Since we were so late getting our passports (the state messed up on that one), we had to come to Washington, DC to the Chinese Embassy to get our Visas. Trying to maneuver around an unfamiliar city is bad enough, but with times restrictions and four excited children, it is about impossible. So after a long talk with Dad, we tried to plan a major detour to our trip.
So the night before we had to leave, we had to find a place to stay. Trying to be the best stewards as possible with the money we had been entrusted with, I was on the computer at one in the morning looking for good last minute deals. I tried all the discount hotel deal companies and ended up on hotwire. After asking not to let me do something foolish, I accepted an offer on a 4 star hotel in Bethesda at $69 a night. And it ended up being The Hyatt Regency!!! So we got to stay at a wonderful, very nice hotel .
But the biggest hallelujah was that the hotel was on the same road as the embassy; that was "lined up" because there is no way that could happen by chance. Out of all of Washington, the two places we had to go were less than 4 miles apart on the same road!!!!
While in DC we rode the train in to see the mall monuments. The whole way in, on the very crowded rush hour train, I heard that song by Brandon Heath “Give Me Your Eyes” in my head. As you look around at people, you can see need in their eyes- pain, disappointment, loneliness, sadness. I tried to make eye contact with as many as possible and just offer an encouraging smile. We will be in a gigantic city with millions of millions of people, most with empty looks. It is hard to fathom the need there; hard to imagine right now how challenging a task.
We are now driving out of DC and headed to Harrisburg, PA. We have one more night before we register for training tomorrow afternoon. We are going to try to see Hershey and go to the chocolate factory before we leave out. Hey, it’s a free factory tour and I am kinda a fan of chocolate.
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