Capitol Christmas Tree from Montana

The timing could not have been better. As we were on our morning walk today, the huge flatbed truck was just pulling in to the Capitol grounds carrying on it the huge Christmas tree hauled all the way from Montana. Right behind it was another large truck carrying the humongous star that would eventually be placed on the top of the tree. You would have thought a grand motorcade was arriving based on the number of police cars and security presence. In June we took a cross country car trip to the northern Pacific states and back - one of which included Montana. So this year we felt like we could have seen this lovely tree somewhere out there in the big country. It actually came from Kootenai National Forest. Rather than wait around for the big speech, we ran in to the botanic garden to see the trains, walked to the Smithsonian Castle, and stopped back by the Capitol to see the tree being lifted from the truck and moved by a crane to the spot that it would rest for the next few weeks. It was a simply gorgeous day for the event. Last year the park rangers were distributing branches from the tree - no luck this time around. You never know what you'll run in to when you walk the Mall every day. This was a nice surprise.