Time Machine Travelogue Thirteen

A Capital Idea

My robot is ready for reinsertion into the past.  Because of nano-technology the robot is small enough not to be seen in the past location.  Luckily, we are returning to a previous location.  At a time, we have been to before.  We are booking reservations for our next trip to Washington D.C.  This was the last day of our field trip before moving on to the next location New York City.  So put 2008 songs on your iPod because we will leave immediately.  Sit back we are on our way again.

Not only did the Egyptins use Obelisks.

In Washington you are surrounded by history.  We have statues and monuments everywhere.  The Washington Monument was erected to honor our first president George Washington.  People often ask me how tall the obelisk is?  I have the answer for you right here. "It is this tall."

Seems taller doesn't it.

  Did you ever want to go some place and when you got there the line was so long?  Add to that the fact that you are on a tour and you have hard deadline's to adhere to.  Well that is what happened when we tried to go to the National Archive.  The National Archive is where all the documents that are important to our nations founding are on display.  The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are exhibited there.  However, with the line as long as it was, we opted to leave and explore other sites.  But we have a great picture of the outside of the building.  Watch National Treasure to see the inside.

The documents that created our country are inside here.

A freize inspired by the democracy of Ancient Greece.

We did have one more exciting place to visit.  Back to the Smithsonian and a visit to the National Museum of Natural History.  Let's all walk in the museum the admission is free.  As we enter the Rotunda, we are standing face to face with an African Bull elephant.

The African elephant in the Rotunda.

This elephant is eight-tons and 13 feet tall.

From the Rotunda you can branch out into different rooms.  One of the rooms is the Dinosaur Hall.  There are fossil remains of many different species of these ancient creatures that once were the Lords of the Earth.  During my life time dinosaurs have gone from slow plodding lizard like reptiles to fast moving elegant creatures.  They have been identified as the ancestors of modern day birds.  I wonder if dinosaurs taste like chicken.  Maybe we should ask Fred Flintsone if those Bronto ribs the car hop puts on top of the car tasted like chicken.  But how would he know.  Research exploded in the dinosaur field since the 1970's.  Search for these once magnificent animals has expanded around the globe.  Our natural curiosity won't let rest as long as there is still a mystery.  So walk this way and see a small sample of the dinosaurs.

Those small little mammals look delicious.

A face only a mother can love.

Doesn't he look like he's smiling?

The fossil collection is not only limited to dinosaurs.  That is why excavations of any fossil digs require a pain staking exactness.  There are clues to find in and around the place where these creatures died and were buried leading to their fossilization. Plants, insects, and gastroliths, stones swallowed by herbivores to aid in the break down rough plant matter in their stomach, are clues to how these creatures lived and what they ate.  Many fossils are produced in what were once ancient oceans and inland seas.

This display would take up a whole wall in the average size home. It is worth seeing in person.

Another hall contains mammals.  Static display of animals in museums have always fascinated me. When I was younger, I visited the Historical Museum in Helena, Montana.  There was a display of a white buffalo called Big Medicine.  It was incredible.  Also my great grandfather was a avid hunter and had a large display of taxidermied mammals and birds.  Some of which my brother still has in his home.

Looks like he is needing a dance partner, any takers?

The grizzly bear has held a special charm for the people of Washington since the time of Lewis and Clark.  These bears were ferocious and ill tempered.  They had no fear of humans and guns.  It was reported by Mountain Men that shooting them made them madder.  Another animal that I enjoyed is found along the California Coast.  They were hunted nearly to extinction and are only now coming back.  The sea otter was revered for its thick fur that kept them warm in the cold Pacific waters.

The Lord of the kelp forest.

The successor to dinosaurs.

It is hard to believe that the great hairy creatures of the globe evolved from something as small as this little mammal.
My wife and I both have an avocation of working on jewelry.  We use gems and minerals to create necklaces, bracelets, earings and rings.  We aren't Tiffany's but we enjoy working with the Earth's infinite and beautiful gifts.  I was unavoidably drawn to the National Museum of Natural History's Gem and Mineral exhibit.  They have displays of raw gems and minerals and exquisite precious stone jewelry pieces.

Aquamarine, the birthstone for March.

Looks better laying on its side.

Even the simplest quartz looks awesome.

The magic of jewelry is taking the raw miner's grade stones and cutting, faceting, and setting the stones into exotic pieces of art that increases the beauty and value. 

The Hazen diamond necklace by Harry Winston.

I'd buy it if I won the lottery.

Kunzite created for the 100th Anniverasy of Tiffanys

One stone that has undergone many changes is the famous Hope Diamond.  A rare blue diamond that has been labeled as cursed.  It was said to have been plucked from an Indian Idol.  It has brought death and misery to the people who own it.  Now it is in the Smithsonian and you could say it is owned by all of us Americans.  Feeling cursed yet?

A blue diamond a billion years old and still looking great.

The museums of the Smithsonian are too many to visit in a month yet four days on a field trip.  I would have liked to have seen James Whistler's Peacock Room, but there was no time.  From here, we took a bus to New York City.  On this time trip, we are coming to an end too.  So we are powering up for our reinsertion into our own time.  Funny thing about time is it is infinite and never enough at the same time.  Good bye for now look for our next time trip.