Summary of DC trip

I am back in FreYes now and my trip to DC was awesome. The last day (Tues) that I was there I went to the top of the Washington Monument in the morning. You could get a complete 360 degree view of the whole city. I also walked over to the Thomas Jefferson memorial and the FDR memorial.


My last stop on the trip was to the Arlington National Cemetary. I took a little tour and we
stopped at the Eternal Flame (JFK) burial site. We then went to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. That was pretty neat seeing the soldier pace back and forth guarding the tomb 24/7.
I saw where Audie Murphy was buried, he was the most decorated soldier during WWII.

I have posted some of my Race pictures on the FLICKR website. Link is off to the Right. Thanks to everyone who has been reading the blog. It was a once in a lifetime trip and I am glad I got to share it with you all.

E-RING

I woke up today at 8 a.m. and grabbed a smoothie from a place down the street and headed to the National Archives. My tour got me in 15 minutes before the general public so we could see the Declaration of Independance, Bill of Rights, and the Articles of Confederation behind their bulled proof, temperature control, argon gas filled cases before the general public could see it.

I then went to the top of the Old Post Office which had a huge bell tower. It is the 3rd tallest building in DC. It offered a great view and had a nice food court that I ate at. I posted some more pictures on Flickr. MY LINK IS ON THE RIGHT SIDE.

And to top of the day I toured the Pentagon. My group was small, 5 people plus the tour guide. We were walking down the when our tour guide who walked backwards the whole time (kinda wierd. Im guessing so he could keep and eye on us so we wouldnt dart of and take secret files or something) when we stopped in the middle of what looked like a new hallway. He told us that on 9/11 this is where the impact of the plane hit going through 3 of the 5 rings in the Pentagon and killing I think he said 123 people in the Pentagon alone. It was a very humbling experience.

We went into a small memorial build for the people of the Pentagon. It was on the inside. They are making a outdoor memorial for public ect but this one was inside. It was small but very appropriate. A small chapel was next door to the inside memorial. We then walked to the very center of the Pentagon which has a 5 acre mini park with grass and a hot dog stand. After the tour ended we turned in our passes and this is where the cool part of the tour happened.

One of the people in my tour group was a female LTC, (leutenant colonel) who worked at the pentagon and her family were the other 3 people in the group. We got new visitor passes and then the LTC took us on a private tour. We could walk down any hall we wanted and thats what we did. She took us to the Secretary of Defense's office DONALD RUMSFELD. It was columbus day so he was not there but it was cool being that close to someone that important. Well tomm I head home but plan on hitting the Mall hard in the morning. Things still to see. (Arlington Natl cemetary, Washington monument, and the aronautical space museum.

I Have A Dream..

"Standing on the top step of the Lincoln Memorial in the very spot where Martin Luther King Jr. made that famous speech, staring accross the water with the Washington Monument reflecting off the pool is truley an amazing site," Joe Gentry

I woke up at 5:30 a.m. this morning and was on the Metro by 605. I arrived pretty early at the Pentagon, got my garmet bagged checked in and wastched the Army Black Knights Skydive team land by the Pentagon.

You could clearly see where the plane crashed into the side of the Pentagon on 9/11. It was completly fixed but there was a clear line of color descrepency where those huge stone blocks were placed. They had a sign on a fenced off section stating Pentagon Memorial, so they must have been building it.

It was humbling seeing all the people who were running the race with pictures on the back of their shirt with a loved one and it SAID OIF (operation Iraq Freedom, KIA then a date) I saw several people with different pics on.

The race went GREAT, my GPS said I ran 10.27 miles in 1:14:58, thats 7:18 per mile avg pace. But my actual chip time will be posted latter and I think it will be under 1:14. It was perfect weather and it was cool running by all the landmarks. I am very pleased.

After the race I went to the ESPN ZONE to eat. Then walked another 5 miles, passing the FBI building, went back to the Capitol to get some good daytime pics then walked all the way down the mall to the Lincoln Memorial, then walked back to the house. I took probably 100 pics. Here are some of my best ones..enjoy.

Out of no where I ran into a girl who was in my Squad at Warrior Forge a year ago by the reflecting pool. She saw me and said "Gentry." She already got her commision and is heading to Italy, she got branched Transportation.

CLICK MY FLICKR LINK ON THE RIGHT SIDE. I JUST ADDED SOME MORE PICS ON THAT WEBSITE ALSO. ENJOY

Saw the Presidents Black Scotty Dog

I woke up this morning at 7 a.m. ate breakfast and got on the subway to the White House. As I was approaching the White House I heard a chopper in the distance. I looked up and it was Marine One, the Presidential chopper. It quickly landed at the South lawn and disappeared behind the trees.

As I waited with the rest of the 830 group we heard the engine fire back up and it took off and roared away. We then proceded really close the the White House where we could see the West Wing and were waiting to go through security ie..metal detector ect..

The secret service guy then told us that was the president taking off becuase his Father George Bush Sr. was getting an aircraft carrier named in his honor and thats where he was off to. It was amazing seeing all the stuff that went on just for the helicopter to land and pick up the President.

Things I observed while waiting by the gate.
1. They had a Fire truck equipped with Foam Suppresant, Ambulance, and a smaller fire engine.
2. They had giant RED circles that they had laid out on the grass so the chopper could help guide itself in to land.
3. They had a black surburban with guys in swat clothing with automatic weapons and all sorts of other plasma guns (not really) strapped to themselves next to the LZ.
4. They made us tourists wait till the chopper took off then we moved closer and thats when I could see the west wing and all this other stuff going on.

So I quickly went through security and off on my self guided tour. That was nice so you could SPONGE all you wanted and go really slow to soak it up. We went throught the East Wing. I looked out the window and saw this little black down standing outside it looking up into the tree at a squirrel. I thought it was fake first, maybe had a camera mounted in it but no it started walking around.

The secret service guy said the dogs name, I forgot already what he said but it wasnt their Main black scotty dog that you see. He said its new and sounded like a female name. ANyway he said they also have a cat.

I walked through the RED, BLUE, and Green room as well as other where they have presidential dinners. It was all decorated with really nice furnature. After that was over I went back to the room and napped for a bit. I am gonna take it easy today and not walk around to much since I have the race tomm. Us boys might go to a movie then I will get some posta for dinner. I will try to take some pics later today walking around. So check back latter tonight.


THESE PICS ARE ALL FROM YESTERDAYS CAPITOL TOUR
#1 First pic of me kneeling down I am directly below the Capitol dome in the basement. All thouse pillars sourounding me support the full weight of the pillar. That start marks the center.
#2 This is the room that ALL presidents lay at rest before they are burried. The public can walk through and see them in their coffin. Rosa Parks was the most recent person to lay here says our tour guide.
#3 I am standing in a room (forgot the name) but there were lifesize statues of all these famous people.

OK....moving to DC

Oh yes folks, that is the beautiful Capitol Mall looking towards the Washington Monument.

I woke up this morning at 8 a.m. and headed to the Metro (subway) and went to the Capitol Building. I found a tiny little mom and pop breakfast place and ate before my 10 a.m. tour appointment.

I arrived at Congressman Radonavich's office to find 2 other Fresno people also going on the tour with me. They were an older couple probably in their 60s. We toured the capital and saw all these old rooms where they had all these famous speeches and laws passed. We sat in the room where the Presidents give there State of the Union Adress. It was really neat.

I then went to the Supreme Court and sat in the room where all the Justices preside over cases. I walked a little on the Mall area but it was raining pretty hard. This picture you see at the top of the screen was duringn that trek. There are cops EVERYWHERE, and a lot of them have automatic assault rifles so you wouldnt want to make a run for it through the restricted zone.

I also went to the Smithsonian Holocaust Museum. The tour was amazing. They had a lot of artifacts and videos, pictures starting with Hitlers rise to power, final solution, and their liberation. It got a little teary at the end watching some of the survivor videos.

I went to the Washington memorial but the tickets were already sold out. I will try to check that out tomm. Tonight before I headed back to the room I went to the White House to do a little recon for my tour tomm to make sure I would go to the right gate. It looked pretty neat all lit up. I waved at President Bush but I dont think he saw me.

ITS A small world

Ok so I arrive safely and get on the subway and head to GWU (George Washington Univ.) I call Brandon the guy I have been in contact with while planning this whole trip and he meets me at the entrance to the subway so we can head back to the apartment together and I wont get lost.

Right when we see each other we both think we have seen each other before. He says what regiment were you in this summer at Warrior Forge. I told him I went a year ago so that guess was shot down.

We keep walking and out of no where I say "Hey, did you go to Robin Sage in North Carolina like 2 yrs ago and he says Salsberry." Ok so to you guys reading this Salsberry doesnt mean much but we had to think of nicknames the whole time we were at Robin Sage and that was my name and he remembered it. We started laughing and couldnt believe we have seen each other agian yet alone I have been in contact with him about staying in DC with him and we have this history 2 years ago. IT WAS WIERD.

Its raining which is weak, and its supposed to rain hard tomm so I will just have to stomp around in the puddles and a umbrella. Tomm I tour the Capitol, and the Supreme Court.

I will then go and pick up my race packet and stuff. Untill next time.

Denver, CO Airport (layovers are #1)

Hey guys I am sitting in a USO right now at the Denver, CO airport. It is right next to the Presidents Club and the USO is for anyone who is in the Military. They have a game room with x-boxs and flat screen tvs. I am sitting right now in a sweet lazy boy watching the Yankees get spanked on a Plasma tv. They have free food (sandwiches, ice cream, soda, water, candy, pretty much anything you want they have. They have a sleeping room, and computers setup if you dont have a laptop. Its pretty nice. I have seen them at other airports bt have never stopped to check one out before.

I have a 3.5 hr layover here before I head off to DC. It is supposed to rain there for the next 2-3 days which is really weak sauce. Well thats it for now. Keep checking back for posts.

Leaving Thur to Washington, DC

I will be in Washington, DC this Thur-Tues. I am running in the ARMY TEN MILER on Sunday morning. I will also be touring the White House, Pentagon, Capital building, Supreme Court, and the Library of Congress. I will also try to see Arlington National Cemetary, Tomb of the Unknown soldier, The Smithsonian museums, FBI building ect. I am staying about 3/4 of a mile away from the White House so I will be within walking distance to everything.