After yesterday's long bike ride, we're taking today off from riding and are going sightseeing via the truck. Out goal was to get to the National Catheral, the Rock Creek Cemetery and the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America. 

Our first stop was at the Monastery where we first walked around their beautiful grounds. They had quite the rose garden. Then we went into the church where we were able to take a short guided tour. We learned a lot about the Franciscans who are another religious order of the Roman Catholic Church and are known for their work among the poor and needy. 

The Monastery itself was built in 1898 by Father Schilling who wanted to extend the Franciscan's work to the US. He reproduced sacred shrines from Israel to encourage pilgrimages and allow those who could not make such a journey to see and experience the shrines for themselves. 

The church is laid out in the shape of the Jerusalem cross, which consists of one large cross in the middle and four smaller crosses at each corner. This signifies the five wounds of Christ on the cross. Our guide told us this was also the Crusaders cross.

It was quite lovely inside with all of the beautiful stained glass which was installed in the 1940's to replace the original clear glass. Each of the altars were different. The interior wasn't quite as over-the-top ornate as the Basilica, but still nice. 

After viewing the upper church, the guide took us down into the catacombs which were built as a replica of the Catacombs of Rome (which have over 900 miles of tunnels!). These catacombs were very small with only one body interred here - Saint Benignus of Armagh. 

When our tour ended we headed next to the National Cathedral. We were both happy with not having to bike to these spots as traffic was heavy, the streets narrow and VERY hilly! 

We found a spot on the street to park and walked up to the cathedral where we found that it cost $15 each just to see the interior. WHAT's UP WITH THAT????!!! Both the Basilica and Monastery were free to visit as was our tour at the Monastery. 

So we just made do with some walking around the exterior which was hampered somewhat by lots of fencing and scaffolding on the building. This was all due to on-going restorative work due to the 2011 earthquake. 

That quake caused extensive damage to finial stones, some of which fell off or were twisted out of alignment. Damage was also done to other areas. 

The church had no earthquake insurance (who would think of an earthquake in this part of the country?!) and had to start fundraising efforts to raise the millions of dollars needed for the repairs. That included charging an admission fee. Had we known that at the time, we might have been more agreeable to paying it. This repair will continue for many more years, costing more millions of dollars. 

Our last spot to visit was the historic Rock Creek Cemetery which was established in 1719. But we had a little of an "adventure" on the way there. 

As we made a turn onto a narrow street, Don had to stop abruptly for a runner in the crosswalk and BAM!!!! we got rear ended! Wonderful - just what we needed! 

Luckily the driver stopped as we had damage to the rear bumper and fender. While he couldn't provide proof of insurance at that time, he was driving a work truck, and someone he called came and provided the information to us. I'm not sure she understood that we can't just take it in now for repairs as we're just traveling through the area. 

The cops weren't interested in coming to the scene and just told us to exchange info. So we did that and other than reporting it to our insurance company, we'll figure things out when we get back to Denver in September. 

After that excitement, Don still wanted to go to the cemetery which was quite interesting. We enjoyed driving around the grounds which were designed following the Rural Cemetery Movement with winding paths and small ponds. I don't know when we've seen that many private mausoleums! 

We made one last stop at Walmart before heading back to the campground. It was a strange one that was located at the bottom of an apartment building and had underground parking. But we purchased pretty much everything we needed and then headed home. 

It sure was not the day we had expected and we both needed a glass of wine at this point! Don did take a look under the truck and thinks there was no damage to the frame which could affect the hitching up of the trailer. It rained off and on for the rest of the evening but looks like tomorrow will be clear enough for another ride. 

FYI - I took so many pictures today that I'm going to do a separate page for each spot we visited.