I was reading a book, "Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day" & I was intrigued by Rome, the city. 
How old it is, how big is (how big it was).

It is something worth seeing and  there is more than just Rome that I'd like to see.
I'd like to see a walled city & last I heard Cleveland didn't have one, it doesn't have the Crown Jewels or the Mona Lisa either. 

For these things a passport is necessary.

I have an  "enhanced" Washington drivers license, with that we can do land border crossings. It worked coming back from Mexico.
We should have just gotten a passport instead of the "E"-drivers license.


A passport...
I went on line, the State Department web site had all the information I needed.
We had the birth certificates, the IDs.
It's $110 for the Passport book, the $25 fee for the people taking the papers & the $15 for the color photo ("chin down a little and a natural expression").
I used cash so I needed another $1.25 for a postal money order (the State Department wanted a check).
We called the post office, agreed on a time and showed up.
That part really didn't take too long, but it's 4-6 weeks before the passport shows up. The process can be a lot faster for additional fees....

They kept the birth certificate, she said it would be mailed back and should show up within 10 days after the passport arrives.

A passport, it's almost like I'm growing up!

I needed a picture, any picture. This is a VW collection off I-5 in Yreka California