An east coast snowstorm
the week before this year's annual fly-in affected the budding cherry trees in Washinton, but spring sunshine and brisk winds greeted the Community Alliance group when we arrived in D.C. March 21.
We were scheduled for lunch with the Director of the Air National Guard and afternoon meetings with Congresswoman Vickie Hartzler, Congressman Sam Graves and Senator Claire McCaskill. As is usual in Washington, we hurried to hurray meetings and then wait for them to begin. However, we were in high spirits after lunch because of good news regarding program funding for the 139th. After dinner at the Dubliner Irish pub, we were invited to an evening tour of the Capitol hosted by Congressman Graves.
The next day, we had a lunch meeting at the historic Monocle Restaurant with the staff from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, then walked up the hill for an afternoon meeting with Senator Roy Blunt. On the way back to the airport, our shuttle driver stopped a few blocks from the White House so we could walk to see it. Secret Service Security keeps visitors a significant distance across the street from the White House grounds but we could stand on the curb to take selfies.
