Saturday

(Yes, that is Kellen Moore on the cover of USA Today)

The night before a vacation is inevitably sleepless. Last minute arrangements, the anticipation of the trip, anxiety about leaving my children or a combination of the above resulted in poor rest for me. I had high hopes of sleeping on the plane as we flew across the country. But from the moment we set foot in the Boise airport and I beheld a sea of blue and orange at various airline check-ins my heart was beating fast. All the way across the country we felt the spirit and unity of Bronco Nation. Believe me, I know how lame that sounds, but it was truly in the air. I joked with Richard that even the Department of Homeland Security were fans because the threat level was appropriately ORANGE. It was exciting.

When we arrived in D.C. we were greeted by our wonderful host and hostess, Bryan and Brittany. Every family needs a couple like Bry and Brit that serve as delightful tour guides and conveniently move around the country to various cities that are fun to visit. We dropped off our stuff at the Air Force base where they were temporarily residing (having only arrived in the area days before we did) and headed back into the city. As a side note, I love the base. It is its own self-contained peaceful little "Pleasantville".

We ate at a delicious restaurant and visited a few memorials. But we were slightly distracted as we shouted out "Go Broncos!" to fellow BSU fans that we saw throughout the city. By the end of the week, seeing Bronco fans whereever we went became so ordinary that we rarely made the effort to do so.

Fortunately the game was near the beginning of our trip because such distractions would have detracted from our enjoyment of other historical sites thereafter.