Day One: A 12 Hour Bus Ride and One Fancy House!

Hello,

What a day today has been!!!

Normally, when I am traveling it is a long first day, but these middle school students are troopers.  We met at Belmonte around 5:30am.  The four buses were waiting for us and we loaded water and suitcases onto each coach.  I was assigned Bus 2...with Mrs. Hamer, Ms. Payne, and Mr. Woods.

It was raining, but the kids helped make quick work of the process and before we knew it...we were off.





It seemed like we were on the road for a good long while, when I looked up and saw an "Entering Wakefield" sign.  I suppose that's when I knew we were in for quite a long day.  Sometime around Waltham the traffic broke and we started our journey in earnest.  We drove down the Pike and turned on to I-84.  Entering Connecticut is always a bittersweet experience for me.  On one hand, it signals that a trip has truly begun - We are out of our home state.  On the other hand, for such a small state, Connecticut seems to go on forever.  After passing through Hartford, we happened across the exit sign for Newtown, Connecticut and Sandy Hook.  It was a sobering experience for me and I even heard some of the kids mentioning it too.

We eventually came to the Tappan Zee Bridge spanning the Hudson River.  I think it was here that I first noticed some of the kids claiming that they could see the White House...they were a little off.  We turned onto the Garden State Parkway and stopped at the Montvale, NJ reststop.  There were multiple choices for the kids, but most of them went to Dunkin' Donuts or Burger King.  After a quick bite to eat, we continued down the road.  We had a little bit of a strange traffic issue while on the Garden State.  A trooper began swerving between the lanes slowing the traffic down to about 15 mph.  There were a few maintenance vehicles patrolling with him.  We figure there had been an accident down the road and they were cleaning up the roadway.

Soon enough, we were on the New Jersey Turnpike and then Delaware and then Maryland.  On Bus 2, we had a slight issue with the lift hydraulics for the "kneeling" bus.  It was safe to drive, but it made us a little more prone to feeling bumps in the road...I swear I am a little seasick as I write this blog.  We drove past Baltimore and began our approach to Washington, DC.  As we drove into DC, we could grab quick glimpses of the Capital Building.  Some of the kids, being too excited to really think about it this time, we yelling out that they had seen the White House.  Traffic was pretty bad and we eventually made it to the National Place for dinner.

After a bit, we began preparing for the first leg of our tour.  We were going to be visiting the White House and a few memorials.

Along the way, we passed by the Treasury Department.  It was the first real "historic" structure that we saw up close and I think the kids were impressed.  Many of them stopped to take pictures...and I even heard a few say it was the White House.

Finally, we were there...The White House.

After we had our share of pictures, we once again boarded our bus and headed off to the World War Two memorial.  Our Tour Guide, Jim, is one of the head guides at the memorial and he gave us a very detailed and specific tour.  The other buses didn't seem to have the same detail in our tour, but I kept reminding the kids with me that they'll remember it longer and that it may help them in classes at the High School next year.

We posed for a Bus 2 picture along the columns.  We are a photogenic group.

A few of us grabbed a couple of other quick photos from around the memorial too:

As the night grew to a close, we boarded our bus one more time...this time, our destination was our hotel, just outside of Washington.  Unfortunately for us, the convoy took a wrong turn.  Thomas Paine, a founding father and author of Common Sense, once wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls..."  Our kids could have complained and they could have whined, but instead, without prompting from any chaperons, they broke out into song.  It wasn't Miley Cyrus or Lady Gage...nope, it was Francis Scott Key.  The kids belted out the National Anthem.  It was super cool hearing that song with the backdrop of DC still visible.  The kids, without knowing it, made the trip extra special for me...and I could tell that George, our bus driver, enjoyed the performance as well.  George had told me earlier that he was a retired veteran and I am sure their tribute to our nation was heartfelt.

All in all, it has totally been worth the 12 hour drive.  I can't wait for tomorrow.  I am going to include a link to the Picasa Album I've created for the trip, but I am not sure if it will work for you.  The Album name is Belmonte DC 2013. If it doesn't work, then please let me know.

Have a great night...and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Mr. Lavoie, currently in Springfield, Virginia with the capital on one side of him and the bright lights of a Dunkin Donuts on the other side.