b.cJuly 28, 2017:

 

            We got up and got dressed. We went to the lobby for breakfast.  After breakfast, we finished packing and checked out of the hotel. We then caught a bus to the Huntington Metro station. There was a train at the station already. I photographed it.

 

 

            We rode the train to Reagan Airport to pick up our rental car.

 

            We rented from Budget. After we picked up our rental car which was a Hyundai Accent, we headed out.

 

            We headed out to the Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport. It is part of the Smithsonian and has a large collection of aircraft and space craft including the Space Shuttle Discovery.

 

            It was raining out and we made a few wrong turns but we eventually made it to the Air and Space museum.

 

            We then went inside. There were several Boy Scout troops there for a jamboree. Like the main Smithsonian exhibits, admission to the Air and Space Museum was free.  I photographed a Lockheed Blackbird fighter jet.

 

 

 

            I then photographed a Japanese Seiran aircraft which was designed as a seaplane. In World War 2, the Japanese designed a submarine capable of carrying three such aircraft but they didn't see much use.

 

 

            I then photographed a Boeing 367-80 which is based off the 707 as well as a former Pan American aircraft.

 

 

 

            I then photographed a FedEx jet and the gondolas from two blimps.

 

 

 

 

 

            Next I photographed a Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawk which was designed to hook onto the US Air Force airships such as USS Akron and USS Macon (which were both lost at sea).

 

 

            I then photographed a few more planes including an Air France Concorde.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            I then photographed the Enola Gay which dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan.

 

 

            I then photographed the Space Shuttle Discovery.

 

 

            I then photographed a US Coast Guard helicopter and more military aircraft.

 

 

 

 

            I photographed Discovery and the room where other aircraft are undergoing restoration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            Mark and I went into the space exhibit and I photographed various items including Discovery and its Canada Arm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            I then photographed the Apollo Boilerplate Command Module.

 

 

 

            I then photographed a few more exhibits.

 

 

 

 

            At one point, Mark and I joined a line for a flight simulator game where we could recreate the first flight by the Wright Brothers. However, we crashed after 30 seconds.

 

 

            I then photographed some more exhibits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            I then photographed the capsule from the record setting jump from the edge of space back in 2012.

 

 

 

            I then photographed a few more things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            I then photographed a police ultra light and some helicopters.

 

 

 

            I then photographed a jet engine and some more planes on display.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            Next, I photographed the room where aircraft are restored again.

 

 

 

            I then photographed some more planes including the Enola Gay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

            I took a few more pictures of military aircraft on display.

 

 

 

 

            The Air and Space Museum has a McDonald's. However, with all the scout troops, there was a HUGE line up so we opted to eat lunch elsewhere.

 

            The museum has a tower that allows visitors to look out at Dulles Airport. I decided to check it out. While waiting for the elevator to go up to the top, I photographed three paintings.

 

 

 

 

            I had to wait in line to get on the elevator, but I eventually made it up there. I photographed a plane as it landed.

 

 

            I took some more pictures of the info inside the tower.

 

 

            I took some more photos from the tower including a Korean Air Airbus A330 as it waited to take off.

 

 

 

 

            I decided to stick around waiting for the Korean Air jet to take off. I photographed a few landing planes and some buses from the tower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            After more than 15 minutes the Korean Air jet began to taxi into takeoff position. I photographed it.

 

 

 

            I filmed the Korean Air jet's takeoff roll. I then phoned Mark whom I had gotten separated from and arranged to meet him downstairs. I took the elevator down and met up with Mark. We looked in the gift shop but I didn't buy anything. We left the museum and I photographed our rental car.

 

 

Here’s our rental car, a Hyundai Accent.

 

            We then left the museum and drove to a Wendy's a few minutes away. After lunch we continued towards our hotel. I made a wrong turn and took a bit of a detour, but we eventually got back on route. We hit heavy traffic which eventually cleared up. At one point, Mark and I saw a sign for a street called “Frying Pan Road”!

 

            We drove through Manassas where I had ridden Norfolk and Western #611 last year. As we drove to New Market, Virginia, we passed through towns that had the same names as towns and cities in Ontario such as Woodstock and Markham! Ironically, there is also a Newmarket in Ontario, but the place in Ontario is one word instead of two words in the case of the town in Virginia where we were staying.

 

            We eventually arrived at our hotel which was another Days Inn. We had booked back in March. However, at the time, there were only smoking rooms available; even back then!

 

            I asked the clerk if there were any non smoking rooms available but he said not. We went up to our room.

 

            At one point, Mark was speaking with his dad who managed to get us a non smoking room in the hotel; but we'd have to spend one night in this room.

 

            At one point, we decided to go out for dinner. After dinner, we returned to our hotel.

 

            We saw a General Lee in our hotel's parking lot; obviously here for the event we were attending. I photographed it.

 

 

 

            After awhile, I set the alarm on my phone for 8:00 am and we called it a night.

 

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