What I saw in the White House

Thanks to the Washington Post I can show you what I saw on my tour of the White House! No camera needed after all!

For the 2009 holiday season, first lady Michelle Obama embellished the Red Room with cranberry garlands and wreaths. Two Fraser fir trees in gilded Versailles boxes are accented with cranberries and deep red velvet and taffeta ribbons.



The East Room is decorated for the 2009 holidays with fresh garlands, blue hydrangea, seeded eucalyptus and beaded fruit.



The State Dining Room displays the White House's annual gingerbread house, designed and constructed by White House pastry chef Bill Yosses and his team. I had the honor of meeting Bill as they just finished putting the cake in place just as I passed to gawk! I shook his hand and he beamed ear to ear as I drooled over his creation! This year's additions to the miniature White House include depictions of the Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn and a shadow box that lets viewers glimpse a gingerbread version of the State Dining Room.



The State Dining Room's 2009 decorations were designed to complement the coloring in the William Cogswell portrait of President Abraham Lincoln, which hangs above the fireplace on the west wall.



All photos - Marvin Joseph-TWP To see the whole presentation go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2009/12/09/GA2009120903781.html?nav=hcmoduletmv

Withdrawal Symptoms

So I find myself staring at the neat stack of clean underwear in my cupboard and feeling myself getting withdrawal symptoms from traveling and living out of a suitcase!

What is wrong with me?

The Long Train Ride Back To Texas!

Washington, DC back home to Texas! Boy, I am actually ready to go home. What an awesome trip this has been and what a blessing to explore a bit more of this amazing country! Go US, Go US, Whohohooo!

Currently I am in St Louis, MO on my final train trip and boy what a long two days to get here. I left DC on Thursday and will arrive home early Saturday morning. The train to Chicago was packed, packed to the brim with all sorts of interesting people and not necessarily the good interesting people you would like to have on a trip of this magnitude.

Behind me was a guy with the most annoying whiney voice who talked on his cell phone all the way to Chicago. Who calls at 2 am!? This guy does! Seriously, I am certain there must have been patches without coverage. This guy soldiered on! In front of me was a pony tailed truck driver on one side of the aisle who hooked up with the blond lady in her 50’s across the aisle from him, and boy, did they get along well!

Somewhere in the wee hours of morning she was sitting on his lap! Next to me were two of the most gentlest of Amish guys who did not know where to look. So needless to say, I arrived in Chicago a bit sleep deprived. Before you ask why I did not change seats, there were none available, but hey, it is all part of travelling.

A five hour layover in a packed waiting room in Chicago with running kids, stressed moms yelling at them… and now on my – thank you Jesus – quiet train ride home. Have been nodding off as you tend to do and woke up startled and what a sight I must have been as I seemed to have sprung a slight drool on the left side of my face! Haha.

One thing I have been enjoying very much about the train rides is to travel through small town USA and see the houses all lit up with Christmas lights. You can tell which streets compete and which ones don’t. Another curious thing is that some towns would not have one little colored light on - either at homes or corporately - while their neighboring towns must be visible from space! I don’t think I have ever seen anything like it in all my travels across the world. It does make Christmas quite jolly and festive.






So this is it for this particular adventure with my squeaky shoe and thank you for your patient reading. It has truly been a blast and a HUGE blessing. I am thankful for the break and rest and for the invigoration of the body and soul and thank you for your encouragement. Thank you also for my sponsors who generously supported in both finances and in prayers through out the year.

God bless.

Meeting up with Tianna and Brenda (Plonis) Steffen at Union Station in DC.

White House!

Okay, so I basically live in a town with a population of 12. I kind of misjudged rush hour. Oh goodness, where do all these people come from! Well, the answer is Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Started my trip with 7 people on the train... ended with what looked like a few thousand. Then who all decided to get off at the same station as me. I then had to find luggage storage to store by bag and umbrella and camera etc as these are all forbidden in the big white house. I had 7 minutes spare to get to the precise yet unknown gate etc. Let's just say that South West is not necessary in the same spot your internal compass tells you it would be...

So, I came around the corner at speed huffing and puffing along only to be confronted with a huge line of people, then being waved forwarded by the secret service agent dude person and asked if I have an appointment. I did and he pointed to my name on his list. Hehe, I was one up from the party crashing couple that is in the news so much... My name was on the White House list! Dang it, if I only had a camera! So, off I went.

So there I was , perusing and you know, thinking that maybe red was not a good color for that wall, as you do in other people's houses, when I realised that my shoe is extra squeaky today. Well, what gave it away was that as I was squeaking along you would have a secret service agent's head popping from behind a pillar looking at me with a certain astonished look. So I tried my best to be less squeaky and walked with a funny walk the rest of the time. How much china do you need in one house!

There are 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, and 6 levels in the Residence. There are also 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, 8 staircases, and 3 elevators.

At various times in history, the White House has been known as the "President's Palace," the "President's House," and the "Executive Mansion." President Theodore Roosevelt officially gave the White House its current name in 1901.

Presidential Firsts while in office... President James Polk (1845-49) was the first President to have his photograph taken... President Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09) was not only the first President to ride in an automobile, but also the first President to travel outside the country when he visited Panama... President Franklin Roosevelt (1933-45) was the first President to ride in an airplane.

With five full-time chefs, the White House kitchen is able to serve dinner to as many as 140 guests and hors d'oeuvres to more than 1,000.

The White House requires 570 gallons of paint to cover its outside surface.

For recreation, the White House has a variety of facilities available to its residents, including a tennis court, jogging track, swimming pool, movie theater, and bowling lane.

It was a bit emotional and overpowering to realise you are standing at the seat of the most powerful man in the world.

A picture perfect day in DC!

After yesterday's relentless rains it turned ou to be an beautiful blue skied day today! Gosh, what a beautiful city. Today I heard it described as an epic city, beacause of all the history behind every building and I have to agree. Next to Chicago, I think I found my second favourite US city.

Quite excited as I get to tour the White House and the Capitol tomorrow. What a blessing! I also saw Marine One (the President's helicopter) come in to land at the White House! Hmmm, wonder if he was on it. I tried calling but he did not answer...











I met up with Paula Kirby and Tianna Buckwalter for lunch just before Paula left for Virginia Beach to visit her supporters.

In the District of Columbia!

In one fell swoop, I added a few more states to my list. Whohoooo. Okay I travelled here by Acela Express is Amtrak's rail service that uses high-speed tilting trains. Acela operates in the Northeast United States between Washington, D.C., and Boston via Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. The tilting design allows the train to travel at higher speeds on the sharply curved rails without spilling my coffee, by lowering lateral centrifugal forces, based on the concept of banked turns while they attain speeds of 150 mph (240 km/h).



So... how fast is 150 mph I hear you say... You better watch this video then!


Okay, I am ensconsed in a Red Roof Inn and because it was booked on one of those 'blind' websites... It is situated on the Red Line and yes, the last stop, which makes it halfway to Florida! Well, in Maryland anyway. Only 39 minutes from Downtown. :-)

Okay, so I spent the day in an open top tourbus... IN THE RAIN! Plus side, no tourists, bad side, wet shorts from sitting in a plastic bucket seat. Was good though. Went to dry off in the International Spy museum and it must be one of the best museums ever! I also trawled through the Smithsonian Space and Flight Museum and the Museum of African Art. Both were very good. Oh, and the squeaky shoe is still at it. Haha, all quiet and reverent museum and then all you hear is squeak, step, squeak, step...

New York!

Okay, my last New York hotel... it is actually in New Jersey across the Hudson. This is my first (and last) stay at a Howard Johnson's or as they insist on calling it... the HOJO!

Oh my gosh... Note to self. NEVER travel to New York on Thanksgiving weekend. IT WAS PACKED! Good Lord, the city was bursting at the seams and anywhere there were easily a few hours wait. So I hopped on a hop on hop off tour bus and spent the whole day happily driving around observing the chaos, only getting off to change busses or to catch the Staten Island Ferry.