August 20, 1998 - Leesburg - Rest Day

DISTANCE TRAVELED: 0 Miles

TIME: 0 Hours

AVERAGE SPEED: 0 Miles/Hour

TRAVEL CONDITIONS: Cool temperatures in the morning which were very unusual for Washington. The afternoon became hot again.

ROAD CONDITIONS: N/A

TERRAIN/DIFFICULTY LEVEL: N/A

DAILY JOURNAL COMMENTS:
I woke up at 7:15 so that we could get to the White House by 8:30. I quickly took a shower and then walked downstairs to meet Aunt Grace, Uncle Dick, Erika and Rob. Together we were going to walk to the White House. On the way, we stopped at a local coffee shop to get a small breakfast. I got a bear claw and a Nantucket Nectar juice. We were a little late so we ate as we walked and arrived at the White House just a little after my Mom, Dad, Aunt Rhona and Uncle Bob, who had taken a taxi. We had a 30 minute wait to get our tour. While we were waiting, we saw "Rambo" walk by. He was a White House SWAT guard with huge arms, dressed all in black, guns on his belt, and ammunition in numerous rolls along his body. Along with this, he had another bag slung over his shoulder that was full of ammo. Fortunately we were the last formal group to take the White House tour so our tour guide was able to take all the time that he wanted to tell us about the historic house. We toured the Library, the Blue Room, the Green Room, the Red Room, and then the Press Room that was once an old dining room. We learned about the paintings on the walls and about the furniture that was in each of the rooms. Some of the original furniture was disliked by some of the Presidents so it was auctioned off and new furniture was purchased. Later, other Presidents saw pictures of the original furnishings and wanted it back. Pictures were sent to action houses around the country and amazingly, almost everything was donated back. We also got to see the China Room where china place settings for each of the different Presidents was displayed. Almost all were painted with gold around the edges. Finally, at the end of the tour, the guide explained the process of setting up the rooms for tours. At 7:30 each day, staff people come in, roll up the carpets and put up ropes to prepare for the 1,700 people who come through on "guided" tours. After this, 4,000 additional visitors walk through without guides and are literally herded though. The guards watch constantly for people who cause damage to the rooms. We were told that people have even thrown mud at the walls! In the past 9 months, there have been 130 arrests. After the last vistor leaves the White House, guards bring in dogs that sniff for bombs. After the dogs are done, electricians check every wire to make sure that nothing has been tampered with and that no fires can start. Next, cleaning crews clean the floors, unroll the carpets and take down the ropes. By 3:00 the White House rooms are ready for the President to use for conferences or any other personal needs. This happens 365 days a year! After touring the White House, we walked to the FBI Building. We had obtained tickets to this building from our Congressman so we were able to bypass a long line that would have taken over a hour to get through. We walked into an exhibit area which featured information about famous criminals and included displays about FBI agent training, FBI office locations around the country and different types of drugs that are confiscated during drug busts. There was also a list of special agents who have been killed in action since 1925. Amazingly there have only been about 50 agents killed during all these years and no more than 3-5 have been killed at once. The last time someone died was in 1992! After this, we then saw racks of guns that had been confiscated. They included the "gangster" tommy gun, bazooka, missile launcher, grenade launcher, sniper rifle, and many pistols, and sawed off shotguns. The final exhibit was a live shooting demonstration. For this, one of the special agents shot three different guns. The first was a revolver with only six bullets. He shot this one and, from a distance of 25 feet, was able to get every bullet within a circle about the size of a quarter. The next gun was the standard issue Glock 9mm pistol. This was able to hold 13 bullets and, although it was a little lighter, it was less accurate. The target showed that the bullets entered an area that was about the diameter of a baseball. The final gun was a rifle with 33 bullets. Squeezing the front grip caused a laser light to come on to highlight the target. The agent said this feature was great for raiding warehouses! On this gun there were three settings. The first allowed a single shot to be fired, the second released two bullets every time the trigger was pulled, and the third was fully automatic with 18 bullets per second. Obviously this was the least accurate. After leaving the FBI we went to Wendy's for lunch where I had fries, two cheeseburgers, and a coke. After eating, we walked back to the hotel where I gathered all of my things to go back to Bike-Aid. We drove back and I then walked over to the police station where they were giving hints on lobbying Congress the next day. After the tips, they gave out sheets saying who had appointments and I was one of the three who didn't get one. Our group then organized a skit which was to be performed for that night's farewell dinner. After this was planned out, I went back to the Community Center to wait for my family to come. We all went to the fairwell dinner around 6:30. We had Greek food which consisted of salad, bread, chicken and pita rolls. Unfortunately there wasn't enough food for everyone so some people didn't get to eat very much. After dinner, we had a few speeches and then the skits. The San Francisco route went first and told a little about each person. For example --- "This person is most likely to be last to get up in the morning." Each person was discribed in this manner -- only the San Francisco riders understood most of humor! Next it was our turn so we did a memorable scene from each state. Matt, Brad, Abigail, and I did a scene from Ohio: We were originally planning on reinacting eating ice cream at a Dairy Queen (since we did this all of the time) but it was too difficult. Instead we re-inacted a volleyball game we played in Wapakoneta. When the skits were done, we moved on to the "fun" part. Awards were given out to different people on the trip for fund raising. First, plaques were given to the partner riders from each foreign country and to the facilitators. Next the fundraising gifts were given out which consisted of bike messenger bags, patagonias, camelbacks, and stoves. For updating my web page every day over the summer, I got a bag for the bottom of my bike seat. The dinner was over around 9:00, my family left and everyone else helped to clean up. I then passed a Bike-Aid poster around to everyone in my group so that each person could sign it -- it is a personal memento to go along with my pictures. We then had a BIKE-AID "Seattle vs. San Francisco" basketball game which we obviously won! After the game, I prepared my bike for shipping, removing the aerobars, bike bag, pump, and other accessories. I then finally got to bed around 1:30.

TRIP ROUTE:
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