Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls has been at the top of my "Places I want to visit someday" list for a very long time. Thanks to some wonderful friends I had the opportunity to see the falls this past August. Niagara Falls is an amazing place I plan to visit again!

You can see the spray from the falls long before you see the falls themselves. That's the Canadian skyline on the other side of the mist.

One of my favorite things about waterfalls is watching the water go over the edge. This photo was taken at the tip of Horseshoe Falls on the American side.

 

 An above view of the American Falls with the bridge to Canada in the background.

I wonder how many people take the time to look upriver? The site there is just as beautiful

I laughed when I saw that someone had thrown an orange object into the river . . . It was fun to watch it go over the edge.

 A side view of American Falls with Horseshoe Falls and the Canadian skyline in the background

 It was so much fun watching the changing colors of the lights shining on the falls.

I love the pink spray of the above photo and the slightly psychedelic look of the lights in the photo below.

                                                 Someday I will go back . . . .

The Last DC Post . . . . A Few Random Shots

For my last DC post I thought I would share a few random shots. There are not enough of each grouping to make a complete blog post. But there are quite a few when grouped together. So this is a long post. Have fun! :)

 

The first 3 photo's are from The American History Museum and the Natural History Museum. The Hope Diamond was pretty cool to see. The history of the diamond is written on the walls. My favorite Hope Diamond fact: the diamond was stolen and exactly 1 day after the statue of limitations from prosecution was up . . . the diamond resurfaced.

 I can't remember the history behind this boat . . . . but I remember that its old :)

                        And of course I had to get a shot of Kermit!!

          This was as close as I got to the White House this trip to DC

                        For some reason this photo makes me giggle

            The Vietnam Memorial is an amazing, emotional place

 One of our stops took us to a Bonsai exhibit. I found this tree with two-toned bark very interesting.

 My favorite part of the Bonsai exhibit was the little people they put in with the trees.

 This tiny little building reminds me of my boy's favorite TV show "The Last Air Bender"

 We spent a little time in the sculpture garden . . . I think this one looks like the Death Star

 The next 3 photo's I'm putting on the blog in honor of my son Dawson. He loved flying and anything to do with space. I had reservations about going into the Air and Space Museum because I knew it would be hard. But I wasn't prepared for how hard it was. I went straight to the Wright Brothers exhibit. I wanted to see the first airplane. As soon as I walked into the room and started reading the history of the Wright Brothers I started crying. My son would have loved this room. He would have loved seeing what all went into making the first airplane fly.

 An actual lunar landing module built by NASA . . . . and The Spirit of St. Louis

               The last several photos are from the National Zoo

 One of these day's I'll get to see a peacock with his feathers on display

 I've never seen a real panda before. It was kinda fun to watch him eat the bamboo

                                  A momma gorilla and her baby

                We could hear the lions roaring before we saw them.

 These were the most active lions I've ever seen at a zoo. In the photo below the younger lion is starting a wrestling match with the older lion. :)

Smithsonian Castle

The Smithsonian Castle was the last stop for my photography club's DC trip. Unfortunately we arrived about 10 minutes after they closed. So we wandered the grounds taking a few pictures before heading back to the hotel for our last dinner together.

WWII Memorial

I didn't get many photo's from the WWII Memorial this trip to DC. I was to busy soaking my feet in the water. We walked A LOT!!!

 

If you're interested in learning more about the memorial check out the website.

 

 

 

US Capitol

Last year I was able to take a  tour of the US Capitol. This year, with my photography club, we walked around the grounds of the Capitol. It's pretty cool to be in a place where history is made.  

                             The view from the Capitol's front porch :)