone looked at the itinerary but the next time we are due to see a bed is about midnight Monday. On the bright side we aren't scheduled to be up an on the bus again until 7:30 the next morning. I love vacations. Or what ever this is called. Oh that's right an educational trip with the enhancement of sleep deprivation. I'm sure the students will stand up under it much better then I.
We all arrived by 10:35 just a little late but not too bad. After taking an unofficial poll we found that of the 47 students 23 had been to a east coast state, 16 had been east of the Mississippi and 9 had not been east of the Mississippi. For a later blog we will be seeing who hasn't flown before and who got air sickness.

Monday, March 16, 2009

One week to DC

Hello to all
Just a few things. We have checked the weather for the first part of next week. It looks like we are going to be in luck. Monday through Wednesday temperatures are in the upper fifties with partly cloudy days. No rain in the forecast yet. With us getting on and off the bus often you probably won't need a heavy coat. When we get off to walk around like at Arlington and Mount Vernon you will usually be warmed by body heat. If you usually get cold easily by all means pack a heavier coat.
Remember the lockin on Sunday night please come to the school between 10:00 and 10:30. We will be hear before that but you may not want to spend anymore time in the school then you have to. We will be leaving at 1:00 AM for KC so we like to know where everyone is so no one misses the bus.

You can bring food and snacks to school for yourself and Mr. Mehrhoff, any blankets and pillows can be locked away for the week so if you want to bring something to sleep on we can put it away before we leave.

Don't forget good walking shoes, flipflops maybe ok in some places but there are many places you will want shoes.

The Legion Auxillary from Cumberland will be at the school on Sunday night. They are the group paying for the wreath at Arlington cemetary be sure to thank them for all they have done for us.

More to come as we think about it.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Extra

There will be more information to come so check back frequently. We will post some itinerary and luggage requirements in the future. If you have any questions or comments please post them and we will respond to them.