Last week my dad flew me to D.C. to help Ball Janik lobbying firm and the National Association of Theraputic Schools lobby against a bill that was being voted on in the House later that week. For my final dissertation/thesis for my masters program I researched public administration abuses against the rights of the disabled, particularly those needing some sort of assisted living environment to cope. This bill would make it harder for assisted living facilities that provide treatment and services to this disabled population to exist. My dad has a particular interest in this bill not passing as he owns 4 such treatment centers, so because of my political background and my knowledge on the subject I was asked to meet with some senators and representatives to garnish some political support in stopping this bill. And since my dad had nothing better to do (ya right! my dad is the busiest man I know) he decided to join me in D.C. and make a daddy-daughter trip out of it. Well, it was a fun and exciting trip to say the least. I hadn't been back on the Hill since I worked for Congressman Matheson in 2004. Some of my fondest memories are of experiences in D.C. and I enjoy every minute I spend there. Austin told me that one sunday this summer we can take a train (it is only 2.5 hours!) to D.C. and spend the day there just walking around, seeing the sites and NOT WORKING AT ALL! I am very excited for that. We had a lot of success, especially on the Senate side but I will say that the best part of the trip was definitely spending quality time with my papa. In between meetings we walked over to the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court, and I even gave him a brief tour of the capitol building (I somehow talked my way into getting a congressional pass from security so we could walk through all of the "employee only" tunnels, go into the capitol building and take the underground trains...I guess this isn't a surprise to those who know me because you know I have a "special skill" and passion for "talking" ha ha).
The Supreme Court
Where cases are heard before the Supreme Court Justices.
There are only 2 staircases like this in the U.S.
Come rub Justice Marshall's lucky foot!
Our hotel was right next to the White House so one night after eating dinner we walked over and saw that and the Washington Monument.
They really don't let you get close do they???
One of my favorite monuments---you should see 4th of July fireworks over it---beautiful!
One night while eating dinner at the famous Old Ebbitt Grill there was a "potential" bomb threat (who decides these things?) right outside of the restaurant. So we were forced to say inside (I drank about 10 shirley temples) and we watched through the windows (I narrated) as swarms of cop cars barricaded a 2 block radius--and we watched as they sent some sort of remote control camera to the "suspicious bag" and then we watched as a man in a big puffy green suit (was this supposed to protect him from the bomb?) poked around in the bag, spilling all of its contents onto the concrete and then walked away without bothering to pick them up, and then finally we watched as a police officer without a puffy green suit (it must be safe) walked over and put the contents of the bag back inside (why couldn't the puffy green guy do this?) and walked it back to the swarm of police vehicles. It was very exciting and it reminded me of all the good ol' days while working in Congress when we got weekly bomb threats and had to evacuate or sometimes we were forced to remain inside our office for hours on end (no potty breaks or anything!).
Restaurant we got locked inside of because of a potential bomb threat--those darn "suspicious backpacks".
I think our mysterious bag ended up being someone's luggage that fell out of a cab...
(Sharpest dress man in D.C.)
I love my dad immensely. He is an old-fashioned gentleman, very loving and caring to everyone, and one of the most generous people I have ever known. He is very wise and intelligent. He always does things for other people just to serve them (like tipping a cab driver a 20 or giving a 50% tip to a server). One of my favorite things about my dad is he always likes to surprise me--I love his surprises! For example, he had a white stretch limo pick me up from and take me to the airport just because he thought it would be a nice treat for me; One night he took me to Georgetown where he had reservations to a very fancy restaurant because he knows I love good food!; He sent me money in the mail just so I could go to Bloomingdales and buy a really nice new suit for the trip; and last but not least, I don't know how many other dads in the history of the world would do this--but he took me shopping at the Juicy Couture store!! I always enjoy shopping with my dad because he has a very good fashion sense. Anyway, I really missed Austin the 4 days I was gone and I wished he could have been on our little D.C. adventure with us but he probably would have been bored meeting with congressman and senators all day... But it was nice to have some alone time with my dad--and he didn't even get that many phone calls while we were together (more likely is he just didn't answer them)--what a pleasant surprise! =)
Senator McCain's office...
Senator Hillary Clinton's office...
Senator Obama's office...
Meeting with Senator Bennett
New York Street
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...pretty creative huh?
(Thank you so much dad, it was a wonderful trip--and I appreciate all that you always do for me! I love you!)
4 comments:
That sounds like a pretty amazing trip. How lucky are you to have such an awesome dad?!! Well dads are already pretty darn great all around, but WOW soo cute that he did all those things to make this trip so special!
wow, sounds like a great trip with your dad! it i'm glad that there are some people out there who are so involved in politics... i really should jump on that bandwagon...
How fun and how lucky! Just to go spend some time with your dad, thats awesome! I don't think we get enough Daddy-Daughter times. And how great that he is willing to spoil you AND go shopping WITH you! I think my dad would rather die than go shopping. lol
Looks like a really great trip! I visited D.C. over the 4th of July when I was a teenager, and the fireworks were spectacular over that monument! There were of course, TONS of people there too. Kendall served his mission there(D.C. North), but I don't think he was too fond of that area. He's not into the political/debate stuff, in fact, he can't stand it. Which is weird because I was raised all around that kind of stuff, so we've have come pretty intersting conversations to say the least! Glad you had fun! You look great by the way (well you always do, but you look more business-like in these pics)!
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