These Shoes Aren't Made For Walking

My second full day in DC was again exhausting. After a 2 hour meeting that began at 7 a.m., I decided it was time to master DC’s subway system, the Metro. It turned out to be quite simple to use and I headed on the blue line out to Arlington National Cemetery. I decided to take the walking audio tour and spent the next two hours roaming around Arlington. I saw the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the changing of the guard, JFK’s eternal flame, and row upon row of headstones.

After Arlington, I took the Metro to the convention center to register for the Representative Assembly. I picked up my delegate materials, felt the degree of their weight, pictured myself lugging them back to the hotel in my back pack, and decided to dispose of most of it. I’m sure it was full of extremely important information and my plan is to sit next to someone who had enough sense to keep it.

After buzzing through the NEA Expo and picking up some freebies, I headed to the reception for the Indiana delegates hosted by Senator Dick Lugar at the Senate office building. I met Senator Lugar, who happens to have very soft hands, drank some lemonade, and headed back to the hotel. My plan was to read a little and rest before dinner. I didn’t get more than a paragraph read before I was asleep and woke up two hours later.

My friend John stopped by just as I was waking up and we went for dinner at Union Station. John was wanting to see some of the memorials and I was wanting to see the Korean Memorial at night (as I had heard that it was quite haunting at night). John and I set out. Three hours and five miles of walking in flip flops and two sore feet later, we returned to the hotel. While out, we saw the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial, the World War I Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial. Yeah, it was exhausting.

Today is scheduled to be a big day of sitting on my ass. I’m currently in another 7 a.m. two hour meeting of the Indiana delegation and that will be followed by an all day meeting with the entire NEA Representative Assembly (about 10,000 folks). I suppose I should start paying attention . . .