Carbon Copy

D.C.: Part One

After about 1.5 hours of sleep, we bundled into a Purdue van to begin the 11 hour trip to DC. It was 4:00 am. The idea was to have one person (well-rested) drive while the rest of us caught up on our sleep. The problem was, no one could really sleep. Oh, we tried. We rolled our head back on the seat, crushed a pillow against the window, or slumped forward, but it never really quite worked. This meant, however, that I got to see the sun rise over Ohio. (I had never been to Ohio before, either.) Here are some more pictures of the sunrise, taken through the van window.

The funny thing about a sunrise is that it seems an awful lot like a sunset. This makes me wonder what makes people get up really early in the morning just to see it. Not to mention hike up a mountainside to see it. I mean, it's pretty, but it's not that spectacular.

Moving on, we went through lots of Ohio, a little bit of West Virginia, and a strip of Maryland until we finally saw the dome and phallus of the D.C. skyline.

Of course, the first thing to do is check into the hotel and drop off our baggage. We weren't sure what to expect from our hotel. The program was paying for it (so cheap) but it was right in downtown (so possibly cool). It was pretty cool, in a cheap sort of way. First of all, it had the bat symbol as its logo. Then, it had awesome art work all through the halls, stuff straight from children's magazines with, you know, lions and dinosaurs and wild animals. But the best part of the hotel room was the toilet. And by best, I mean funniest. When we first got to the room, I noticed the toilet seat was up, and I thought "One of the guys must've used our bathroom." (Cuz a van of people got there the day before, including our other roommate, Erica). So I closed the door and put the seat down and ... um... relieved myself. After I washed my hands, I went to open the door, but it got stuck! Apparently, to open and close the door, the toilet seat had to be up. Anyway, enough talk, pictures:

We freshened up and went to H&M, where I bought some much needed accessories. Then we met the cool people from the group at the Capitol City Brewing Company for dinner.

After I finished my delicious cobb salad (and everyone else finished eating, too, of course), we retired to the hotel to change for an evening out. Someone recommended a "German pub" down the street for a nice hangout. We got there and found corinthian columns and reflective marble. Too posh. So we went to an "Irish pub" in Chinatown. This was much more bustling and gritty. Although not terribly Irish, even though they did try to make it authentic.

Ok, so the rest of the night was spent chewing the fat at the bar. And of course, taking photos. Here are a couple different sequences. First, some of the guys:

And then some of the girls:

Cristen and Me (pre-devil eye, obviously)

Erica and Me:

Tom made it a point to include me by asking me all sorts of questions about what it's like to be Mormon.

Erica, Cristen, and Brian couldn't decide on one expression at any given time:

Here's Darrow - he was saying all sorts of funny stuff that we wrote down and quoted to him the next night:

Cristen sneaking into Erica's picture:

Christmas snacks:

Everyone knows how much I enjoy taking self-portraits, which sometimes turn out quite sassy. So enjoy the artistic renderings of the group.

Cristen, mocking my sassiness:

Erica, also sassy:

Tom:

Darrow (Bryan):

Brian:

Chris:

And Mark (who doesn't like to have his picture taken):

I left the pub around 12:30 for a well-lit walk back to the hotel. For any friends who might be concerned about me being in a pub, here's the proof of my temperance. The water I nursed all night long:

I slept soundly that night. More D.C. fun to come tomorrow, but for now, I've gotta read. Or maybe just go to bed.