Washington, DC Trip, Part 1

Due to time constraints (work, school work, house work, church work, etc.), it looks like I may have to post entries about our trip in installments.

Our trip was pretty eventful from the time we got on the plane! We were supposed to depart at 9:45 am on Friday, October 23. We were all on board, and they announced that due to “mechanical problems,” our departure would be delayed. That’s not something you want to hear. Apparently it was just the seatbelt and "no smoking" lights above the seats. Or, at least, that’s what they said!

We finally took off at about 11:30 am Mountain time. We were supposed to have a 2 hour layover in Minneapolis. There was a lot of joking among the passengers on the plane – the day before, a Northwest flight (same airline we were traveling) “overshot” Minneapolis by about 150 miles! There is still some discussion about exactly how it happened, but let’s just say that NONE of the scenarios were very convincing. Again, not something you want to hear on a similar flight.

We landed at about 3:05, and ran to our connecting flight. We were supposed to board at 3:15. It was delayed until 4:30. That was ok – it gave us time to get something to eat, since none of us had eaten since about 7:00 that morning. Ryan and I also had fun watching the planes from the observation deck.

About 30 minutes before we landed in Washington, DC, there was a bit of commotion in First Class. There was an announcement…”Is there a doctor on board?” We were sitting toward the back, and the flight attendants came and retrieved the on-board defibrillator bag was from the overhead compartment right above us. Apparently a man in First Class had DIED! Amazingly, they were able to revive him. When we landed, there were emergency vehicles all over the tarmac. We were asked to stay on the plane until they were able to get him off. He actually refused the stretcher and walked off! When we walked into the terminal, he was sitting in a seat talking with the emergency responders.

We got our luggage, caught the shuttle to the hotel, and checked in. We stayed at the beautiful Hyatt Crystal City in Arlington.

On Saturday, October 24, we got up & ready, and had breakfast in one of the hotel restaurants. We rode the Metro to the Washington, DC Mall. We came up the escalator right on to The Mall, and Mom & Ryan were able to see The Mall in person for the first time. Mom got a little teary! She had waited so long to see this sight! Ryan was excited, too! We swapped photo-taking duties with another family that had just arrived.On my previous visits to Washington, DC, I had taken the Tourmobile around to the tourist sites. It’s a great way to get around and see everything quickly. The Tourmobile makes short stops at all of the major tourist attractions. Tourists can either stay on and continuously ride, seeing each site from the bus, or can exit the bus, spending some time at any or all sites, and then catching the next bus to come around (about every 20-30 minutes). Saturday was my only day with the fam before my classes started, and I thought the Tourmobile would also give them a great overview of the city so they could see where everything was.We stayed on the Tourmobile through the various Smithsonian museums, the Capitol, and Union Station. We decided to hop off at the Washington Monument.Ryan and I enjoyed the “Vertigo View” of the Washington Monument...Jefferson Memorial…Other fun pictures taken at the Jefferson Memorial…Korean War Memorial…Vietnam War Memorial (where one of the volunteers did a rubbing of my dad's cousin's name)…

As the vet in the wheelchair passed us, we heard him say, "I'm the only one left."

Lincoln Memorial…As we were wrapping up our visit at the Lincoln Memorial, it started pouring rain! We rushed to the Tourmobile stop, where we had to wait in the rain for about 10 minutes. We were totally drenched! We rode to Arlington, but then decided to get off and take the Metro back to the hotel.

I checked in to my Capella PhD colloquium and then found a seat in the ballroom for General Colin Powell’s keynote address. He was SO GREAT! He was motivating and informative, yet self-deprecating, and really quite hilarious! I took two pages of notes, and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of his speech. I could have listened to him for another hour or two!

His speech centered around leadership, and the qualities of effective leaders. He gave example after example from his own experiences as a leader. What an amazing man!