Washington to Salt Lake (Day 9)

We got to the hotel rather late and we had to be up by 4:00 AM (2:00 AM UT time) in order to return our car and make it to the airport for our 6:00 AM flight.  The poor girls were all sleeping so soundly.

Luckily Lyla was able to keep sleeping on the plane.

Southwest sunrise.

It was good to be home and it was a lovely trip. We're grateful for Emily being such a gracious host.  We were thinking that we would be able to help her out a bit (ya know, with a 6 week old baby, deployed husband, 3 other kids, etc.), but to the contrary there was not really much we could have done to help as she had everything at home running smoothly.  In fact, our disruption of the routine was probably more detrimental.

The House - Week 20

Week 20 - March 9, 2015

This week was mainly focused on sheetrock throughout the house.  However, the exterior stone and tarpaper was also delivered.

Gas meter installed and ready to go.

Sheetrock installation started upstairs in the toy room.

Here they are hanging sheetrock in the bedrooms (ceilings were done first).

Looking from Ada's room out into the hallway.

A view from the rear of the house.

In the garage.  The spray on insulation above the ceiling on the outside of the toy room walls.

Blown in insulation in the garage wall.  "Put 5/8" drywall in this garage."

Exterior rock, mortar, wire mesh, etc.

Sheetrocking the great room.

The great room and homework nook ceiling.

Another view.

The basement is fully stocked with mud and sheetrock.  I really want to know how they got the basement loaded.  Any way you slice it, that does not sound fun,

No rock. Only hip hop allowed.

Adding the rock to the front of the house.

Another view.

Close up view of the rock.

A view of the great room ceiling from the upstairs.  Who is going to change those lights?

Looking into the toy room.

From the upstairs landing looking down towards the front door.

Basement ceilings and top wall panels are done.

Looking towards the basement kitchen.

In the telecom/AV room.  I would have been ok leaving this room un-sheetrocked, but no biggie.

Basement hallway.

The weekly update of our neighbors to the south.  Both homes are moving along.

Most of the exterior has been caulked in preparation for painting.

Wide angle view of the great room, kitchen and upstairs overlook.

Sheetrock in the garage.  That had better be 5/8" sheetrock.

Looking towards the front door.

Kate in the breakfast nook.

Basement is done. Mud and tape is stocked and ready.

Looking into the theater room.

A trend has been to use quick connects with outlets and switches.  It looks like that is what the electrician will be doing in our house as well.

A view of the front.  The rock on the front is about halfway done.

A close-up of the corner rockwork.

Next week: Finishing the rockwork and starting the mudding and taping.

Yorktown to Gettysburg (Day 8)

We didn't do a ton today, as most of our time was spent in the car.

For breakfast, I had the huge eclair that we got at Rigoletto's Italian Bakery and Cafe the night before.  It was decent, but I should have let it warm up to room temperature to soften the chocolate a bit.

I just loved the Peterson's lovely house and neighborhood.  We don't get too many trees like this in Utah.

While we stayed home with the kids, Emily made a run to Sam's Club sans kiddos.  When she returned we packed up our rental car and headed out.

There were basically two things that we really wanted to do, but we only had time for one of them. We wanted to go to the Holocaust Museum in DC and visit Gettysburg.  About halfway to DC we decided to drive straight on to Getttysburg.  In normal traffic it's about a 4 hour drive, but for us with construction and because we hit rush-hour traffic it took about 6 hours.  We got to the museum and visitor center about 20 minutes before they were scheduled to close.  Luckily, we were able to still do the driving battlefield tour.

The Gettysburg Address was not a long one, but it is one of my my favorite Presidential speeches. It was given a few months after the battle as a dedication of the battlefield as the final resting place for those who died.  "The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here."

Mr. President. Kate's getting a little frisky with him.

Ada didn't want to be left out and made sure to give him a nice scalp massage.

The area all around the town of Gettysburg is covered with memorials and monuments.  We took the driving tour of the battlefields and stopped at the major sites.  This is a place that I would love to come back and spend a couple of days listening, reading, exploring and contemplating the sacrifices that were made here that all man may have equal rights.

Alison and a man on a horse.

Gettysburg. I love this picture.  We're at a high point looking out over the battlefield.

This picture is at the same location as the one above, just a different angle.

There was a castle monument that the girls were excited to climb.

Gettysburg.

Once the sun went down, we grabbed some chow to eat on our drive. We made a little detour on our drive down to Washington.  We drove to Harpers Ferry in West Virginia, stopped at a gas station for some snacks and then made our way back down to DC.  We had a hotel room booked near Dulles because our flight home left early the next morning.