April 13th, 2007
The Big Day in DC

We woke up in Arlington, ate breakfast and took the Metro (in travel bags) to the Federal Triangle, not far from the White House. Before going to the White House, we first stopped at the Washington Monument and there we met Sue, a Scottie owner from the DC area. She gave us a tour around the White House providing interesting anecdotes along the way.

We stopped at the back of the White House first to grab a photo of the huge backyard, where Barney and Miss Beazley play, leads up to their home. There we got a chance to meet some people and play with some kids before heading around to the front.

Once we arrived at the front, we peaked over the concrete ledge to see if we could get a glimpse of Barney and/or Miss Beazley. Sadly it wasn't meant to be as neither were out front either. We posed for a few photos for the on-lookers and one person nearby assumed that Boone was Barney when he saw everyone taking photos of us.

Our new friend Sue had to leave, so we said our goodbyes and thanked her for escorting us around the White House.

From there we decided to move on and see the Lincoln Memorial. It was quite a walk there, but luckily at this point the wind had died down quite a bit. We walked around the reflecting pool, stopping here and there to get photos of ourselves with the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument in the background.

From the Lincoln Memorial we headed out to walk around the Tidal Basin and see the Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson Memorials. We had seen pictures of the Tidal Basin covered with fully bloomed cherry blossoms and thought it was quite beautiful, so we chose to travel to DC in April so they would be in bloom. Sadly the snow that arrived in DC a few weeks back caused the cherry blossoms to die early, and we couldn't get the same magnificent photos that we saw on the internet.

The FDR Memorial still provided a sense of greatness and passion without the blossoms. The quotes etched into the walls, the waterfalls and the statues all gave us a sense of worldly pride. The highlight of the trip of course was being able to meet Fala, FDR's handsome Scottie during his presidency. We got to stand next to him and admire his sense of pride and showmanship that's evident from both photos we've seen and his statue honoring him.

From the FDR Memorial we headed over to the Jefferson Memorial. We stopped for a moment to rest and take in the views of both the Memorial and the whole of DC across the Tidal Basin.

We then proceeded to head towards the Capitol Building, walking through The Mall and stopping momentarily to get a photo of the Smithsonian Castle and the National Gallery of Art building. As we approached the Capitol Building with the Ulysses S Grant Memorial in front, we began to realize not just the depth of our journey through life, but the rich and great history of Americans. The triumphs and tragedies, and above all, the constant struggles that have been made to ensure freedom for everyone. Best of all, the creation of a society which has been so accepting of dogs like Boone and I to allow us to travel across the country in search of our dreams and destiny.

We finished our day there, headed back to the Metro and returned to our hotel, happy despite not having the day I envisioned with Barney.

Kenzie and Boone
Scottie Tails