KARL Class XII goes to Washington...

Selfie at the White House.

Seven days in a major metropolitan city nearly did a few of us in, but overall Class XII survived our final session of year one. And, I marked three states off my list.

While in Washington we experienced the standard issue experiences. We met with our legislators, we toured the major sights, we wandered around the capitol building, snapped a few pics in front of the White House, walked about 300 miles, spent about $30 on the D.C. Metro, and even met fellow leadership groups from California and New Jersey. We went to Arlington, and witnessed the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown.

We went through metal detectors at every stop, we had to maneuver around the homeless, and it only took a few times on the escalators in the Metro to realize it's imperative to stay to the right - or you will get run over.

It's what we did off the clock that made the trip so fun.

On Sunday night we all arrived and most of us were weary road warriors. Some had horrible flights on tiny planes, some had early morning flights, and some just don't like to fly. The best travel hell story came from our six foot seven member.

"Have you ever tried to use an airplane toilet in a matchbox? Just don't. It was the worst experience of my life."

On Monday we had some time to do some exploring in the morning. I chose to hit up the National Archives Museum. It was pretty cool to see documents that shaped our nation's history. Of course, no photos were allowed, but I did see the original Title IX document that allowed women equal rights on the playing field, as well as the Constitution of the United States of America.

Joesph, Wade, and Grant check it out.  (photo by Heather)

Tuesday we had a full day of visits on Capitol Hill before a group of us ventured to Chinatown. We could have taken the Metro, but instead we walked. About nine miles (it felt like). The Washington Capitals were playing the Pittsburgh Penguins that night, so the foot traffic downtown was insane.We were bouncing off people left and right, but the atmosphere was unique. We walked around Chinatown until we spotted a restaurant that had cooked duck in the window, with the bills still attached. This caught our attention. We also watched them make dumplings in the window.

The food was good. I was a little nervous when I dropped a piece of sesame chicken into my water glass and it floated to the top like it was plastic, or covered in ScotchGuard. I didn't think about it, I just ate it. The best dish of the night was the sweet and sour chicken though. It was yummy. It was no surprise that not that many spoke excellent English, so we pointed a lot.

Wednesday was another busy day on Capitol Hill before we retreated for the evening to Kelly's Irish Pub next door to the hotel, and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer for $3.50 a can. That was a steal, so we drank cheap beer and played a few arcade games and fed the jukebox money to belt out red dirt (we were excited they had red dirt).

Thursday was our final day in D.C. and we had meetings with lobbyist groups to learn more about organizations that represent causes. At the end of the day we boarded a charter bus and headed outside the city toward historic Gettysburg. About half-way through the trip karaoke broke out in the back of the bus, and not that many people were impressed (it had been a long day). We stopped to eat at a roadside restaurant/buffet. This is where things got a little interesting.

The Nativity. In March. At a buffet.

"They have chicken Jello," one of my classmates said. Well, it was supposed to be chicken and biscuits, but the radioactive color of the chicken soup starter, paired with a thickening agent made for a blob of "no way are we eating that." The buffet included "liver n' onions," tomotoe [that's how they spelled it] soup, and about 90 different types of homemade pie. Many items on the buffet were sketchy at best and labeled with masking tape and a Sharpie, but classmates said the fried chicken was good. I stuck with mashed potatoes, gravy, nachos, apple fritters (a few of us cleaned them out of those blasts of awesomeness), and lemon pie. We were all laughing so hard we hurt. Oh, did I mention the nativity outside the door?

Friday was spent on the battlefields of Gettysburg and a guided tour from Fuss, who was more than knowledgeable. We wondered around historical Gettysburg, ate pizza, and then toured Dwight Eisenhower's farm. The farm is a national monument now, and the home is 98 percent original furnishings. It was like you were stepping into Dwight and Mamie's home and expecting them to greet you. It was very interesting to see a fellow Kansans farm in Pennsylvania and how it related to American history regarding the world leaders who visited, and the presidential work that went on in the den.

The other Sara's selfie with the Prez.

Friday night we had dinner at the Historic Carriage House Restaurant with President Abe Lincoln. He told us stories of Gettysburg and the historical significance of the area. It was interesting, and I was slightly worried it would get weird if he talked about his own assassination, but he didn't get that far. After dinner 11 of the class members went on a guided ghost tour. Basically, we paid $7.15 to walk around a block. It was fun, and we laughed a lot.

On the ghost tour you're supposed to get a feel for ghosts, but I didn't. I did get a feel for the twisted sense of humor most of us on the trip had. And, it was great. It really was a highlight of the trip. We learned some of the gruesome facts about the Civil War and how Gettysburg coped. It wasn't pretty.

On Saturday morning we loaded the bus early and headed back to the airport to say our goodbyes. In November we'll meet again to head south to Fort Worth and BNSF for our Blue Chip Seminar. It will be seven months until we see each other again in an official capacity.

However, I'm fairly certain some of us won't be able to wait that long.

See photos from the trip. Click on the first photo to bring up the viewer, and there will be captions to explain each one.