Wengen, Switzerland--hiking in the Alps with friends

Getting there: Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

 at Dulles Airport Washington DC  July 19, 2012 

We have a 5-hour layover in Washington, D.C. on the way to Geneva, and so we make tracks to visit the nearby Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum.

We get the info from the Information kiosk near Door 5 in the Dulles Airport main terminal.

Outside Door 4 of Dulles Airport's main terminal (a really trippie-looking building design) Jim and I wait under the red shade for the Virginia Regional Transit Authority shuttle bus.  For 50 cents each, we take a 15 min. ride in AC to the Nat'l Air & Space Museum--two sprawling hanger-like buildings with two levels to view awesome plane and space vehicle collections. 

 Nose and underbelly of the SR 71 Blackbird, a spyplane built to take photos undetected, while flying really, really fast.

The Enola Gay evokes a strong response from me.  Sad that war, all war, is inevitably cruel.  Two days after visiting here, in Wengen, Switzerland,  I saw an artist display of 1000 paper cranes.  

 The early gliders look like flimsy toys.  This one held only lightweight pilots--up to 126 pounds.




In the wing that houses the restoration area, there's a huge space for space.

I've been watching too much HGTV--the satellites look like light fixtures that the Design Stars contestants would grab up for winning comments on their weekly room designs.

And then...the best.  The Space Shuttle.

 What a sight!  I get chills.  And I think about 'heat tiles' in the news in the early days.

 On the main floor, it's the supersonic Concorde's breadth that amazes us.

 The BD 5 may be tiny compared to the Concorde, but it's fast.




And then there's 'plane' pretty, the Bellanca CF.

Who carves wood into propellers these days?

There was of course a lot more to see and do at the museum.  Favorite kid-stop seemed to be the flight simulators, judging by the crowd and hubbub.  And there's an observation tower at the end of the building, where you can climb up for a great view of the airport.

Thanks for the public-transit ride to and from the museum, Virginia Regional Transit Authority!  We wouldn't have visited the museum without you.