Day 5: What a day! We started at 5:30 with wake up and breakfast, boarded the bus at 7:00. We headed into DC, meeting very little traffic we arrived at 7:30. Getting our bearings we hiked around the capitol buildings, got a picture on the steps of the Supreme Court building, then headed to Rep. Tim Walz's office to begin our Capitol tour. Rep. Walz's staff did an incredible job shepherding us through the Capitol, and explaining the things we were seeing. After the tour we used the House gallery passes they provided us with to sit in on a gaveled in session of the House of Representatives. As we were watching a vote being taken, a pretty special event unfolded, one that we could not have planned! Representative Gregg Harper of Mississippi saw us in the House gallery from the floor. He came up to where we were seated, began to talk to us as he pointed out interesting aspects of the House area. Then, he said "Would you boys like to join me on the House Floor?" He took our troop down to the floor of the House while it was in session. We should look at C-Span footage for today to see if any of our scouts are visible. Since they didn't have much time there, he then said "OK, lets go where very few people ever get to go". We followed Rep. Harper up several flights of stairs, past several signs that said "HOUSE MEMBERS OLNLY!", and he proceeded to take us out onto the Speakers Balcony. The Speaker's Balcony is high up on the capitol building, and offers a unique panoramic view of a lot of Washington DC. From this perch we could see all of the monuments leading up to Arlington and the Lee mansion in the distance. This was a special treat, one that is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and we are so grateful to Rep. Harper for providing it. His website is http://harper.house.gov/ if you would like to thank him. He also took us into the private House Chapel, where some of our scouts took the opportunity to kneel and pray.

After our Capitol tour was complete we ate lunch in Union Station, toured Arlington National Cemetery (where we witnessed the changing of the guard), saw the Marine Corps Memorial (Iwo Jima), and lastly toured the Pentagon's 911 Memorial. A very full day that will provide memories for a lifetime.

After