Ben's Blog: Day 16
Today, as a result of yesterday's fiasco, was a do nothing day. I don't know if you're familiar with the term, but it means what it says. We went nowhere. We saw nothing. We did nothing (of historical/religious significance). I was on Facebook and Youtube all day.
There's really not anything to report. I don't know where we're going... (Wait, scratch that, my mom just told me we're going to Philadelphia. That would explain why they're watching National Treasure...) I really can barely remember where we've been. Up 'til now I'd forgotten where I am now.
...*sigh*...
I'm just gonna fade into blissful nothingness now. Goodnight. Or evening, depending on where you are.
-Same Place As Yesterday,
Ben
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Day 15: We Visit Blankety Blank D.C. (As My Dad Calls It)
Ben's Blog: Day 15
Today was the sojourn to D.C.. (There's that double period again.) I woke up under a table. It was a rather nice table, nicely colored and all that. I had chose under the table as a place to sleep, because I reasoned that no one would step on me. Thankfully I was right.
After showering and eating breakfast, we quickly packed, and set off. The day was sweltering. We expected to be fine, after all, we had an air conditioned car. How wrong we were.
My mother had deigned to meet a friend for lunch before we explored D.C.. This meant parking a half mile away from where we wanted to be, and walking all the way to the restaurant. It was hot. (The day, not the restaurant.) Lunch was predominated by Kimberly alternatively screaming, and acting hyper. The caffeinated soda didn't help. After the ____ of a lunch, (feel free to put whatever word you wish there... Preferably an expletive.) we walked back through the heat, to take my first metro ride ever.
The metro was pretty cool. (As in interesting, not low-temperature.) I had to stand... The upside of this was that Jonathan and Kimberly from then on thought standing was "cool" and tried to do so on each subsequent ride... Meaning I got a seat. Yay role models.
I won't bore you with the details of our trip to D.C., but instead highlight what I thought was exciting. The National Art Gallery was pretty sweet. I asked to go there because I knew my siblings would hate it. Hehehehe....
The Air and Space Museum was nice. Lots of cool displays. I can't remember specific details. It was yesterday after all. I can barely remember what I had for lunch.
(I think it was a sandwich...)
Our next stop was the Museum of Natural History. Also our last stop, because Kimberly and others were getting tired. That was nice. Chris and I went off on our own. Lots of gift shops and such.
Then it was time to leave. Long metro ride, then a walk to the parking garage. It was really, really hot. Turns out we picked the hottest day, on record, since 1934. Ouch.
Anyway... My dad wanted to drive around and see some monuments before we left. That was around when the expletives set in. The GPS giving bad directions didn't help. Eventually Dad just gave up and headed back to our relatives' house. Well, we stopped at a Temple on the way back, but that was it.
[Truthful Interjection #17: Well, the swearing chain actually got started when we were backing out of the parking garage, and broke off our car mirror. What ensued in the next hour was more swearing from either of my parents than I've heard them use, throughout my entire life, combined. Final conclusion: We are not moving to D.C. anytime soon.]
Alright. I'm tired of D.C.. Later.
-A City, (Not Actually Allentown, Turns Out, But Somewhere Near) Pennsylvania,
Ben
Today was the sojourn to D.C.. (There's that double period again.) I woke up under a table. It was a rather nice table, nicely colored and all that. I had chose under the table as a place to sleep, because I reasoned that no one would step on me. Thankfully I was right.
After showering and eating breakfast, we quickly packed, and set off. The day was sweltering. We expected to be fine, after all, we had an air conditioned car. How wrong we were.
My mother had deigned to meet a friend for lunch before we explored D.C.. This meant parking a half mile away from where we wanted to be, and walking all the way to the restaurant. It was hot. (The day, not the restaurant.) Lunch was predominated by Kimberly alternatively screaming, and acting hyper. The caffeinated soda didn't help. After the ____ of a lunch, (feel free to put whatever word you wish there... Preferably an expletive.) we walked back through the heat, to take my first metro ride ever.
The metro was pretty cool. (As in interesting, not low-temperature.) I had to stand... The upside of this was that Jonathan and Kimberly from then on thought standing was "cool" and tried to do so on each subsequent ride... Meaning I got a seat. Yay role models.
I won't bore you with the details of our trip to D.C., but instead highlight what I thought was exciting. The National Art Gallery was pretty sweet. I asked to go there because I knew my siblings would hate it. Hehehehe....
The Air and Space Museum was nice. Lots of cool displays. I can't remember specific details. It was yesterday after all. I can barely remember what I had for lunch.
(I think it was a sandwich...)
Our next stop was the Museum of Natural History. Also our last stop, because Kimberly and others were getting tired. That was nice. Chris and I went off on our own. Lots of gift shops and such.
Then it was time to leave. Long metro ride, then a walk to the parking garage. It was really, really hot. Turns out we picked the hottest day, on record, since 1934. Ouch.
Anyway... My dad wanted to drive around and see some monuments before we left. That was around when the expletives set in. The GPS giving bad directions didn't help. Eventually Dad just gave up and headed back to our relatives' house. Well, we stopped at a Temple on the way back, but that was it.
[Truthful Interjection #17: Well, the swearing chain actually got started when we were backing out of the parking garage, and broke off our car mirror. What ensued in the next hour was more swearing from either of my parents than I've heard them use, throughout my entire life, combined. Final conclusion: We are not moving to D.C. anytime soon.]
Alright. I'm tired of D.C.. Later.
-A City, (Not Actually Allentown, Turns Out, But Somewhere Near) Pennsylvania,
Ben
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Day 14: I Like The Number 14... Not Sure Why
Ben's Blog: Day 14
Today... I was woken up, yet again, way before a time that was even halfway decent. After waking at this ungodly hour, I was thrown a pile of clothing and told to shower, which I did. I must say, cold showers are quite splendid in a hot climate.
[Truthful Interjection #16: I doubt that the hour at which I was woken was all that ungodly... I really don't know. I'm not one for caring about, let alone checking, the time.]
After eating breakfast and writing several blog entries, we were off... Or at least we would be, an hour or so later than planned. With all this heat, I've probably sweated off all my baby fat. Contrary to popular belief, I do have a little bit of fat on my body. I'm not entirely skin and bones.
Today we were headed to Washington D.C.. (It feels awkward putting a period there, but I really don't know how I'm supposed to end that sort of sentence.) We travelled for quite some time, and finally arrived. Our relatives also came. It was nice because all the children (Excepting Kimberly) piled into my Aunt and Uncle's minivan. Why does everyone in my extended family own a minivan? [Insert joke about mormons and big families.]
We took an "Auto Tour", which means we got to sit in the car, and drive by famous things and such, occasionally stopping so my father could take pictures. I wasn't complaining. Air conditioned comfort beats walking in the heat any day. After that we went to Arlington Nation Cemetery... at least that's what I think it was called. It's a cemetery for soldiers and other patriotic heroes. Quite fantastic. We watched the "Changing Of The Guard" ceremony at the Grave of the Unknown Soldier. I should think that it gets awfully dull guarding there. Doing the same thing for 15 minutes, let alone however long they do it, causes me to get the urge to do something fantastic, to break the tedium. (Unless of course it's something fantastic already.) I think I saw one of the guards try and hide a smile while his commanding officer stood rather close to him. I know I was trying to hide a laugh.
We are now staying the night in some relation or other's house, in order to make our sojourn to D.C. tomorrow shorter. Should be fun. Hopefully I can obtain the Wi-Fi password.
-Somewhere, Someplace, Between Pennsylvania And Washington D.C.,
Ben
(I hate putting punctuation after punctuation.)
Today... I was woken up, yet again, way before a time that was even halfway decent. After waking at this ungodly hour, I was thrown a pile of clothing and told to shower, which I did. I must say, cold showers are quite splendid in a hot climate.
[Truthful Interjection #16: I doubt that the hour at which I was woken was all that ungodly... I really don't know. I'm not one for caring about, let alone checking, the time.]
After eating breakfast and writing several blog entries, we were off... Or at least we would be, an hour or so later than planned. With all this heat, I've probably sweated off all my baby fat. Contrary to popular belief, I do have a little bit of fat on my body. I'm not entirely skin and bones.
Today we were headed to Washington D.C.. (It feels awkward putting a period there, but I really don't know how I'm supposed to end that sort of sentence.) We travelled for quite some time, and finally arrived. Our relatives also came. It was nice because all the children (Excepting Kimberly) piled into my Aunt and Uncle's minivan. Why does everyone in my extended family own a minivan? [Insert joke about mormons and big families.]
We took an "Auto Tour", which means we got to sit in the car, and drive by famous things and such, occasionally stopping so my father could take pictures. I wasn't complaining. Air conditioned comfort beats walking in the heat any day. After that we went to Arlington Nation Cemetery... at least that's what I think it was called. It's a cemetery for soldiers and other patriotic heroes. Quite fantastic. We watched the "Changing Of The Guard" ceremony at the Grave of the Unknown Soldier. I should think that it gets awfully dull guarding there. Doing the same thing for 15 minutes, let alone however long they do it, causes me to get the urge to do something fantastic, to break the tedium. (Unless of course it's something fantastic already.) I think I saw one of the guards try and hide a smile while his commanding officer stood rather close to him. I know I was trying to hide a laugh.
We are now staying the night in some relation or other's house, in order to make our sojourn to D.C. tomorrow shorter. Should be fun. Hopefully I can obtain the Wi-Fi password.
-Somewhere, Someplace, Between Pennsylvania And Washington D.C.,
Ben
(I hate putting punctuation after punctuation.)
Day 13: A Garden Of Epic Proportions
Ben's Blog: Day 13
This is getting ridiculous. I've got to keep up with this thing better. Two days is unacceptable. Although I have a valid reason for not writing Day 13 the night of.
Today we went to Longwood Gardens. Oh my... Never have a seen such a beautiful place. There were plants everywhere, in every shape, size, and variety one can imagine. There were tall plants, there were short plants, there were plants that hung from the ceiling (man, I hate the word ceiling. It's impossible to spell right) there were plants that ate insects. I could go on and on for days. And then there were the fountains... My description could never do the place justice. Here's the official website if you're interested: http://www.longwoodgardens.org/
I wish I had a camera attached to my eyeballs so I could show you the place. It was freaking incredible. I wish I'd brought my friend Daniel, because he would probably... well, I don't even know what he would do. Something extreme. The boy loves plants.
Anyway, I feel like my tone of utmost amazement is getting rather tawdry, so I'll just finish it up with: "OHMYGOODNESSITWASABSOLUTELYAMAZINGWITHOUTADOUBTTHECOOLESTPLACEI'VESEENONTHISTRIPOHMY!"
[Insert long breath here.]
And then there was the "Lights" exhibit. So many fiber optics and such. It was pure beauty. (Ugh. I'm starting to sound poetic. Better stop that.) We stayed until around 11:00, but I wish we could have stayed longer. It was that cool.
OH! There was also this... I can't think of any other way to describe it than 'gorgeous', piano. My fingers were itching terribly to play it. In addition there was a pipe organ, which kind of made me weak in the knees. Both were splendid instruments.
[Truthful Interjection #15: I'm a bit of an enthusiast for keyboard based instruments, from pianos to pipe organs, and marimbas to all forms of mallet instruments. Yes, I know a marimba counts as a mallet instrument, I just wanted to force the alliteration.]
By the time we got back, I was so tired that I fell asleep almost instantly. That's all for Day 13.
-Allentown (I Found Out The City), Pennsylvania,
Ben
This is getting ridiculous. I've got to keep up with this thing better. Two days is unacceptable. Although I have a valid reason for not writing Day 13 the night of.
Today we went to Longwood Gardens. Oh my... Never have a seen such a beautiful place. There were plants everywhere, in every shape, size, and variety one can imagine. There were tall plants, there were short plants, there were plants that hung from the ceiling (man, I hate the word ceiling. It's impossible to spell right) there were plants that ate insects. I could go on and on for days. And then there were the fountains... My description could never do the place justice. Here's the official website if you're interested: http://www.longwoodgardens.org/
I wish I had a camera attached to my eyeballs so I could show you the place. It was freaking incredible. I wish I'd brought my friend Daniel, because he would probably... well, I don't even know what he would do. Something extreme. The boy loves plants.
Anyway, I feel like my tone of utmost amazement is getting rather tawdry, so I'll just finish it up with: "OHMYGOODNESSITWASABSOLUTELYAMAZINGWITHOUTADOUBTTHECOOLESTPLACEI'VESEENONTHISTRIPOHMY!"
[Insert long breath here.]
And then there was the "Lights" exhibit. So many fiber optics and such. It was pure beauty. (Ugh. I'm starting to sound poetic. Better stop that.) We stayed until around 11:00, but I wish we could have stayed longer. It was that cool.
OH! There was also this... I can't think of any other way to describe it than 'gorgeous', piano. My fingers were itching terribly to play it. In addition there was a pipe organ, which kind of made me weak in the knees. Both were splendid instruments.
[Truthful Interjection #15: I'm a bit of an enthusiast for keyboard based instruments, from pianos to pipe organs, and marimbas to all forms of mallet instruments. Yes, I know a marimba counts as a mallet instrument, I just wanted to force the alliteration.]
By the time we got back, I was so tired that I fell asleep almost instantly. That's all for Day 13.
-Allentown (I Found Out The City), Pennsylvania,
Ben
Day 12: ICE CREAM!
Ben's Blog: Day 12
Alright. I confess. I'm two days behind on this thing, so get ready for a lot of made up stories to replace the things I've forgotten.
I woke up on a couch. A nice change. I didn't sleep well last night. I must say, I'll be glad when we get back to washington where I have my own bed and room. And where I can sleep in as late as I want.
Today we decided to head to a farm. I wasn't all that thrilled, but it turned out to be okay. There were all sorts of animals (imagine that) and because of this, all sorts of... well... poop. It was everywhere. Somehow I avoided getting any on my shoes. My poor converse.
We spent a large portion of the day on the farm. After that we went and picked fresh vegetables. Even though I didn't enjoy the work, I was quite amazed at what a fantastic way to get food it was. It's way better than what you can buy at the store, and exponentially cheaper. (If you don't like big words like 'exponentially' it means it was a whole lot cheaper).
After that we went to a Creamery/Bakery/Chocolate Factory. I swear I put on ten pounds just walking through the place. We bought some ice cream, coconut ice cream, and vanilla ice cream. IT WAS HEAVENLY. Oh my goodness... I almost died it was so good.
That's all I can remember for day twelve. Luckily I didn't make anything up this time.
-A Comfortable Couch In Pennsylvania (I Still Don't Know What City)
Ben
Alright. I confess. I'm two days behind on this thing, so get ready for a lot of made up stories to replace the things I've forgotten.
I woke up on a couch. A nice change. I didn't sleep well last night. I must say, I'll be glad when we get back to washington where I have my own bed and room. And where I can sleep in as late as I want.
Today we decided to head to a farm. I wasn't all that thrilled, but it turned out to be okay. There were all sorts of animals (imagine that) and because of this, all sorts of... well... poop. It was everywhere. Somehow I avoided getting any on my shoes. My poor converse.
We spent a large portion of the day on the farm. After that we went and picked fresh vegetables. Even though I didn't enjoy the work, I was quite amazed at what a fantastic way to get food it was. It's way better than what you can buy at the store, and exponentially cheaper. (If you don't like big words like 'exponentially' it means it was a whole lot cheaper).
After that we went to a Creamery/Bakery/Chocolate Factory. I swear I put on ten pounds just walking through the place. We bought some ice cream, coconut ice cream, and vanilla ice cream. IT WAS HEAVENLY. Oh my goodness... I almost died it was so good.
That's all I can remember for day twelve. Luckily I didn't make anything up this time.
-A Comfortable Couch In Pennsylvania (I Still Don't Know What City)
Ben
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Day 11: Nothing Of Importance Happened Today
Ben's Blog: Day 11
Man, I really need to work harder on writing these the day of. I always forget everything overnight... Usually it means I make stuff up to make it more interesting... Let's see. Now what did I do yesterday?
Ahhh, that's right. I woke up, as has become increasingly familiar, in a hotel room. The difference, however, was that it was a nice hotel room. As usual, our plans to "wake up at 7:00" didn't happen. Our intention was to visit the pool before breakfast, but due to our late start and by virtue of the fact that the pool was getting cleaned that morning, it didn't happen. Breakfast was great... we had many different options... so of course I chose Froot Loops over waffles. I mean, I get waffles every week, but my parents are rather stingy when it comes to novelty breakfast cereal.
After breakfast, we quickly packed everything up, and made it down to the car in one load, a new family record. Then again, we didn't bring much into the hotel. Then we were off.
I honestly can't recall at the moment whether or not we stopped anywhere other than the usual rest stops and such. It was a long journey however... We were going from Indianapolis to Pennsylvania. Not sure where in Pennsylvania. We're staying for a week with our relatives. The term "relatives" in this case means our Aunt and Uncle, Susan and Scott respectively, and our cousins Lily and Audrey. They're quite the jovial bunch. And, they have a piano! Happy days.
That's about all I can remember, so for the sake of staying honest, farewell.
-A Breakfast Table (On Day 12) In Pennsylvania,
Ben
Man, I really need to work harder on writing these the day of. I always forget everything overnight... Usually it means I make stuff up to make it more interesting... Let's see. Now what did I do yesterday?
Ahhh, that's right. I woke up, as has become increasingly familiar, in a hotel room. The difference, however, was that it was a nice hotel room. As usual, our plans to "wake up at 7:00" didn't happen. Our intention was to visit the pool before breakfast, but due to our late start and by virtue of the fact that the pool was getting cleaned that morning, it didn't happen. Breakfast was great... we had many different options... so of course I chose Froot Loops over waffles. I mean, I get waffles every week, but my parents are rather stingy when it comes to novelty breakfast cereal.
After breakfast, we quickly packed everything up, and made it down to the car in one load, a new family record. Then again, we didn't bring much into the hotel. Then we were off.
I honestly can't recall at the moment whether or not we stopped anywhere other than the usual rest stops and such. It was a long journey however... We were going from Indianapolis to Pennsylvania. Not sure where in Pennsylvania. We're staying for a week with our relatives. The term "relatives" in this case means our Aunt and Uncle, Susan and Scott respectively, and our cousins Lily and Audrey. They're quite the jovial bunch. And, they have a piano! Happy days.
That's about all I can remember, so for the sake of staying honest, farewell.
-A Breakfast Table (On Day 12) In Pennsylvania,
Ben
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Day 10: John Williams Is My Home Boy
Ben's Blog: Day 10
Hey! I hit the double digits... Nice. Today was sunday... yet again. It seems like it's always sunday. We went to church, of course. Afterwards, we visited Carthage Jail, Illinois, which was pretty cool. For those of you who care, it's the place where Joseph Smith died. Pretty big significance for us mormons.
That was the only place we stopped today. The rest of it has been spent in our cramped minivan. May I just say... John Williams is absolutely amazing. As is Nicholas Hooper, Patrick Doyle, and Alexandre Desplat. For those unfamiliar with those names, they were some of the composers of the various Harry Potter soundtracks. Gah. I love that kind of music. It's all I've been listening to for the past five hours, and honestly, it makes me realize how terrible most of today's music is. I'm sorry to any of you Nicki Minaj fans out there, but really, most of it just ghastly. Especially when compared to the genius of John Williams.
Eh. I'm a little weird at the moment... sorry. (Then again, when am I not? Weird, that is.)
Alright. I just stepped into the hotel room. Wow. This one has two, count 'em, TWO ROOMS!!! Two queen size beds, plus a hide-a-bed, or whatever the devil they call them, in the sofa. Plus, it doesn't smell like cigarettes. Thank you efficient hotel room cleaning.
I think I'm just gonna sink into the sofa for a little while... I'll post this once I work up the effort to get the Wi-Fi username and password from the front desk. Chow.
-An (Amazing) Hotel Room In Indianapolis, Indiana,
Ben
Hey! I hit the double digits... Nice. Today was sunday... yet again. It seems like it's always sunday. We went to church, of course. Afterwards, we visited Carthage Jail, Illinois, which was pretty cool. For those of you who care, it's the place where Joseph Smith died. Pretty big significance for us mormons.
That was the only place we stopped today. The rest of it has been spent in our cramped minivan. May I just say... John Williams is absolutely amazing. As is Nicholas Hooper, Patrick Doyle, and Alexandre Desplat. For those unfamiliar with those names, they were some of the composers of the various Harry Potter soundtracks. Gah. I love that kind of music. It's all I've been listening to for the past five hours, and honestly, it makes me realize how terrible most of today's music is. I'm sorry to any of you Nicki Minaj fans out there, but really, most of it just ghastly. Especially when compared to the genius of John Williams.
Eh. I'm a little weird at the moment... sorry. (Then again, when am I not? Weird, that is.)
Alright. I just stepped into the hotel room. Wow. This one has two, count 'em, TWO ROOMS!!! Two queen size beds, plus a hide-a-bed, or whatever the devil they call them, in the sofa. Plus, it doesn't smell like cigarettes. Thank you efficient hotel room cleaning.
I think I'm just gonna sink into the sofa for a little while... I'll post this once I work up the effort to get the Wi-Fi username and password from the front desk. Chow.
-An (Amazing) Hotel Room In Indianapolis, Indiana,
Ben
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