bragging rights.

every so often, i have a moment when i am proud of myself.

today was one.

i was scheduled to give a private tour to a 4th grade class from ohio.

my driver pulled up in a ford explorer.

i looked at him and asked where the charter bus was.

he replied we only had four people and didn't need one.

false.

we had fifty-FOUR.

so. a few phone calls later, a bus was on its way to meet my group at union station.

the bus got stuck in traffic for ohhh ya know... an hour and a half.

fortunately, my group was incredible and understanding.

great chaperones and very patient children.

they played simon says and climbed the christopher columbus memorial at union station. ha. ha.

finally the bus pulled up a little before 4 p.m.

the tour was supposed to leave at 2:30 p.m.

we jumped on and headed to the jefferson, FDR, and MLK Jr. memorials.

then we went to arlington national cemetery.

ohh. they started to hate me as soon as we walked through the gates.

their poor feet were exhausted. they were hungry. thirsty. and all needing the bathroom.

we made the lonnnnnng hike up the hill to see Kennedy's eternal flame and then watched the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier.

they. loved. it.

their faces, expressions, and reactions were priceless. (my face was too when a student dropped their camera in the walking path of the honor guard/do not cross here line, but that's another story)

after arlington, we still had three more memorials to see: Korea, Lincoln, and Vietnam.

by this point, they were so hungry and toured out that we moved fast. real fast.

(to all of my tour guide friends, we did the big three in 25 minutes. yep. i know, that's impossible.)

they were hot, sweaty, hungry, exhausted and every other adjective you can think of that is associated with tourists.

but...when they got off the bus (that smelled like nasty fish) they all had on big smiles. said thank you and gave me hugs. and their chaperone told me ... "i've been doing this trip for 17 years, and you are the best tour guide we have ever had."

and that folks made me day completely worth it. that is my bragging right for the day.

i love working with youth.