America 250; My trip to Washington DC on Saturday, the 4th of July!

Last weekend I visited Washington DC for the first time. I really wanted to see the fireworks show and the military flyovers. I arrived in Baltimore, MD (BWI) airport at 9:30pm on Friday, the 3rd of July.

On Saturday, July 4th, I left my Motel 6 (across from Andrews Airforce Base) at 7:30am and I took the branch train from Branch Station in Maryland on the “Green Line” and came to the Archives train station (ChatGPT created an itinerary for me and said to go there to hear the reading of the Declaration of Independence on the steps of the Archives bldg. I went to the National Archives building after buying a USA hat for shade from a street vendor. They were going to read the , but it got cancelled due to extreme heat. Someone came from Italy and he asked me with a thick accent, “Do you know if the parade will stop by this street?”. I said I don’t know, but just then, someone said the parade has been cancelled due to extreme heat”. I said, “I’m from Phoenix and I’m used to the heat. This isn’t hot to me”. The temperature was in the high 90’s. So I waited outside in line for the free admission to the National Archives museum which opened at 10:00am. Someone in line started reading the Declaration of Independence from their iPhone. I was near the front of the line when the museum opened. I went to the rotunda and saw the original copies of the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

Washington-DC-National-Archives-Building — Washington DC National Archives Building

After the museum, I walked around the park and bought some ice cream from a street vendor (I didn’t see a man with the guitar singing Italian songs though…). Then I waited in line to go to the National Fair. I went on the ferris wheel and saw a concert and military fly-overs. I assumed the stage would be the same location where Donald Trump would speak later, but someone said there was another line for that. I had to exit the fair and get in another line and by the time I got to the other line it was 0.8 miles long. We waited for 3 hours in line and saw some more amazing military fly-overs. The national guard was handing out free bottles of water. When I arrived to the metal detectors at the national mall where the Washington Monument is, the national guard screamed that we all had to evacuate the area due to a lightning storm. Everybody started walking to the African American Museum. I stood outside and watched Air Force One fly over the Washington Monument along with some B2 Bombers and other fighter jets. They were so loud! As I was waiting outside under the canopy of the African American Museum some children started playing in the fountain. Some people spontaneously started singing God Bless America, and The National Anthem. It was wonderful to experience the patriotism.

Washington-DC-4th-of-July-America-250-crowds

A few minutes later they re-opened the National Mall and I was able to get back in. There were folding chairs set up and I sat down and listened to the speech and concert. After that was the largest fireworks show in the history of the United States – Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin would’ve been so proud! My Dad texted me and said that it was so cool seeing me on Fox News and I looked like I was enjoying myself. He sent me a screen shot, there was a full body shot of me. It was the most patriotic show I have ever seen. Someone recently said, “It’s not only okay to love your country, it’s necessary!”.

The next day (Sunday, the 5th) I checked out of my Motel 6 in Maryland and took the free subway from Branch Station back to the National Mall (Archives Train Station). I backpacked around the National Mall area until I had to back go to the airport at 9:30pm. I visited the Smithsonian Castle, the National Air and Space Museum, and The Museum of the American Indian.

Ceiling of the Museum of the American Indian

God bless
~CS

*Things I wanted to see but ran out of time: The Peoples House, The National Cathedral, Museum of the Bible, Museum of Natural History

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July 8, 2026

The Story of Pedro Pablo Atusparia and Pedro Cochachin (aka Uchku Pedro)

Pedro Pablo Atusparia was one of the leaders in one of the small communities that lived in the hills east of Huaraz back in the 1880’s. The leaders differentiated themselves by having long hair. Back then the city of Huaraz was a small town. The people that lived there were a combination of Spanish and local people. They thought they were superior to the surrounding people because they were Spanish. There were many smaller communities up in the hills, and when they used to come down, the people from Huaraz used to exploit them to make them work on their homes until Sunday and then let them go without pay. They also imposed cruel taxes on them. There was a man named Pedro Pablo Atusparia and he consulted a lawyer and the lawyer said you have to gang up with your smaller communities and confront the people of Huaraz. So they came confronting with slingshots and ancient weapons. But the people of Huaraz called the government of Peru in Lima and they came with modern weapons. It was not a fair fight. They captured Pedro Pablo Atusparia and tortured him and they cut off his long hair. This made the his constituents very upset. So there was another leader in Carhuaz and he was Pedro Cochachin (aka Uchku Pedro and he was a mine worker And he had access to dynamite from the mine. He was a more violent man. He showed Pedro Pablo Atusparia how dynamite worked, and he was impressed. So he came again to attack Huaraz with dynamite. But he was unsuccessful. Pedro Pablo Atusparia was injured and Pedro Cochachin went to hide Up the hills with a friend. Pedro Pablo Atusparia went to the federal government and brought his young boy and even asked the president if he would be his godfather. So he did so, and the constituents of Pedro Pablo Atusparia were upset about that. They said he was a traitor. The story is that somebody poisoned him. But one of his ancestors says that he had stomach problems and died from that. The other Pedro Cochachin was told on and captured. Somebody said they were going to town, but they went to go get the army. So they brought the other Pedro to the federal government where they executed him in a firing squad. He turned his back to the firing squad and bent over. Then they shot and killed him.