Manassas, VA/Washington DC

After spending some time in the mountains I was excited to roll into the DC area to see my sister and her family.  We anticipated having some "down time" but we were go, go, go the whole time.  :) 
We went into DC and walked around the mall area to see all the monuments and some of the museums of the Smithsonian.  My favorite thing to see in there is the First Ladies exhibit with the gowns they wore to the inauguration ball and their china patterns  So pretty! 
The next day my niece took us to Great Falls Park which is a walking path along the Potomac River where there is a waterfall.  She then took us to a wonderful little Italian deli for lunch.  Yummy!
My sister has always wanted to do a hike in Shenandoah National Park called "Old Rag".  We decided to go and boy what a hike that was!  The summit is at 3,921 feet but there is a lot of rock scrambling involved!  We had a fantastic time and I hope I get to do it again some day.  When we were starting out for the day, we encountered a hiker on her way down that said she saw a bear chasing a deer.  YIKES!!  We did not see any of the bears until we were headed back to the car, thank goodness!  I think we saw a total of 5 bears on that day. 
On our last sight seeing day my sister and her husband took us to Mt. Vernon, home of George Washington.  The home and grounds are enormous and very beautiful. You also get to learn and appreciate the love story between George and Martha. The time and dedication he gave to our country is truly humbling and I hope it is never forgotten.