Once we actually got to the black fence surrounding the White House, we weren't sure if we should go left or right. After listening to a very confident young man who swore the front of the White House was to the right, we followed. Before long, we were leaving the general area of the White House and were engulfed with very tall beautiful buildings. Needless to say, we headed our own direction and within a few minutes and found ourselves in awe of the huge, amazing, hard to believe we were there in real life, White House.
After taking no less than 30 pictures and snapping pictures of each other in front of the White House, we stopped for a self-portrait. These are the two ladies I went with who are from Flandreau and Sioux Falls.
After listening to the guy hollaring through the megaphone for 20 minutes, we headed on our way. Except we were stopped by a police officer who said, "Sorry, sidewalk is closed. Please head this way and take two lefts and you'll be back on this sidewalk on the other side." I was extremely baffled by the fact the sidewalk was closed and couldn't understand why. It was so random. The street was always blocked so there was never any traffic driving through it, but the sidewalk, why?Well, we headed on the next leg of our journey, walking away from the White House, taking two lefts like the police officer said when I found myself standing directly in front of a police car on the opposite side of the closed sidewalk. I didn't exactly realize I was in front of him until he flipped his sirens on and screamed, "MOVE!" It scared the daylights out of all of us and I believe a few select words spilled out of my mouth out of literal fear. We jumped out of his way and within seconds, they had all traffic stopped, the intersection blocked, and pedestrians told to, "stand back". Police cars blocked traffic, pedestrian police officers blocked people on the sidewalks, and officers on bicycles pedaled around the intersection to keep traffic at a stand still.
Being a natural tourist, it seemed like something big was going to happen. As I looked down the street where the sidewalk was closed I could see limo's, police cars, and big black SUV's with men in fancy suits standing nearby. Could it be Obama? All of us who were standing on the sidewalks were asking if it was Obama and the officer said it was not.
Upon constant questioning the officer finally said, "If you can name that country's flag, it should give you an answer." Immediately after, a young 18ish, blonde female in front of my screams, "Texas!", to which the crowd roars with laughter and the officer hollars back, "COUNTRY!!". She slid her sunglasses over her eyes and tried to slip into the crowd with a look of "I'm never going to live this down" on her face. She was very embarassed.
Do you know what flag this belongs to? Well it's Chile. The person to whome the sharade was for, was the President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet. I have to admit, it was kind of exhillerating to be in that place at that time to see something so big happen. Afterall, I'm from South Dakota and don't see stuff like that happen everyday. Once the President was loaded he was escorted out by a line of vehicles, including police cars, black SUVS's, and long limo's. They sped through the blocked intersections off to an unknown to us, destination.
After the excitement of that wore off, we continued on our journey down the street towards the Washington Monument (pictures coming tomorrow). Once we arrived and took tons of pictures, we looked up the block to realize we were standing in front of the White House. While in the back, we never fully realized we were in the back and not the front! I think I was so awe-struck to see such a popular landmark that I have only seen in picture and on T.V. that I didn't care if I was in the front or the back!
We took quite a few pictures of the front and then walked up the street at least a couple of miles, or so it seemed. The sun had set and all the buildings were illuminated, which made them appear more fascinating than before. After a long walk, we found ourselves at the U.S. Capital.
Pictures don't do it justice as it was so beautiful the way it glowed. 
On Wednesday, we went on a bus tour (pictures coming later) which started at the U.S. Capital in the daylight. This picture was taken inside a bus, which is why there is a glare to it.
After the excitement of that wore off, we continued on our journey down the street towards the Washington Monument (pictures coming tomorrow). Once we arrived and took tons of pictures, we looked up the block to realize we were standing in front of the White House. While in the back, we never fully realized we were in the back and not the front! I think I was so awe-struck to see such a popular landmark that I have only seen in picture and on T.V. that I didn't care if I was in the front or the back!We took quite a few pictures of the front and then walked up the street at least a couple of miles, or so it seemed. The sun had set and all the buildings were illuminated, which made them appear more fascinating than before. After a long walk, we found ourselves at the U.S. Capital.Pictures don't do it justice as it was so beautiful the way it glowed. On Wednesday, we went on a bus tour (pictures coming later) which started at the U.S. Capital in the daylight. This picture was taken inside a bus, which is why there is a glare to it.After a long evening of walking and exploring Washington D.C., we were happy to get back to the motel, shower, and get ready for bed. Each night we had to shower from sweating so bad while site-seeing.
Tomorrow I will post about the Washington Monument and one of the Memorials. Any suggestions which one you want to see first?
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