2018 Oct 4 Arlington & Mt. Vernon

Marine Corps War Memorial, also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial.  It's much larger than I imagined.  It's hard to get a picture without the crowds around it.

From 1920-1921, more than 3,000 service members were disinterred from temporary cemeteries in Europe and returned for burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

Eternal flame at JFK and Jaqueline's  burial place.  

WWII vets observing the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier below.

The marble for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was brought from Colorado in 1921.  The remains of a WWI soldier transported to the US and Lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda from his arrival in the US until Armistice Day, 1921.  On Nov. 11, 1921, President Warren G, Harding officiated at the interment ceremonies at the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery.

Amazing crowds at the Changing of the Guard done on the hour, 24 hours a day.

Below Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home.  It's on a beautiful place next to the Potomac River.

Graves of George & Martha Washington not very far from the home.

Part of the Mount Vernon farm below.

Air Force Memorial below.  Designed to be right in the path of  the flight where the 911 plane was headed toward the Pentagon.  This monument is almost as tall as a football field length.

2018 Oct 3 Lancaster 2

Cliff getting ready for Amish school.  Below are pictures of an Amish school room.  They only are educated through the 8th grade.

Amish farm house below.

Only in an Amish catalog.

Cliff did not drive this carriage.  We were just first on waiting for our driver and the rest of our group.

We took a lovely carriage ride through the Amish country side.  We passed a school.  Teacher was playing baseball with the kids.

Below is the 2nd of our 3 groups to take this ride. 

Wonderful canned jams, pickles, salsas, all made by the Amish community in Intercourse, Pennsylvania.  (There is actually a town with this name.)

The small dairy farms (both Amish and English) are finding it very difficult to make a living.  Many have gone out of business.  Milk prices are very low and consumption is down. This is an Amish diary farm below.  Much smaller than the Kreider farm.

This dairy farmer's wife makes and sales quilts to help pay the bills.

Took a tour of the original Sturgis Pretzel factory and learned the history of this factory.  They have really perfected the pretzel making process.  The plant is no longer located in this small town.  It's a very large operation now.

We learned how to twist a pretzel below.

2018 Oct 2 Lancaster

Above the original homestead in the foreground.  In the background is the milk pasteurizing plant. This farm near Lancaster started with a dozen dairy cows and 200 chickens in 1935.  They now have 1900 dairy cows and millions of laying chickens.

This dairy farm was just amazing to me.  Below is a horizontal silo.  They spread the alfalfa and corn silage, press it down with these tractors, cover it with plastic and cover it with tires.  After it ferments for several weeks, its ready to feed the cattle.

Below is a building that squeezes the liquid out of the manure.  As you can imagine with 1900 cows, its a lot of manure.  The liquid is then stored in a pond and aerated then used to fertilize and water the crops they raise to feed the cattle.

Below is the maternity barn.  Cows have to have calves to produce milk, so they impregnate each cow so that they have calves every 13 months.  Every cow has a chip on it's hooves that records every time they have a calf and how much milk they are producing.  When their production slows down, then they are sold for their meat.

T

This carousel holds 52 cows for milking.  1700 cows are milked 3 times a day.

Cows crowding into the chute to load onto the carousel.  The carousel turns slowly.  When it turns full circle one cow backs off after it's through being milked and another cow walks on.

Below the Kreider farm as far as you can see.

It's really Fall.  These gourds were at an Amish market in Lancaster County.