Special Guests For Thanksgiving Arrive

A special treat for us this Thanksgiving was a visit from our eldest daughter Robin and her friend Jenn.

After spending the holiday with Jenn's family up in Ohio, Robin and Jenn flew into Dulles and our Nations Capitol, where Sue and I picked them up.

First stop on their whirlwind visit.... The White House.

We flirted with rain from IAD down to the White House and were beginning to think we were going to have to amend the itinerary. It took about 10 minutes to locate parking and as we left the garage the luck of the Irish smiled down and brought an end to the rain. We were even blessed with sunshine.

As we walked to the White House Sue mentioned this was the day they were going to deliver the White House Christmas tree. As we arrived on the north side of the capitol grounds I noticed they had security out in force and were not allowing the public to stand at the north fence, in fact everyone was being kept at the north side of Pennsylvania Ave. It turns out we had walked up just as the tree was arriving.... what a nice surprise!

Side note: My theory is the State Dinner party crashers breached security at this point and were stowed away like Chip and Dale inside the tree.

After watching the Xmas tree get wheeled into the WH grounds, (no we didn't see the Obama girls), we decided to walk around to the south side to see if we could get up to the fence there. As it turns out the security on the south side was relaxed enough to allow us to get up to the fence. Alas, the White House was obscured by a huge tent that had been put up for the State Dinner.

We were able to see the Cheesy National Christmas Tree, which is always wrapped so tight with lights it becomes hermetically sealed, and push the Welcome to the White House door bell.

It was then on to China Town and dinner with the girls at "Eat First" a Chinese restaurant our good friend Shawn had introduced us to. After dinner it was off to Richmond.

Another side note: This Blog entry has taken me four days and an evening to complete with multiple attempts to get it right each day. It may be years before I get the rest of the girls trip posted. Say a prayer for my sanity, what little of it there is left!