This week my friend Megan and I flew to Washington, DC for a conference on adapted physical activity. A few months ago we decided to fly out a little early to play the tourist role since neither of us had ever been to DC.
Wednesday morning we woke up at 4 am and drug our sleepy selves to the airport for our flight. Apparently we were checking in at the same counter as a group of 50 high school students going on a class trip. When I reached the ticket counter, the clerk asked for my last name. In my early-morning fog, I didn't realize that she never asked for my first name OR looked at my passport.... (great security American Airlines - what if I was a terrorist??)
I got to security and handed the officer my passport and boarding pass, and she looked at me with annoyance and asked "Who's Madelyn?" I hadn't had much coffee yet, so I said, "I don't know, who is Madelyn??" Apparently the boarding pass I was given was issued to a woman named Madelyn Irwin. I started to head back to get a new boarding pass, but the security officer insisted that the pass I had printed from home the night before would suffice. I never thought about my bag...
Upon arriving at Dulles airport, my bag was not on the carousel. LONG story short - Madelyn went to Reagan International and so did my bag. The airline finally brought my bag to our hotel later that night.
We definitely did a crash-course in DC sight-seeing. A two-hour bus tour of the monuments (on which we were the only two passengers - awesome because the tour guide dropped us off at our hotel), sushi with my friend Roseanne who lives in DC, and a 20-block walk to an incredible frozen yogurt shop. The metrorail (subway) was extremely intimidating at first, but Megan and I felt so accomplished when we finally figured it out without help! Even though we both live near Dallas, we definitely felt like country kids coming to the big city ;)
Thursday morning we toured the Capitol and even sat in on the Senate! We spent the rest of the day traveling to Virginia and beginning our conference - The National Consortium for Physical Education and Recreation for Individuals with Disabilities (what a mouthful).
Here's some of our best pictures:
In front of the Capitol
View of Washington Monument from the Capitol
This sign says "Ban all nuclear weapons or have a nice doomsday."
The woman who posted the sign has camped out in front of the White House every day since 1981!
Pershing Park on Pennsylvania Avenue
The painted rotunda inside the Capitol building
Even though it's been great to visit DC, I can't wait to get home and see my man tomorrow!!
Love,
K
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