The tour squad met bright and early on Tuesday 9th July at London Heathrow, with four of the team spending only a few hours at home after returning from the Yorkshire Dales having completed their gold D of E expedition. Good acclimatisation in the soaring British heat!
The 8 hour flight passed relatively quickly and we landed in Dulles, Washington DC and after enduring the long queue and extensive questioning at customs and immigration we were all allowed into the country. We met Tom our guide and Sabee our bus driver and boarded the very welcoming air conditioned bus for our short trip into downtown DC. In an effort to stay awake and make the most of the day went straight to see some of the famous sights of Washington. We visited the Lincoln Memorial and the reflecting pool famous for the Forest Gump movie and Tom told us about the history and many war memorials in DC. From there we drove a short way to park as close as possible to the White House and walked to the front and took lots of pictures, including ones of the Tibetan protestors.
With a few of us running on empty we headed to the Holiday Inn, Georgetown to check in for one night. After a great supper at ‘surfside’, where we discovered first hand that the portions are much bigger here, we collapsed into bed for a much needed long sleep.
