Washington DC Day 6

Today was QUITE an early day. So early in fact that we had to take a taxi to the metro station as the shuttle doesn't start at the hotel until 7:00am. Getting up at 5:15am is some dedication. We heard it might rain today so we took jackets, and well, it ended up being the hottest day of our trip so far. Go figure. Very few pictures today as the places we went didn't allow photography.

Anyways, this morning we started off with a tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. This is one of 3 places where all the cash in the US is made. This does not include coins. This basically was just a print shop if you think about it. We saw a bunch of machines and well, they printed money, cut money, bundled money, etc. It was torture to see so much money just sitting there. One of the workers teased us with the stacks of money by fanning it and gesturing us to come get it. Of course, he also had a sign above him that said, "You think you have it rough, I just printed my life's income in one minute." That made me laugh. It was a pretty interesting tour, but it felt short and rushed. Still, there is only so much you can say about printing machines.

From there, we went to the office of our congressman to drop off our bag and jackets as we had a White House tour and cameras were not allowed. From there, it was off to the White House. That was not what we expected. Basically, we were all a herd of cattle going from room to room in a straight line. When we entered, we were given a brochure and then we just followed the line. We went from room to room on the bottom floor of the White House, reading along in our brochure to see the short history of the rooms. I thought that the tour would have been a guided tour with a tour guide telling is different facts and things abut each room. No, it was all self guided. I guess I shouldn't be disappointed as I can now say I have been in the White House and how many people can say that? Still, I wish it would have been slightly different.

We returned to get our bag and jackets and as we were leaving the building, we noticed this commemorative wall of all the soldiers who have died so far in the current war. We were able to find a former classmate of my sister so I thought I would take a picture in case she wanted to see it.

As we were exhausted and knew we were going to have a late night, we ended up going back to the hotel to rest for a couple of hours. We have hit pretty much everything we wanted to see so we didn't mind relxing for a couple of hours. Tonight, Jess and I went back into DC to a brewery, Gordon Biersch, to meet a couple of the guys that I play video games with in my OTD clan. It was really cool to meet them and Jess and I had an awesome time. They were all so funny and it didn't feel awkward at all, like I have known them for a long time. Well, a couple of them, I have been playing video games with for almost 2 years now, but it is always so different to actually meet a person rather than hearing their voice on a mic. But again, it was a great time, there was a lot of teasing amongst each other going on, and really, it just felt like a reunion of old college buddies or something along those lines. We didn't take our camera as we didn't feel like carrying it around, but one of the other guys had a camera and I will get the pictures and post them here as soon as he posts them on our clan message board. And believe me, he will be posting them. After they ordered beer and I ordered a Shirley Temple, the camera was brought right out. They couldn't resist showing that picture to everyone to show just how manly I am.

Tomorrow, is our final day. Boo!