Tuesday, July 10 - D.C. - The Lost Phone and Taxi Tour

Five a.m. was very early on Tuesday, but since I normally wake up a 4 a.m. in K.C., it wasn’t too hard to roll out and be in the office by 6:30. Before I left, I set a wake up call set for 8 a.m. I didn’t want MAM to waste too much time sleeping – it is a touristy vacation after all, and they had a lot to see during the day while I was working. I won’t bore you with the details, but my meetings were very much worth the trip. Of course, seeing my boss in person is always good, too. 

I had been texting with Abby off and on Tuesday morning, and around 9:30 a.m.ish, I get a call from Megan’s phone.  It was Abby telling me that she thought she left her phone on the subway. UGH! New day, new 'comes-in-threes-count' again?  Well, trying to get on the same metro train to find the phone would be impossible as you would have to get the right train and remember the exact car you were on and the seat you were sitting. They were also scheduled for a free walking tour of the memorials downtown, so I told Abby we would track it down later, and they should go on the tour. The tour included the Washington Monument, White House (in the distance), Thomas Jefferson Memorial, WWII memorial, Reflecting Pool, Vietnam memorial and Lincoln memorial. Not bad for a tour hour free (tips appreciated) tour. The tour didn’t include the Korean War memorial, which I think is one of the coolest, so I told them that they really needed to go see it then it was their choice to walk to a Metro stop or back to the hotel (roughly the same distance.) Abby called around noon after the end of the tour and wanted to know if they could call a cab to take them back to the hotel. (I made sure those numbers were at the top of their itinerary!) Told her to go ahead; it would only be about $5. One of my rules of touring D.C. is ‘save the steps’ which means you have to judge the benefit of walking vs. riding especially when time is of the essence. No taxi - stubborn Stella said they could walk it. They headed back to the hotel for Stella's afternoon nap, then went to the Natural History museum. Abby thought it was really cool and that she needs to go back some time. They did make a stop at McDonald’s later to see if Abby's phone was left there at breakfast. (Nope.) 

When I got to the hotel after work, we headed out for the National Archives. How much more American can you get then to go see the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and U.S. Constitution in our nation's capitol? Second question - was it in the D.C. city planning to put the Metro stop on the opposite side of every tourist entry point? Yes, around the building, through a security checkpoint, and into the line to see the documents. They are in a rotunda and separated out a bit, so you're not too shoved into one small space. The directions given are 'do not form a line'. Duh - how the heck else are you going to get an opportunity to see the stuff if you don't get in line? We line up anyway. As we're cruising past the Declaration viewing the framed document, I try to liven the visit up a bit and make it more personal by starting a conversation with the security guard standing there. Simple questions - I'm a govt employee. How long have you worked for the government? Her response: 'I'm a contractor.'  (We don't have $$ for employees in the government; we contract everything out including the protection of the most famous government documents.) Hmm - question #2 How does it feel to be guarding one of the most important documents in history? Response: Well, that document counts me as only 3/5 of a person, so what do you think? (She was black/female.) Yeesh, talk about a conversation killer! (...moving right along to the next frame. 

Leaving the Archives, we were on our way back to the Metro, when I start hearing the ‘my poor feet’ comments. Translation: quit walking and ride. So we get to the right corner, where a cabbie can stop going our direction and hail the cab. From my passenger side, I tell him that we want to go to the White House thinking we would get out and wander around. No, it’s tour-by-cab driver. Our driver slowed down as we circle around the White House for the backseat people to get a view. (It was so fast that I didn't even have time to grab a photo shot!) Got it on the iPod.

We didn’t even waste the time asking Mr. Cab Driver to drop us at the nearest Metro; our fashionable choice of sightseeing became tour-by-taxi. I asked him to take us to the Capitol. Again, I’m thinking we get out, wander around the Capitol a bit.  The backseat refused, so again, not happening. The cab driver points out the Senate side buildings, Supreme Court, and Library of Congress on the way around the Capitol. 

(I think) this is the Jefferson building, i.e. Library of Congress.

Capitol drive-by.

This is what the girls do when I give them an iPod to take pics of the Capitol. (One of many.)

 Our tour cost $20, which isn't bad for four people by the way. Our Metro fares probably would have cost that much.

Back at our hotel, we drop our stuff in our room, and regroup deciding that pizza sounds good for dinner. The concierge said there was a good place a couple of blocks away so off we go. The pizza place is on a corner and is small with 2-person bistro tables outside on the perimeter sidewalk. The joint smells good, looks clean and serves a 17' pizza for a reasonable price, so I order up a pie and four sodas.  As we're waiting, the wind picks up and a torrential down pour starts, and there I am - standing with a hot pizza. Choice = hot pizza on the sidewalk below an overhang or cold wet pizza at the hotel. 

 We're not proud. We chose hot...

The rain continued, even after we snarfed down the pizza and dodged the water drifting under overhang, so it was time for another decision...wait it out (didn't look like it was stopping), flag a cab (would have been soaked because it was about 20 feet from the overhang to the street AND not a lot of taxis around) or my fav - go get pizza boxes and take a walk in the rain. Pizza boxes won.

It was an 'I gotta pee!' moment when I told them that if they see a taxi to wave their pizza boxes.  We may have topped the stupid-looking chart with that one, but by golly, our hair stayed dry!

I would love to end the day with 'we all returned to the hotel and had a great sleep', but since we're racking up the 'threes', that's not the story.

Here is the rest of the story....

Abby filled out the 'lost' card for her phone with the Metro and put her dad's name on it so he would be notified if it was found. (This has significance later in the week.) We had not given up hope that someone well-meaning person wouldn't find it and call 'mom'.  At 1 A.M., I'm happily snoozing, then it happened! My phone starts ringing. After that three-ring discombobulation of figuring out what it was, I make a mad dash out of bed, grab my purse, and whip out the phone (because you know phone calls at this time are NOT good.) I see that Abby is calling so I answer...just as it goes to my voice mail! I try several times to call back wanting the person to answer, and after the sixth try, they must have turned off the phone because it went to Abby's voice mail.  Well, the good news was that it was found.

As I lay there, trying to go back to sleep, Stella starts her snuffle/snore, and try as I might to be kind and gentle to get her to stop, NOTHING was working! I am still listening to it 45 minutes later. I had tried getting her to turn over, semi-wake up, one pillow on my head, two pillows on my head,and Kenny G in my ear buds. Frustrated, I did what everyone would think is horrible - but really isn't. (No, I didn't push her off the bed.) I took my pillow (and three others) and went into the bathroom. As I'm leaving, Stella gave me the 'but, Brenda, I'm not snoring' to which I had the comeback of 'YES you are!'  I can say that those four pillows made a pretty cushy bed no matter where it is.  I usually sleep on my side/semi-curled so the length wasn't a problem. What WAS a PROBLEM was that I could still hear the snuffle/snore. I was also concerned about hearing the wake up call through all of my buffers. So, back into the room again for the iPod alarm and Kenny.  I set my alarm and turned up the Ken-man then promptly fell asleep.  There was an awareness of the tub-bed, but not enough to make it a problem. Ah, sleep...