Mission Impossible
Greeted by a cooler, sunny, breezy morning, we all felt refreshed and ready to finish the trip on a high note.
Cases packed and zipped, we had room inspection either Arlington style or Obama style, loaded the cases onto the coach and headed for a hearty breakfast, all before 7:30. What a team!

The coach rolled out of the driveway for the last time and we headed downtown to the Jefferson Memorial. Again, we seemed to beat the crowds and read extracts from the Declaration of Independence and admired the elegance and beauty of the building and its surroundings on the Tidal  Basin.

The Spy Museum was a signature visit . We took on an alternative identity, learned the art of disguise, intrigue and deception, explored an airvent and learned more about the real spies from past times.

After a busy lunch at the Pentagon Mall, we headed off for the final visit of the trip to the Washington National Cathedral. Our charming and expert docent lead us through the nave to view the amazing stained glass windows and other unique parts of the building. It is increible to think that it took only 10 years to build in comparison the some of the European cathedrals that took 100 years. We hope that it will soon be repaired to its former glory after the damage by the earthquake last year.

Little did we know as we trooped onto the coach for the journey to Dulles airport that this was to be one of the most eventful hours of the trip.
The Beltway had ground to a halt and we crawled and inched forward with eyes glued to our watches. What should have been a 45 minute hop stretched painfully to almost two hours.
Calls were made to alert the airline and all we could do was hope and prepare for a whirlwind departure from the coach and arrival at the United desk.
With 50 mintes to spare, we thought we could do it! This was without reckoning that United was not as up to speed with things as we were.
Cutting a long story short,  we managed to persuade United that rerouting 46 passengers would be far more painful and expensive than simply delaying the plane for 40 minutes. Kudos to everyone for the sprint to  secuity and the  gate.
Breathing a sigh of relief as all 46 flopped  into seats, we were rewarded by learning that our delay had actually caused a reroute that would get us to Seattle earlier than the original time.

Tired, but proud, we flowed up the escalator in Seattle to tumultuous and well-deserved applause from our families and friends.
We have all grown in many ways, personally, socially, as well as academically.

Thank you for your trust in us. We did not let you down.

Signing out for the last time.

The DC Explorers 2012