Reagan arrives in D.C.

Today has been the most insane day of my life. At 10:30 this morning I met with Congressman Hostettler. It went amazingly well, and I'm kicking myself that I didn't check out his office sooner. The guy in the front office and the press secretary's brother are Taylor grads! The guy at the desk gave me his number and told me to come chill with him and some other Taylor grads here in D.C. I wish I were here longer, because I don't think I can take him up on that offer. There's way to much to take in before I go back to E-ville. It's all going by TOOOOOOOO fast!

Hostettler's pretty down. He gave me a lot of interesting quotes, although I don't have a story to put them in. Maybe I can squeeze them into the Reagan thing.

I finished up at Capitol Hill and rushed back to the apartment, drenched from head to toe in sweat. I know, gross, huh, but it's true. Lunch was cancelled, but they gave us money, so Ariel Eric and I went to the Italian Bistro on the way to Union Station. The food was great, but there was only one waitress, so I had to book it to the Marine Barracks in time for my interview with the Marine Band girl.

That went well, too. She's really nice and I'm pretty sure I've got some decent quotes. I have a lot of transcribing to do, but I think I'll do it tomorrow morning. I'm so tired, I might fall over.

ANYWAY, I stopped by Starbucks on my way back to the apartment and went through the press kit the Marine Band PR lady gave me. They had some great quotes in there, including one from Ronald Reagan. That's going in my story.

By the time I got back, everyone was ready to go to the Capitol, so we left a little before 4:30, bound for the Hill. As we neared 3rd St., we started seeing hoards of people walking away from the Capitol. They told us everyone had been evacuated, but we said we had press passes, so we could probably get in. We kept walking until we heard the fire trucks. We asked people what happened and at first they said it was a bomb threat.

For the first time, I truly feared for my life, and yet I just kept walking. First we avoided the Hill, heading for Eastern Market to meet up with Grant and Simone. We didn't see them, but people started heading back up to the Capitol, so we followed.

The police had the Capitol COMPLETELY blocked off, but we had press passes, so we talked our way in. At the first checkpoint, they had a "suspicious package" and blocked everyone in while they inspected it. We thought we'd just leave, but we were trapped. We made our way to the front to get out, but they told us to wait a few minutes. When the checkpoint opened up again, we were at the front of the line. Within three minutes, we were walking the glossy floors of the Capitol.

For some reason, we went outside of the building and thought we would have to wait in an even longer line. We told some police officer we were press and he took us straight in to the press/dignitary checkpoint. He asked us if we wanted to go to the "trucks" or the "platform." Someone guessed trucks and we went for it. At first, we had a hard time getting through the detectors. They kept yelling at us because we had cameras and cell phones. We kept yelling back that we were press. Finally we got through and a police officer escorted us to "the trucks." Basically, there were four semis sitting there in a field completely fenced in. Sensing this would not be the best place to view the casket, we found a hole in the fence and slipped through it.

Suddenly, we were in the lawn where all the congressmen, senators, and fam were hanging out. We looked across the Capitol steps and saw the "platform" where all the media types were hanging out. We told the police officers we were the press and we wanted over there... and they let us!!! So basically, I was within 10 feet of the casket as it neared the Capitol. What a rush.

Now I'm so tired, I think I'm going to die, but it was all worth it. Here's a shot I got of Reagan as he passed. Enjoy and be jealous of my proximity.