The Details of the DC trip

The week of Brad’s high school graduation is full and very busy. The Sunday before the graduation was Senior Sunday. A very nice program where the kids assemble in cap and gown a through a process of an hour and a half, reminisce their school years. Brad and Josh do the recollection of the grade school years. Brad wrote it and they delivered it together. It was fun and it was funny. It was however, sad in a way as I sat and wondered where have the last 12 years gone? I had the honor of giving Brad the Aaron Strickland Memorial Scholarship. It was hard (as I expected it to be), but a very rewarding process for me and Brad too. Graduation is the next Saturday, May 30. Brad wanted to send John Niland an invitation as he was impressed by a presentation John did at church for us a few months ago. He said he had not been to a high school graduation in many years. Knowing that his girls would be graduating in a few years he wanted to check out how ours went. Also knowing that Peyton Manning is Brad’s favorite athlete, he shows up in shorts with an official Super Bowl 41 commemorative Peyton Manning 18 jersey over his shirt and gives it to Brad for a graduation present. John is such a fun friend!

The week of May 31 I had an interesting trip to Washington DC. I got up early, had some breakfast and left home at 4:25 am, got to the airport and the plane left on schedule at 6: 35 am. I landed and my friend Helga whom I met in New Zealand a couple of years ago picked me up at the airport. We went to her house, she showered (as she had spent a couple days with relatives at a retreat of sorts in Virginia and left early to pick me up) and I met her boyfriend and we visited for a bit. He seemed like a really nice guy (as is turns out I am right as you will see later in my story). He (Chris) works for a company that does background proxy investigation on companies that are being bought and merged with and he is working on research this day and stays there to work. Helga and I go for a really nice hike somewhere along the part of the Potomac River. The hike was called (either officially or un-officially) The Billy Goat Trail. I figure out why it is called this during the hike. It included some rapids and water falls, it was very pretty. Most of the trip was over huge rocks and boulders to scramble over and around. All in all it was a long but a great day. She was going to take off that Monday and give me the insiders’ tour of the area, but could not get away from work, so we make a plan for me for Monday. They insisted that I stay with them that night. She has a nice 4 bedroom home, so I accept.

I chose to go to the National Holocaust Museum. I am there most of the day. I was exhausted when I got out! That was such a horrific time in our history. After several hours, I feel literally wrung out. So much of so much. I know my world history and have read books on WWII but not to this level of immersion. I was (and still am) almost speechless over the whole affair. There was a place at the end to write down comments if one is inclined to do so. The only thing I could muster was ... "While I am not of German nor Jewish decent (so I do not have a dog in this hunt from a genealogical perspective), I am ashamed of the hatred shown from people to people in this case, and I am embarrassed and ashamed at the level suffering of the race of the Jewish nation. May God have mercy on all of us” or something to that effect. I am glad I went, but it was a very sobering time.

To lighten things up I spent the rest of the day which was not much at the Smithsonian Museum of Flight and Space Exploration. It was interesting and fun, but the several hours spent in the Holocaust Museum was weighing heavy on me. I left there caught the train to a station near Helga's house and we all 3 went out to eat. The next 2 days I am at the seminar I was there to attend so I am staying at a Bed and Breakfast which is a 20 minute walk. It was very nice and quaint. I really enjoyed it, so much better than a hotel. That evening (Tuesday) I catch a train to Helga's house and the 3 of us are off to supper again for more visiting and great food. Wed comes, the second and last day of the seminar are almost over and a huge storm comes through which included a tornado that is on the ground just west of where we are. The lights go out and the class is over a little early as a result of no electricity. I leave for the train station which is still running. The storm has let up some but it is raining cats and dogs. I get to the airport early, hoping to catch an earlier flight as I was not scheduled to land in Dallas until 11:45 pm due to a connecting flight in Charlotte. But no, the flights are all screwed up and I cannot get to Charlotte until 45 minutes after the connecting flight leaves for Dallas.

So I call Helga (she offered if anything goes wrong, call me). No answer on her cell. Rats! I leave a message; make flight arrangements for the next day and my phone rings. It is Chris. I tell him the story and ask about staying with them. He offers the same before I can finish my story. As it turns out Helga had a friend whom she spent time in the Peace Corp that was stranded out of another airport and she was on the way to pick him up. I offer to take the train and a cab back to her house as it is a 45 minute trip by car. He will not hear of it. He tells me to sit tight, asks me where to pick me up and he is on the way. We get back to the house about the time Helga shows up with her friend Paul. We are all hungry with still no electricity and it is now about 10:30 pm. Helga thought ahead and picked up some take out. So here we are 4 people with only Helga in common, eating Chinese by candle light in Silver Springs, Maryland. I gotta tell you, it was a hoot!
The funny thing about this is... I do not even like Chinese food, but it was absolutely perfect.

We get up the next morning at 5:15 with still no power, say our goodbyes and get to the train station and then on to the airport. I finally land in Dallas at 11:35 am due to a delay at the airport, have a meeting waiting on me (I haven't shaved as it is almost impossible to shave by candle light), work the rest of the day and get home about 7:30 pm. Whew! What a day. I am beat but glad to be home, and apparently so are the cows as they are lined up at the fence like little toy soldiers.