Back during the 1976 presidential campaign, I was the only kid in my 2nd Grade class who knew that Bob Dole was Jerry Ford's running mate. I kind of remember thinking that Dole was the guy responsible for the bananas. I also remember having a Ford–Dole badge, but I don't recall where I picked it up.
On Sunday, Evelin, the girls and I went down to The Mall and almost ended up in the line for the viewing of President Ford in the Capitol building. We were actually headed to the U.S. Botanic Garden, but it turned out to be closed, so we went to Air & Space instead. The line was only about an hour, and we toyed with the idea of paying our respects, but decided that we probably only had an hour before the girls would need snacks and to head home for a nap, so waiting in line would be a bad way to pass the time.
Today, on my way home to watch the girls for the afternoon, I ended up getting caught by a motorcade leaving Ford's funeral. I spent a half-hour or so stopped on the Southeast/Southwest Freeway waiting for the post-funeral motorcade to pass. Most of the time was just sitting there with no-one coming up from Maine Ave. with the occasional police car/motorcycle passing. Finally, "normal" traffic was flowing next to me, but my lanes stayed blocked for another five or ten minutes for some reason known only to the police who were holding us up.
Normally, I might have been more interested in who was passing, but I was making Evelin late for work, so I was getting quite annoyed. Of course, once the blockade ended and I was able to get on my way, I ended up getting caught by a train when I was just a mile or two away from home ...
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