Washington DC Youth Trip -- In The Words Of Andrew

After planning a nice while in advance to go to Washington DC with the youth group, we almost didn't make it. A governmental shutdown left us up in the air while politicians tried to find a way to get along. I was desperate to still go, so I watched the news pensively and caught myself cheering when the government reopened. Bit out of character for me.

We started out bright and early, a little after 6:00 AM when we all should have been catching up on sleep. There were 24 people, so we divided equally into two vans. Well, both vans had the same count, but that's about it. The people in my van were, well, a bit crazy sometimes.  There was just the right blend of personalities or something like that.  I sat between Jordan and Josiah, which was asking for trouble. It all started when the temperature in the van started to rise abnormally. I said I was hot and some people who don't have a good grasp of the English language thought I was describing myself. Some claimed all the moisture on the windows came from us guys in the back (Jason was with us too) but I don't think that's based on a true story. Everything went downhill from there. There was just too much hot air. Somehow the majority of the blame for all the hilarity landed on one poor person. I'm a nice guy, so I'll keep the person anonymous—don't want to embarrass anyone.

Anyway, we finally got down there and finally found a place to park. It seemed that police cars were everywhere and some of us were worried about bombs, believe it or not. Once we got out of the van around 9:10, things cooled down. It was just gorgeous outside, a perfect October morning with a slight chill and breeze that kept us moving. We were late for our scheduled tour of the Capitol but headed in that direction with hopes of still getting in. There was a marathon of sorts happening on one of the roads we had to cross so we had fun trying to find gaps and getting across without tripping anyone. Think we did it. We walked a little further and came to the Capitol. 

At the reflection pool in front of the capitol building

We stood outside for awhile looking up at the magnificent building. It's quite something to actually see it. Jesse went investigating to see if we could still get in and I think most of us were excited when he came back and told us we could in about ten minutes. We had to go through security and then got in a long, snaking line to get ready for the tour. We watched a 15 minute video about Congress and then were hooked up with a tour guide. I did have to laugh when I heard one of the guides call out “Cross Keys Academy” as we were finding our place.

Under the Rotunda...

Our tour guide couldn't have been better. He was a jovial fellow who made everything fun and cracked a few sly jokes. We all had headphones on so, you guessed it, we could hear him. It was fascinating to see all the architecture and artistry on the walls and ceilings. I think it was one of the highlights for a lot of us. When we were done, our guide told us we could leave feedback on the website.  If we liked it, his name was Don and if we didn't, his name was Fred. (names are changed to protect the innocent)

"Republican" and "Democrat"

The Magnificent Rotunda

Afterwards we headed towards our vans to eat lunch. I'm not sure what happened, but we basically ended up walking in a big circle trying to find one of the vans, which Joshua had to move because we were out of time.  The plan was to eat lunch close to the Monument, but the first parking space he found was all the way up at the Air & Space Museum... I liked the walk, though, going up close to the Washington Monument which was covered with scaffolding. There's something I've always loved about walking around DC, still not sure exactly why.

We ate lunch on the lawn in what they call the Mall, I believe. Around 1:00 we went into the Air and Space Museum. Here we were basically on our own, with the group breaking up as we all went various ways. I followed Jordan and Josiah around as I'm prone to do, along with Natalia, Bethany, Sara Ann, Linda, Jason, and Eli—hope I'm not forgetting anyone. It was a fun group and we leisurely strolled around reading the displays. One of my favorites was a video clip of the Blue Angels doing their jaw-dropping tricks. It's very neat, though I'm not sure I would want to try it myself. (Maybe Seth would?)

Jesse stressed that the IMAX was optional, but we all wanted to watch it and I think we were all glad we did. We watched To Fly. I think a few of the girls (and some others) screamed at various parts—can't blame them, really. It was surprising when we felt we were riding along in a car only to suddenly drop off a cliff.

In Eager anticipation of the coming iMax...  

"Brillant idea, why don't I just push it over?"

"hey Drew, come help me, this is harder then it looks... "

We headed for the vans around 4:00, without much switching. Sarah Petersheim somehow got in our van, so it seemed we would probably have a less exciting ride home. It didn't turn out that way, though, surprise, surprise. We had a grand time. It's hard to recreate such times on paper, especially when there are so many inside jokes and some things I don't want to bring up.

Outside of the Air & Space Museum

What Photographers do for pictures... 

Hi Jason... 

More Photographers

We all stopped for supper at Subway around 5:30. Jordan got the crazy idea that we should have a photo shoot where everyone was taking a picture of someone else...taking a picture of...someone else..taking a picture...of someone else...etc...etc. It was very funny. I think we all enjoyed our meal, even though some of us guys said a few things that didn't add to the enjoyment of our food—inside jokes again and some things I don't want to, well, never mind.

Yes, thats me, and Yes, I'm eating Subway... I would still like a Pumpkin Spice Latte, but they didn't have one close...:(

We got back to church a little after 7:30. We were all tired, but it was a wonderful day. I loved every minute of it.

I'm somewhat overwhelmed even now as I write by how blessed I am to have such a wonderful group of friends. Even as we had fun together, the spirit of the group was so refreshing. We are seeking to draw closer to the Lord and follow him wholeheartedly and this enables us to bond in a very special way. I want to thank everyone in the youth group for their part in making it a wonderful day.  

The Account of the day was written by Drew Barnard... if you have any complaints about it... I can get you his email address...   

For real, I'd love to hear from you... as always, comments are appreciated!!! 

Proverbs 21:1

The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will