The Reception after the Ceremony and Some Adventure

The Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony took a little over an hour.  We had about 2 hours before the reception started.  Mike and I decided to start walking toward the reception building.  It was a little cool out and a warm drink sounded good. 

All of a sudden I decided I needed to see the Lincoln Memorial.  We were so close I might as well. Mike took a turn and went to get a coffee.  I kept going.  

David's Tent is a prayer tent.  Just walk in and pray.  I didn't go in.  I was on a mission to get to the Lincoln Memorial before it got dark.

The sky was beautiful. Right after the Washington monument was the Lincoln Memorial, I thought.  I could see it in the distance.  No problem. Turns out it was a problem.  It looked so close but it wasn't.  I was going to keep walking.  It got dark, yes it did.  It was actually dark by the time I got to the Washington Monument.  Not sure how far I had walked but it was a long way.

Nice picture of the Washington Monument, lights shining on it because it was DARK.  Then a long park and I am almost there.  NOPE.  I got to the edge of the park and the monument was probably another mile away.  

This was as close as I got.  I could see the silhouette of Abraham Lincoln and that was good enough for me.  I did not have great shoes on for walking.  I needed to walk back to the reception.  I was tired of walking.

I left the area, put my GPS on and started back to the reception.  I saw the White House again.  Nice. I saw a lot of things I shouldn't have seen.  My GPS stopped working and I didn't notice it.  I just kept walking straight because there was a blue line showing I should go straight.  I didn't notice that my little dot wasn't moving.  Not sure how far out of the way I went.  Mike called and asked where I was and I said I had no idea.  I was able to restart my GPS and finally found my way back.  I was not happy but I recovered.  I ended up walking 8 1/2 miles total.  We walked a little in the morning.  Maybe a little over a mile. Two plus miles to get sort of close to the Lincoln Memorial and the rest of the miles were from getting lost.  I got a nice unwanted tour of Washington D.C. 

Team Gleason.  These are the people behind the man!  They all played a part in achieving this honor.  Michel has been there every step of the way too.  It takes a village.  

Senator Cassidy from Louisiana.  He started the medal process for Steve. 

Grady and Keri.  The reception was fun and relaxing.  Everyone visiting and snacking on some good food.

Grady, Keri and Rian.

So many people.  Someone said there were a lot of important people at the reception.  I had no idea who they were.  They all looked like regular people to me.  -)

Peter King the writer for Sports Illustrated!

Paul is Michel's (Steve's wife ) father.  He is the top dog on Team Gleason.  A few of Steve's friends wanted to honor Steve with a speech about their memories with him.

Best buddy Tony.

Senator Cassidy.

Jim Salters and Mike.  

Family.  We are missing a few.

Keri, Me and Michel.

The women to the right of Steve is Anne McClain.  She is an astronaut.  When she was in space she took a picture of the moon. She framed it for Steve and gave it to him at the reception.  If you follow Steve at all you know he loves looking at the moon.  These people all went to Gonzaga Prep.  

A short, quiet moment.  

Keri is holding Steves Congressional Gold Medal.  You can buy replicas from the US Mint.  Ours has been ordered.

The night is over.  Two tired guys.  What a journey we were on.  We are so proud of Steve, Michel and everyone Team Gleason.  It truly was a blessing to share this experience with Steve and Michel and everyone else that attended.