See photos from the 2005 Youth Tour

Friday, June 17

Walking into the lobby of the Ramada Inn in Jefferson City was so strange. There were all these kids and so much luggage. Some of the kids seemed smaller than their bags. Would I ever meet all these kids? Would we get along? Am I going to be able to carry my bag upstairs?

Like everyone else, I’m here for the 2005 Youth Tour to Washington, D.C. My electric cooperative sponsored a contest to select high school juniors to travel to the nation’s capital. I wrote an essay, gave a speech and won the trip. There are 76 kids on this trip just like me.

The banquet dinner tonight was cool. The food was good and I met a few other delegates at my dinner table. Mike Marsch, the tour director seems really nice. He told some jokes while telling us about the trip and made us feel a lot more comfortable. Then some kid from last year’s trip got up and talked. Scott Elliott from Callaway Electric Cooperative served on something called the Youth Leadership Council and got to go on several other trips last year representing the 2004 Missouri Youth Tour Group. He seemed really excited about the trip we were preparing to take and told us to relax and enjoy it. He also told us to thank Mike, our electric co-op and our parents. In fact, he told us to thank people about 20 times. We weren’t sure what all the thanking was about, but maybe we’ll figure it out as we go along.

Friday night, we played icebreakers and learned rules for the trip.

After dinner we changed out of our stuffy dress clothes, said goodbye to our parents and the co-op employees who brought us to Jefferson City and gathered together for orientation. We played a game to help us meet each other and learned about the Youth Tour rules. Man, there are a lot of rules. I guess they just want us to be safe.

After orientation, we all went back to our rooms and tried to make friends with our new roommates. I’m going to be living with these other kids for the next week. I hope it all works out.

As I fall to sleep, my mind is racing with thoughts about what’s to come. What a day it’s been!

Saturday, June 18

Wow! That 6 a.m. wake-up call came early! To make matters worse, one of my roommates lives on a dairy farm. He’s been up for an hour. He says he got to sleep in.

After breakfast we all headed down to our buses to load up. There’s all that luggage again. There is no way that’s going to fit on those two buses! But it does. And we do, too. We pile on and head to Kansas City for our flight to Washington.

Traffic was really bad and we barely made it to the Kansas City airport on time. Still, we had time to grab a bite to eat and made it onto the plane. Mike warned us that the airline people would freak out when they saw a group of 84 (that’s 76 kids and eight chaperones) show up with luggage in hand, but the folks at Southwest Airlines couldn’t be nicer. They were really patient and double-checked that everybody made it on board. Already I found myself thanking people. Maybe that kid from last year’s trip knew something.

We couldn't wait to get off the bus and onto the plane.

The flight was a blast! It was really smooth. A lot of the kids had never flown before but the flight attendants made it really fun and relaxing. They got on the intercom and asked trivia questions and even played games with us. I’d never heard of a toilet paper race before, but now I’ve seen one. Our side of the plane was in the lead unrolling our roll of toilet paper and passing it overhead to the seat behind us when the other side’s roll broke. I wonder if every flight is like this.

Our flight landed in Baltimore, Maryland. That concerned me a bit since I thought we were going to Washington, D.C. Our chaperones told us everything was OK and the capital was only about a half hour away. Two buses met us at the airport and we drove to Washington. On the way, we watched the movie "National Treasure" on the bus TVs. As we neared Washington, we began to see familiar monuments. It was really strange to see the Washington Monument on TV and then to look out my window and see the real thing!

The drive into the city was incredible. We haven’t even started touring yet and already we’ve seen the Pentagon, the Capitol and a bunch more.

Before we went to our hotel, the buses pulled up at something called “the Old Post Office.” I had no idea why a post office was the first place we were going in Washington, D.C. but I’m already getting the idea that it’s best not to ask too many questions. Everything seems to be turning out OK so far. Turns out the Old Post Office is this really cool old building that’s been turned into a shopping mall with a food court. The chaperones passed out $10 bills and told us to go eat.

The view from the Old Post Office was breathtaking!

It was great to get of the bus/plane/bus and walk around a bit. Dinner was good (does Ben & Jerry’s ice cream count as dinner?) but the coolest thing was the bell tower. The Old Post Office has a really neat tower that rises up over downtown Washington, D.C. and the National Park Service lets you go up to an observation deck. The tower is just a couple of blocks away from the Capitol building so it gives you a great view of “The Mall.”

We soon learned that The Mall is not a place you go shopping but a long stretch of grass surrounded by the Capitol, a bunch of the Smithsonian Institute museums and a lot of Washington’s famous monuments. Right in the center is the Washington Monument. Everywhere we go we see the Washington Monument. Anyway, looking out from the Old Post Office Tower we were able to see many of the places we would visit on this trip. It was so exciting to see all of these really cool things and know we were going to be visiting them.

After dinner we finally made it to our hotel. They sure don’t have buildings this tall back home. Wow! We met a few kids from Youth Tour groups from other states and exchanged state pins before heading up to our room for room checks and lights out. Washington is so cool and the other kids are awesome! What a day!

Sunday, June 19

Wake up was at 6:15. Why do these chaperones have to sound so cheery when they call? The good news is my dairy farmer roommate has adjusted to sleeping in and waits for the call before getting up.

Actually this morning is a bit more laid back, despite the early start. The Tennessee group hosted a worship service in the hotel and some of the kids went there. Others came back from breakfast and caught a few Zs.

Seeing the eternal flame at Kennedy's grave was a moving experience.

According to the schedule, the first stop today is Arlington National Cemetery. 'They’re taking us to a cemetery?' I thought. But it turned out to be pretty cool. We rode a tram through the grounds and the tour guide pointed out famous people’s gravesites. Man, there are a lot of famous people buried here! It’s like a history lesson. We heard about presidents and Supreme Court judges and astronauts but mostly we heard about famous soldiers. We saw the eternal flame that marks President John F. Kennedy’s grave but the coolest thing was seeing the grave of three people nobody knows.

The Tomb of the Unknowns is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a week by these very serious guards. Rain or shine, they march back and forth in front of the grave of three unknown soldiers — one from World War I, World War II and the Korean War. There used to be an unknown from the Vietnam War but they used DNA testing to identify that soldier. We learned that they removed him and reburied him in St. Louis. That made the Missouri group proud. Watching the changing of the guard was so cool. I got a lump in my throat.

Today is Father’s Day so there were a lot of people in the cemetery laying flowers on graves. It was really touching to watch and it made me think about my own dad. Happy Father’s Day, Dad! I’d tell you I miss you but I’m having too much fun.

After leaving Arlington Cemetery we drove over to The Mall to visit the Smithsonian Institute museums. It turns out the Smithsonian isn’t one museum but a whole bunch of them, many of them lining The Mall.

During the day, we visited a number of museums, including the Natonal Gallery of Art.

The Missouri group split up in little bunches and headed to the museum of our choice. Some of my new friends went to the Air and Space Museum, others walked down to the new Museum of American Indians. Believe it or not, some of the kids even went to the National Gallery of Art.

I buddied up with some friends and we headed straight to the Museum of Natural History to see dinosaurs, the Hope Diamond and a bunch of other cool stuff. Next we went to the Museum of American History. The Smithsonian has been called America’s attic and I can see why. There is so much cool stuff here that tells the history of our country. We saw the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to pen “The Star-Spangled Banner” and a neat display of the First Ladies’ Inaugural gowns. This museum has so much stuff! There are cars and old guns and, well, you name it, it’s here. I don’t know who Archie Bunker is but we saw his chair. After visiting these two museums my group hustled over to the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence.  After watching "National Treasure," I just had to see this!

The cruise was a blast!

Wow! I’ve seen enough today to make this trip a success! As I got off the bus at the hotel for dinner, I found myself thanking Mike and the other chaperones. I promised myself I’m going to thank my cooperative for sending me here. This has been great so far but, the trip’s still far from over. In fact, this day isn’t even done!

After dinner we go for a boat ride on the Potomac River. We join Youth Tour delegates from Texas, North Dakota, Montana and some other states on this big, three-deck boat. Two of the decks had D.J.s and dance floors. I bet George Washington never partied like this! What a blast.

Thinking back I can’t believe everything we’ve done today. Surely, we went to bed and slept sometime, but I just don’t remember it. No, I checked my Youth Tour program. We did all of this in one day. What a day!

Monday, June 20

For the first time on this trip, we didn't start the day by loading onto a bus. Instead we stayed in the hotel and spent the morning attending Youth Day activities. Imagine more than 1,400 Youth Tour delegates from 44 states crammed into one big meeting room. With all the states yelling and clapping when their state was recognized, there sure was a lot of excitement in that room.

Wheelchair Olympics athlete Mike Schlappi inspired us to "stand out."

The staff of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and the Youth Leadership Council put on a fantastic program for us. We heard from the U.S. Senator who drafted the Rural Electrification Act of 1935. OK, George Norris wasn’t really there but his impersonator sure did a convincing job. We sure believed he was there as he told us a fascinating story about the birth of public power and rural electrification. It sure made us appreciate what our great-grandparents did.

Next we heard an amazing talk by Wheelchair Olympics athlete Mike Schlappi. This guy is incredible. Although he was paralyzed from a gunshot wound, he’s gone on to achieve some really great things, both on and off the basketball court. His message that “even when we can’t stand up, we can stand out” was really inspiring.

Also, at the Youth Day activities we learned who would represent Missouri on next year’s Youth Leadership Council. She is Valerie Melton from Ozark Electric Cooperative. Congratulations Valerie!

The Youth Day program ended about lunchtime. After grabbing a quick meal at the hotel, we headed out for some sight-seeing. This was monument day on the Youth Tour and we really made the rounds.

We stopped to pose at FDR's Memorial. The memorial had four areas — each representing a term in office.

We started at the memorial for Franklin D. Roosevelt, the president who brought us rural electrification. His monument is a sprawling complex of four-walled areas with fountains running through them. Each area represents a different term as president. It’s one of the few monuments you’re actually expected to climb around on. It was really neat.

Next we went to the new World War II Memorial. This is another monument on a grand scale, with two large pillars representing two theaters of battle and a large fountain in between. Around the outside are columns for every U.S. state. We had a great time taking pictures by the Missouri part of this monument. Like Sen. Norris’ talk this morning, this monument made us think about what our grandparents and great-grandparents did during the war. I guess that’s somebody else we should thank.

Next we walked across the street to the Washington Monument. After seeing it everywhere we drove this week, it was great to actually visit it. We all rode to the top. What a great view of this wonderful city!

Dinner this evening was at a local shopping mall. You know how teenagers like mall food. This was a real treat. Our chaperones even gave us a little time to shop.

The Vietnam War Memorial moved some of us profoundly. The long list of names was overwhelming.

After dinner, we visited more monuments. We saw the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam War Memorial and the Korean War Memorial.

Besides the thrill of seeing the giant statute of Abe Lincoln and reading his powerful words, it was a real treat to sit on the steps of that monument where so much history has been made. I couldn’t help but think about Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech, which was delivered from those steps. Plus, the view is really cool.

Words cannot describe the Vietnam War Memorial. As soon as you walk near it, you feel a different spirit. This is truly hallowed ground! You cannot imagine how sobering it is to see all those names. And to think that most of them were only a year or two older than the delegates on this trip!

The Korean War Memorial was so cool. We got there just as the sun was going down and all those soldier statues in formation were so eerie in the evening light. You really imagined you were on patrol with them.

One last monument and the day was through. We visited the Marine Corps Memorial, based on the photograph of a flag-raising at Iwo Jima.

Tuesday, June 21

Mount Vernon, George Washington's estate, was really nice. No wonder he came back home after two terms.

This morning we toured George Washington’s estate, Mount Vernon. Talk about nice farms, this guy had it going on! What a place. The gardens were beautiful and George and Martha’s home overlooking the Potomac River was fantastic. I can see why he wanted to give up the presidency after two terms and return home. We toured the home and walked the grounds. A few of us even learned to play some of the games 18th century children would have enjoyed. Ring toss, anyone?

Leaving the home of George Washington we traveled back into the city to see where President Abraham Lincoln died. The tour guide at Ford’s Theater really made us feel like we were there the fateful night John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln. We saw the clothes he was wearing when he was shot and the weapons that Booth carried. We even saw a blood-stained pillow the president laid on. It was icky but cool.

An unexpected treat was lunch at the Hard Rock Café around the corner from Ford’s Theater.

"The Awakening" was a really cool statue of a man rising out of the ground. It was fun to climb around on the statue.

Another thrill was a visit to “The Awakening,” a really cool statute in a Washington, D.C. park that shows a man rising out of the ground. It was fun to climb around on the statute and work off a little energy — as if walking weren’t enough.

Seems like some delegates have more energy than they know what to do with. Some of my traveling companions have taken to doing exercises in the hall before they go to bed. I’m plenty tired from sight-seeing all day, thank you. I’ll pass.

As if a long day of touring wasn't enough, a bunch of us exercised in the hotel's hall before bed.

 

Exercise is not the only thing delegates are teaching each other. Today we also learned a variation of “The Wave” called “The Roller Coaster.” Seems like some of the guys picked this up at Boys State.

I’m not sure this will take off at sporting events like The Wave did but it sure was funny to watch.

It’s an amazing thing, but these 76 kids who were total strangers just four days ago have become the best of friends!

 

Wednesday, June 22

We got all dressed up for our big day on Capitol Hill.

Just a short note today because I’ve got to get ready for the big All-States Dinner and Dance tonight. This is the evening that NRECA hosts a party for all 1,400 Youth Tour delegates. I hear there’s music, dancing and lots of food. They also set up a game room and another room where you can watch movies. I can’t wait!

Today was legislative day. We spent the entire morning and afternoon on Capitol Hill. I’ve never stood in so many lines in my entire life! Security is really tight here. We couldn’t go anywhere without being run through a metal detector or having our bags searched.

I guess I can understand all the security, though, because we got right into the Capitol and our representatives' offices. This morning we divided into groups based on what congressional district we lived in.

Sen. Kit Bond met with us on the steps of the Capitol to answer all our questions.

My group went to see Rep. Kenny Hulshof. Would you believe he met with us for a half hour and answered all our questions? It was really neat that he took the time for a group of teens. I guess he knows we’ll be voters soon. After our visit, one of his staff members, Mary Stundebeck, led us on a tour of the Capitol. The amazing thing was she went on the Youth Tour a couple of years ago! It was cool to talk to her and hear how she ended up in Washington.

I talked to a bunch of other kids and they had really good visits and tours, too. Rep. Ike Skelton took the time to question every delegate visiting his office about their college plans. Sen. Jim Talent treated one group to a VIP tour. He took them out on the portico of the Capitol and by the offices of the Speaker of the House! Amazing!

Actually, 'amazing' is probably the word that best describes this whole week. It has just been an incredible trip. I had no idea when I wrote my Youth Tour essay that I would see and do so many wonderful things or that I would make so many great friends. I know now why that kid at the banquet was thanking everyone.

See more photos from the 2005 Youth Tour