When your baby bestie (the daughter of one of my college besties) gets the big girl job, in the big girl city she still might need mama and auntie to come set up her apartment. So off to DC went Sarah2. We laughed and talked the whole way, stopped and took a walk in the small towns we drove through, scouted places we wanted to come back to, and had a great time. I finished not one but TWO small needlepoint canvases on the way!In between running to Ikea, Walmart, FedEx, and various hardware stores, we took some time to explore our nation’s capitol.  Chloe and Carter set us up with some behind the scenes tours and gave us a first class treatment!One highlight was our trip to the private museum of the USDA. Over 40 years, the curator, Wayne, has meticulously collected and curated a collection of books, posters, equipment and memorabilia used in the USDA’s Whitten Building.  My favorite piece included a USDA Flag banner that will be presented to the Secretary of Agriculture at some point. To view the history of moments, carefully collected with love and reverence is really awe inspiring and truly a passion project.  We also toured the Forestry department, and got to climb a precarious spiral staircase to one of the best views in DC.  It was once the Engraver’s Bureau where currency was printed at the turn of the last century. The architectural details that have been preserved tickle my artist heart!Congressman Josh Brecheen’s office set us up with a fabulous Capitol tour. We got to see some lesser known and visited places and lots of history, including bullet marks on Calhoun in the rotunda, the original house chambers, and the current chambers.It always impresses me standing in the places where so much of our world was shaped and molded by our founding fathers. As was said/sung in Hamilton, in the room where the decisions are made!After our Capitol tour, we hit the National Botanical Gardens 50 states exhibit. I love a botanical garden and it was really neat to see all the different states flowers and plants represented in honor of the upcoming Semiquincentennial Celebration. We had some great dinners, and enjoyed making our princess’s new apartment feel like home, with a few special touches, just for our girl.