Grandpa got us up early today even though we could have slept longer. Today we had an appointment for the tour of the Capital building.
We got dressed and had our breakfast and headed down to the capital. We were going to try to park in the same "pay by phone" spot we used yesterday. We were running a bit tight on time because our appointment was for 9:30 AM. So, we drove up to our preferred parking spot with 10 minutes to spare and grandpa went to sign in to the pay by phone. But, even though he tried and tried, he couldn't get the right name and password pairing and now we were running late. GG and Ryan and Isabella got out of the car and started off for the capital figuring there would be less pressure on grandpa that way.
We walked up to the grand staircase for entry to the building, only to find big barricades blocking our way. GG explained that we when our dads came to visit this was the way they went in, so now she was flustered.
GG asked the maintenance guys how to get in for the tour and they directed us to the other side of the building and across the plaza and down the stairs to the visitor center.
We trudged up the hill – Capital Hill– and around the building. Luckily Ryan and Isabella spotted the stairs across the plaza because GG is not seeing very well, still no sign of grandpa.
We went down the stairs and found several guards and a line control area. We waited for grandpa and now we were late, but we noticed that they were not really checking times on papers, so we decided we could wait a little while longer for grandpa to catch up. It was of course hot and muggy.
GG called grandpa to explain where to go to get in. He was by the front of the staircase. But he couldn't seem to get the idea of coming to the other side of the building. GG was exasperated and so was grandpa.
So, we waited and waited. Finally we went back up the stairs so he could see us. Still no grandpa. GG called again. And at last grandpa appeared, hot sweaty and grumpy. We went through the security check and began to look around. We heard that the Senators were voting on a spending bill to raise the debt ceiling called Cut, Cap and Spend.
So we decided to go up to the Senate gallery to watch. But – whoops – we didn't have tickets. Grandma gave the attendant her sweetest GG smile and explained that she had brought her darling grandchildren "AAALLLL the way from California to learn about our government.” The attendant looked us over and decided we were not going to blow up the Senate, so he got us some passes and let us into the gallery.
The Senate gallery is the in the balcony and we could look down and see all of the Senators. There was a good attendance because of the importance of the vote.
We saw Diane Feinstein, Barbara Boxer,Joe Lieberman, Harry Reid and John McCain. It was very disorganized. No one was sitting at their desk. Instead they were all milling around the Senate floor talking, talking and talking.
Finally the roll call vote was over and the bill passed the Senate. The Senators continued to mix around and talk, and talk and talk. We gave up waiting for the verdict and left the Senate gallery to take our tour of the capital building. Later we heard on the news that the Senate had tacked on $30 billion of new spending and President Obama was not happy about it. Tomorrow it is back to the drawing board.
Next we went to the National Indian Museum. Everything here is presented from the Indian perspective. We took a guided tour. The guide, an Indian girl, told us that before1492 Indian life was very nice, with plenty of beautiful forests and streams, food for all and very nice life. When the Europeans came in1492 they brought three things that had a huge impact on the Indian way of life – Bibles, guns and disease.
We really enjoyed listening to the Indian stories about how the stars got in the sky and how the bear was the master of the forest.
We went to the cafe for lunch and there were lots of different Indian dishes to choose from. Ryan and Isabella had buffalo burgers, grandpa had black beans with crawdads and GG had Ceviche.
Next we went to the Air and Space Museum. There we saw the history of flight, starting with the Wright Brothers Flyer and ending with the Space Shuttle. We got to explore the cockpit of a 747 and go through a sample space lab and see the rockets and missiles that have been sent into space. We were exhausted after a busy day and we're glad to go home for dinner, a shower and bed.
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