Beltless in the Beltway

We're back, and only a little more than two hours after we departed for our tickets. It was a smooth pickup, though the metal detectors certainly did not like me much. Belt, shoes, wallet, phone...it all had to go. The people in Senator Harkin's office were helpful and nice, though, and our tickets are in hand. The line was long- as you can see from the picture on my previous post- but they did a terrific job of moving people through.

On a funny side note- snow fell this morning in DC as we waited in line. For my wife and I, it only brought terrible flashbacks to the weather we left a thousand miles behind in Iowa. For the folks in DC, it was quite a treat. A woman in front of us in line is from DC, and, after learning we were from Iowa, she asked me for winter weather coping tips as we moved through. It's kind of cool being a weather celebrity out here- they're so impressed that we even survived the cold weather we had last week in Iowa. I feel a little like Shackleton recounting our battles with the cold winds for those out here. The DC area has seen temperatures colder than they've seen in quite a few winters, and has even set some records. I was happy to tell my new friend all kinds of tips to stay warm (like, the most important one, DON'T GO OUTSIDE).

Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying their Martin Luther King holiday, and that we all take a moment to reflect on Dr. King's importance to where we are as a country, especially on this, Inauguration Eve. In honor of Dr. King, they are going to be running his entire, 17 minute "I Have a Dream" speech on the jumbo TV screens on the National Mall today. Not sure yet if we'll make it down for it, but, like every year, at the very least I plan to pull it up on line and view it.