Travel to PA, then DC for First Rehearsal
We’re heading east on I-94 in Wisconsin approaching Madison at about 9:15 am. We just filled up the tank, changed CDs in the six-changer (yea, I know, it’s old school, but works OK) and cleaned the windows. Also, the hose leading to the passenger-side windshield washer fluid squirter was pinched. It seems that the hose was knocked out of a clip that is supposed to hold it in its proper position, resulting in the pinched hose when the hood was closed, and thus, its inability to squirt the windshield. Rather, it kind of just spit out washer fluid onto the hood — not very effective for cleaning the windshield! So, the passenger — Dan, in this case — had to look out through muddy, salty streaks in the windshield. At least it wasn’t the driver’s side. I put the hose back in the clip and voila — the squirter squirted again.
We got up at 4:30 this morning (Sat. 1/17) and got on the road at 5:09. We stopped one other time at the wayside rest after Mauston WI. The roads are decent, with just a dusting of snow in Minnesota and the first bit of Wisconsin. Now, they’re just wet.
Driving this stretch of road brings back memories of other trips — trips to visit my brother, Mark, in Madison, trips to Chicago with our friends, Fritz and Kenny, camping trips on which we stopped to visit my grandma in Illinois and our friend, Dave, in Indianapolis. We’ll now add this trip to those memories — a trip in which we welcome a new president and turn a historical page on what many — myself included — view as a disastrous eight years of failed presidential leadership to one of great hopefulness for a new era of American confidence in our president.
I wrote the previous three paragraphs as we were driving on Saturday. It is now Sunday evening after our first rehearsal.
After Madison, and until we got beyond Chicago, the roads were very icy, and we saw several cars in the ditches, a couple of fender benders and a rollover. The going was slow, but we made it through OK. Then, the roads were decent until we got into Pennsylvania. As we traveled over the Alleghenies, it was snowing, and traveling was slow. We got to Sunhearth Trails Bed & Breakfast in Roaring Spring, PA at about 11 pm. The women who run the place are very friendly and hospitable! They didn’t blink about us getting in two hours later than we were anticipating, made us tea and chatted with us a bit before we all turned in for the evening. The place is very beautifully furnished. Check out their website here: http://www.sunhearth.org/ Tina made us a great breakfast the next morning, and we got on the road toward D.C. just after 7 am.
OK, I’m tired, so I’ll just add for now that we made it D.C. in good time, and our first rehearsal went well. After rehearsal, Dan and I checked into our hotel in Fairfax, VA and had dinner at a nearby Ruby Tuesdays. We have our next and final rehearsal tomorrow. Then, it’s on to the big parade on Tuesday!
Tags: inauguration, lgba, obama, Obama Inaugural Parade, parade, pennsylvania, rehearsal, sunhearth trails
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