Just got back from DC yesterday, I promise to post the many pictures from our trip tonight!!! On Tuesday we rode the remaining thirty or so miles into DC just in time to witness the full glory of the cherry blossoms. We were supposed to meet up with a group from PBS to interview us, but it turns out they were on the other side of the river in Virginia, so we planned to meet at one of the memorials. I thought the interview went great, but some of the camera work was a bit crazy. The camera man actually wanted to get on the back of the tandem, without any instructions or experience, he told me to wait and jumped right on. Needless to say, I doubt he'll be getting more than .5 of a second out of that shot due to the constant swaying of the picture because he didn't keep his feet on the pedals or even tried to stay straight, so my dad was wobbling around all over, trying to keep the bike from tipping. I liked the question that the interviewer called "Lucky", had asked me. He asked me what my take on the whole we're going to inherit the earth deal was. He asked my dad about some group called the Cornwall society, who are against bringing churches together for some reason. My dad said that he would have preferred another question that he knew more about bu t understood why the interviewer was mixing it up, so that we wouldn't have rehearsed answers. After the interview we rode ourselves over to Gallaudet college, filled with excitement and new energy from having arrived in the city. From Gallaudet we packed up our DC clothes for hill talks, which the executive director of PAIPL had taken down for us to have. Riding back to the parsonage were we were staying, my dad had to carry a huge yellow duffel on his back as I secured it with one arm. When we got there I was introduced to pastor Mike, his wife Judy, Son Karl, and daughter Maya, all very nice and welcoming. In fact, Karl was nice enough to let us take up his room for the night because he was the only one who had a bunk bed. Wednesday was capitol hill day! Let me tell you something, the senate offices from PA, have the best candy. We visited the aids of Senator Pat Toomey, Bob Kasey, and representative Marino. The first two visits went pretty good, I talked about why I went on the bike ride, the letters and drawings I collected, why I was concerned about climate change, and then I just kind of listened to the rest of the people in my group talk. The last hill visit though, we could just tell that the aid wasn't interested in anything we had to say. We had a meeting in the hallway instead of the office, and she barely even looked at me, let alone let me tell her about all the people who wrote to congress, who wanted to be heard. I think she just didn't want any emotion to enter the conversation for fear that it may make things complicated. She also said that chickens were the big industry that aided in global warming by releasing methane, when actually that's cows. Even I knew that. So I just kind of stood there the whole meeting, and then we headed back to the cafeteria, and then to the parsonage. Soon after that we left. OK, so I feel like if I don't at least somewhat describe the beauty of Washington DC, this blog post won't ever be complete. When we first rode into the city, I was immediately awakened by the beauty and business of everything around our group of bikes. We could just see the tip of the Washington monument from the place were we stopped to wait for the others. Actually it was so busy that we had to often get off our bikes and walk on the sidewalks because there was simply just no way that we could possibly ride our mammoth bike through the crowds. I also noticed just how fashionable everybody seemed to be. Everywhere I looked people were decked out in lacy sundresses. I guess that was the fad of the week. Oh, I nearly forgot about the cherry blossoms! By the time we got there they were in full bloom, and when the wind picked up, cherry blossom pedals would rain down on passing pedestrians. I think I got some good pictures of them. I still can't really wrap my head around the fact that the ride is over. I had such a great time. I really think that our little group made a great team, we all got along really great, although there were some times when potential scuffles could have broken out. I'm just glad that we got along as wonderfully as we did. I hope that we all meet up again some time. Anyway, I'm back home stepping right back into my school routine. (PSSA's yuck) As well as the school play (robin hood) and really just feeling strange not riding fifty miles a day. This is probably going to be my last blog post for a while, so until later. -Hannah For pictures of the ride check out the page Pictures and video on this blog.