Capitol Update

Yesterday was a day of adventures.

The mayor of Owasso and his family came to visit DC, and scheduled a tour of the Capitol with our office. When moderately important people from the district or friends of the Congressman come, he takes them on what is called a Dome Tour. I and another intern got to go along, and it was an adventure of adventures. The main room of the Capitol is called the Rotunda, and is a huge vaulted room capped with an elaborate painting called the Apotheosis of Washington, and ringed by a painting called the Frieze of American History. The room is 180 feet high. On top of this is the dome of the capitol, on top of which is the Freedom Statue. On this Dome Tour we got to go to the very top of the Rotunda, where there is a ledge running around the inside of the room, right at the base of the apotheosis painting, and above the frieze. We were standing there, inches away from the painting featuring figures up to 15 feet tall, and looking over 150 ft down at the tiny tourists on the floor of the rotunda. Then we went up even more steps and ended up outside, on top of the dome that is the Capitol, just below the freedom statue (below the columns, in the picture). The ledge went all the way around and you could see the entire District of Columbia. Just as we came out there it started to rain. The entire experience was breathtaking, and will probably remain the highlight of my trip. I carved my initials on the railing inside the Rotunda. Incredible.

Then, another adventure. Two in one day. Haley and I decided to have Roommate Dinner again. This time it would be tacos. So we went to Safeway to get ingredients. The sky was very dark so we took our umbrellas even though it was not raining. After buying the ingredients (and saving $7 with my Safeway card), we look outside. It is Pouring Rain. Torrential Rain. We get outside, and wait until the light turns green before we venture out from under the overhang. Finally it does and we go forth. Within seconds, even with my umbrella, I am soaked. All the way through. The wind was blowing, the lightning was flashing, the rain was pouring, and the streets were flooding. Worse than the OU campus, which can flash flood in 10 minutes. Foggy Bottom can apparently flash flood in 2 minutes, because all the streets and sidewalks were completely submerged under at least 3 inches of water.

We got home, safe, sound, and soaking. We made tacos, which were delicious, I talked on the phone with my verbose family (that takes about an hour every time), and then went to bed.