To Begin With

I will tell you a little bit about Monday. I will get through the whole story, I promise, but it might take a few entries and a little backtracking to fill in what I've forgotten.

As I may have already said, I got up at 6 am, NOT my favorite time of day, but I didn't want to be in a rush to get on the right train after we figured out the parking situation and all that junk. We left our hotel around 7:30 so we could get on the 8:20 train. (I think. Things are a little blurry at this point, but I'm pretty sure that's what we did. It may have been the 7:40 one, in which case we left at 6:45. I don't remember what was plans and what it actuality.) Chris was not a big fan of this situation- since the hotel was 10 miles or so from the station, he wanted to leave 20 minutes before the train left. I insisted that between not knowing where we were going and not knowing the parking situation and just not knowing the train station in general, we should leave early. He finally agreed because I insisted. He was cranky the whole trip because I tried to get us places early, but so be it. I'd rather not be treated civilly than miss our trains and be late for everything.

We got in to Washington DC's Union Station an hour after we left. Then we had to go to Michigan's preinaugural reception and then go get our tickets from Congressman Stupak. And that's where the real fun began.

But this, like I said, is just the beginning, so I will continue later. At the moment, I am sitting on my bed in the Fairfield Inn Chicago-St. Charles, which we arrived at around 2 this morning, CST. It is a very nice bed and as much as I don't want to get off of it, I am going to, so I can go enjoy the pool for a little while before I have to pack up and get on the road.

The trip is almost over. Such a relief in some ways, so sad in others.