Coming Home from Out Of the Cold

Presidential Inauguration Trip: Day 8

Friday, January 23, 2009

I woke up today in time to give James a hug goodbye, and told him that I'd be checking to make sure that he was behaving for his mom.  Liz and Marg left to take James to day care, while I took a shower and packed my stuff.  I'm happy to say that I left with the same number of bags with which I had arrived, although one of them was my little tote bag that was in a small case before, and was now acting as my carry-on bag.  

Liz and Marg came back with breakfast from Panera (another carrot-walnut muffin for me), and Liz told me that I was show-off because I was able to pack everything so that I could carry it all.  I told her that she should just leave her cold-weather stuff there, since she'd be back to help Marg get Easter Egg hunt tickets in a couple of months, and they'd be sleeping out in the cold.  I don't know if she took my advice, though.

They took me to the airport, and we said our goodbyes.  I'm really going to miss hanging out with the Ward family.  They were hilarious.  

My plane rides home went well.  I slept quite a bit.  When we stopped at Chicago-Midway for a short time, I could see snow on the tarmac.  It was COLD when they opened the door to the jetway!  Wow.  I did hear some new jokes from the flight attendants during that time.   There was a long one involving Baby Bear's custody hearing. 

Here's a short one.

Question:  "What did the Zero say to the Eight?"

.

.

.

Answer:  "Nice belt!"

I had a short layover in Vegas, and was happy to see the light of the Luxor pyramid.  A trip to Vegas, no matter how short, is nothing if you're there at night and haven't seen that light.

I arrived at Burbank and was happy to get home.  It was a nice, balmy 67 degrees or something like that.  

I had a great trip.  Was it worth it?  All that cold, the travel, the cold, the bodyaches, the cold, the sardine-packed intersection from hell, the cold....yeah, it was sure worth it.  I have new warm shoes that held up in all of that cold and with all of the walking.  I had a great time hanging out with fun people who didn't mind having Bananaman in their presence.  I got to see plenty of historical landmarks and cool museum exhibits.  I tried new places to eat.  But most of all, I can say that I was in Washington, DC to witness the Inauguration of the First Black President of the United States.  I can say that I waved to his little girls.  Heck, yeah!  I had an absolutely fabulous, unforgettable, freezing time...and I'd do it all over again.  But only if Liz is there with me. ;)

Thank you to Liz for the invitation.  Thank you to Margaret for your hospitality and DC expertise.  Thank you to the Wards for their hospitality, the internet service, and the ride to the train station.  Thank you, my newest buddy James, for a birthday song that I'll never forget.  My love to you all, and I hope that every day can be at least half as inspirational for all of you as it was for me on January 20, 2009.  

The Last Shot

Obama Sher to the Rescue!