January 20th will be a big day for our country. All of last year - I told Keith that if Obama won the election - I planned to come to Washington and stay at my his apartment and attend the ceremonies with him. On January 4th - Keith moved into his new apartment on U Street. We dropped by to see it on our December trip home. U Street is an up and coming neighborhood in DC - not too far from the White House and/or his old apartment in Adams Morgan.
Even before the election - Lulu was planning a trip to Denver. The American Library Association and the American Association of School Librarians are holding their mid-winter conventions there. We accidentally booked our airline tickets for Jan 20th - not thinking about the election. Since I am flying on a companion fare ticket (translate as cheap) - I can't change my travel plans without losing the ticket.
As Barack is being sworn in - I will by crossing America at 30,000 feet. We will spend a week in Denver in the winter. Lulu will be attending all of the convention events - I will be touring around the area - Pike's Peak - Colorado Springs - Rocky Mountains - and just enjoying the city.
Keith - on the other hand - is a true inside the beltway guy. The locals are complaining about how the ceremonies will interrupt their lives - just like people in Orlando complain about the success of Disney. If they have to sit in traffic one extra minute - they complain about the tourists invading "their" city. Many of the locals have rented out their homes and plan to leave the city to get an extended holiday and make some extra cash.
My job is to convince Keith to get out into the city and see as many things as he can. I am hoping he will take his camera and shoot tons of pictures to get the feel of this historic event.
In 1973 - back in my Republican days - Lulu and I drove our little two cylinder Honda to Nixon's swearing in. Just a little over a year later - he would resign in disgrace - and the party of balanced budgets and "less is more" died on the vine. We slept in the car - and warmed ourselves in the office of our representative Gus Yatron - a former school teacher and fellow Kutztown State Teachers College graduate. I'll never forget how warmly he greeted us - and how remarkably close we stood near the podium when Nixon was sworn in. It felt almost like a coronation to see Nixon standing there at the top of the steps with that "regal" grin on his face. Just 18 months later - he was flying across the country at 30,000 feet when Gerald Ford was sworn in to replace him.
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