So I got to be a tour guide yesterday. That was fun. I had the group of friends I was meeting meet up with me at Reagan Airport so I could drive them into the city because they would get lost and probably freak out over the traffic. It was good that I did. I got to swing by and show them a few things here and there before we went to Union Station to park.

We started off by going to the Capitol so I could give them the grand tour. Half of them had never even been to DC so it was fun to start it off with that. After that, we went to the Holocaust Museum, which is still the best museum in DC. I'm definitely a fan. Very, very moving.

The plan after those two things was to go to Mt. Vernon. This all sounds great theoretically, but by the time we had gotten to the bus stop at Huntington station, it was 3:50. There was no bus, it was a 20 minute ride to Mt. Vernon, and they start kicking you out at 5:30. So, that plan was nixed for Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum. Same price, and open later. OH! But, I lost my badge somewhere between the Holocaust Museum stop and Huntington stop... which means no discount for me and my friends. So, no Wax Museum. Actually, I just realized that I had my temporary id on me from Friday, when I left it at home. That probably coulda worked. Oh well. And seriously, I've never left it at home except for Friday, and it's never fallen off except for Saturday, so this in no way implicates faulty placement on my part. Just clarifying that. We went to the White House instead though, which was cool for them cause a few of them had never seen it. After that, we went by Union Station to get their car, and then go by my place to fill up Sabby's truck with some of my unneeded junk so that we have more room in May.

I got home, and immediately started coloring my hair so that it would be okay looking for pictures, and right after we finished it, Al and I started talking about how we would like this or that from the store. The store would close in about 10 minutes, so I was just like "Heck with my hair. I'll just go like this, let's go." So we went to our little corner store, where people obviously stared me down because I looked like had pink/purple shampoo still in my hair. Finally, this middle aged guy who was on his second or third alcohol run for the night asked me about it. He said "Your hair... it's.. red... and so... soo... yeah. I really appreciate that and I wish more people did that... don't change... and your hair..." and kept talking like for a couple of minutes, which using crazy hand gestures. At the end of the conversation he told my roommate "make sure she irons her hair out and get it all.. like.. make sure." After we left, I was like "I think he was confused about what color my hair was." Al was like "NO! No no no... he meant to tell you he liked how you STYLED your hair. He thought you left it all goopy on PURPOSE!" I cracked up. It was too funny.

This morning, I went and met Kalea down at the Washington Memorial to take pictures with the cherry trees for graduation. There were so many tourists everywhere! It's kinda annoying at times. I interupt this program to give some guidelines for tourists:

1.) Walk left- stand right. That's the escalator rule. It is meant to never be broken.

2.) Don't stop as soon as you get off the Metro. There are people behind you who also would like to get off the train, especially before the unstoppable doors shut. Walk 20 feet, then stop to figure out where to go.

3.) Don't expect people to walk around you if you stand back 30 feet to take a picture. People have places to go, and won't walk into the street to allow you to have a minute of clear picture-taking. Sorry. It sounds rough, but that's how it goes.

4.)Have your ticket out before you get to the Metro exit. Those of us with Smartcards have them so we can leave fast, and would appreciate not waiting five minutes for you to dig through your wallet.

5.) Pick a side of the sidewalk to walk on; please don't walk 5 people across, especially if you're slow. People in DC walk fast, and want to get around you.

Back to where we were. So Kalea and I went to take picture with the cherry trees. We got some really good pictures, so we were satisfied. Of course, it was about 40 degrees outside, so it was kinda hard to pretend like I was happy in 70 degree weather, but I pulled it off. It was neat because our freshman year, we took pictures with those same trees, so that was kinda sentimental.

So that was my two days in a nutshell. Very fun, but now I'm ready to relax!