Washington, D.C.

One reason I took a break from blogging is because I went to Washington, D.C. with advocates from all across the country to participate in the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network's Annual Advocacy Day.  Our mission this year was simple: to tell Congress NOT to cut cancer research.  We had worked for five years previously to get a bill passed that would make pancreatic cancer research a priority.  We finally achieved that last year with the passing of the Recalcitrant Cancer Research Act (formerly known as the Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act).  We were so excited that this bill became a law, but we realize more work has to be done to find a cure for this disease and double the survival rate of pancreatic cancer patients.  We cannot accomplish these goals without federal funding.  So, that is what I was doing.  I was able to meet with elected officials from the state of Indiana and share my dad's story with them and why cancer research is so important to me.  I always feel so empowered after the trip to D.C. - like I am really making a difference in this battle against pancreatic cancer. 

I left for D.C. on a Sunday and returned home to Indy that following Tuesday.  It is literally a whirlwind of a trip!  I had a meeting Sunday, training all day Monday, and was on Capitol Hill all day Tuesday.  I was one busy girl!  But I was still committed to running, and that is important for you to know.  I was so careful in my packing because I wanted to make sure I could get my running shoes in my carry on luggage.  You can imagine how upset I was when I got to D.C. and realized that I had to pay $15 a day to use the hotel gym.  Are you kidding me?!??!?!!  Who pays money to use the gym at the hotel?  Not this girl! 

My friend that I traveled with and I both wanted to do some sightseeing while we were on our short trip so after my meeting on Sunday we took the metro and headed out to see the monuments.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the monuments:

We even walked over to the White House.  We could not get very close so I zoomed in as much as I could on my camera so it looks like I was hanging out on the front lawn of the White House.  It was cool to see it because I did not get to see it the last two years I was in D.C.  Here is one of my zoomed in pictures:

How close I wanted to be...

How close I actually was.

On Monday, after our day long training, we took off again to see Arlington Cemetery.  Again, a place I was not able to see the last two visits.  It closed at 7:00 p.m. so we had to hurry quickly through our visit.  I was able to take some pictures of that as well, and I was able to at least look up where my Grandpa Shake was buried (although we did not make it over to the section he is in).  Here are some of those pictures:

We walked all over the Capitol on Tuesday.  We were on the Representative side, the Senate side, and back to the Representative Side.  We walked between six different buildings during our meetings.  Part of me wishes I had taken a pedometer so that I could see how many steps we took during our trip to D.C.  We walked so much, and I was so exhausted, that I was only a little itty bitty disappointed that I was unable to run.