Day 4 - Tuesday, June 22 – Washington, D.C., POGO

Day 4 - Tuesday, June 22 – Washington, D.C.

Danielle left early for work, and Peter left for a double-header baseball game – which he plays despite (or maybe because of!) heart problems and knee replacement.

After cereal including more raspberries picked by Peter and Emma from adequate garden, I wandered and jogged the property taking pictures.

We drove Dulles into D.C. I think I avoided $4 in tolls when I inadvertently went to the Dulles airport. In the city, I zig-zagged passed the Lincoln Mem, Washington Mem, White House, Smithsonian, Senate and House Office Bldgs, Capitol, Library of Congress and Supreme Court.

With the magic of Renate’s Handicapped Parking sticker, I parked free at a meter near POGO, Danielle’s office at 11th St N and I St - about 1/2 a mile from the White House.

First we had lunch at a Cosi. Sort of upscale sandwich chain, unknown to us but (we discovered) common up north.

At Danielle’s office, I thought I could see what people actually did in this business of
”government oversight”, but we also admitted our mission to see the results of Paul and Danielle’s union. Renate confessed embarrassment at staring so much at Alex and a staff member took a photograph for our souvenir.

Danielle, Alex, Renate, Sandy

Danielle offered to send Alex with us but we thought this too much and allowed him back to work. Amazing to me was how composed and ready to oblige Alex was during this bartering.

Kim J (aka “ba” to us) was out of town when we visited and we did not get to see her son, also interning at POGO. Readers of this blog are encouraged to visit www.POGO.org

Sample home page of POGO.org show Danielle with ?

At Danielle recommendation, we went to the nearby Washington Hotel. From its 14^th floor outdoor restaurant seating we could look down at the neighboring White House. Notable were the two snipers stationed on its roof. They moved about doing surveillance and I imagined must be replaced often, especially in the 98º heat.

Back to Leesburg. We imagined that we would take the family out to dinner, but instead Danielle brought home Thai. Pretty informal household. I never saw Emma eating.

Peter and Danielle discuss politics and especially cases that both work on. Lots of insider networking, including congressional staff, news staff, and free-lance reporters.

Website photo of Peter and POGO staff

But Danielle doesn’t appear to share Peter’s passion for baseball and other sports. ESPN.