Katie Goes to Capitol Hill...for 14 hours!

Once upon a time there was a very shy little girl who wouldn't leave her mother's side. Fast forward to today and that little girl is a senior year in high school and she is speaking on Capitol Hill...not just speaking, but moderating a panel (picture Oprah) of women older than her... about Women and STEM. How did this happen? Are we proud? Was Katie nervous?

Read on to find out and see how this all unfolded...

About 3 weeks ago Katie's principal at Academies of Loudoun approached her and asked if she was available February 12. She further explained that their business partner, Raytheon, reached out and asked if she could recommend a female student in the Academy of Engineering and Technology to be part of a panel about Women and STEM on Capitol Hill. The event was being sponsored by DiscoverE to launch their Girl Day 2020. DiscoverE is a non-profit organization that focuses on supporting STEM activities and encouraging students to enter into STEM/Engineering fields.

After some quick texting with us, Katie let her principal know that she was available. Her name got passed to Raytheon, who passed it on to DiscoverE. Raytheon is also a corporate sponsor of DiscoverE. Without a lot of information, we spent about 4 days googling and using our best sleuthing skills to learn more. We found a lot of info and made some assumptions about what this was...turns out most of our sleuthing and assumptions were true and Katie finally received an email from the executive director. We scheduled a briefing call for a few days later and learned a lot more!!

During our call with the exec director of DiscoverE we learned that not only was Katie part of this panel on Feb. 12 on Capitol Hill about Women and STEM, she was going to be the moderator of the panel. Ummm...Katie and I both looked at each other (we were on speaker phone with the director) and weren't quite sure how to proceed. We asked a few clarifying questions and yep...Katie was going to be moderating the "panel part" of the event - for 30 minutes. They wanted a high school student to moderate and ask the questions of the women in STEM careers or on the path so that other young girls could identify with Katie. She mentioned this was the first year they've done this (student as moderator) and they were excited about it. Last year a local TV anchor was the moderator and this year it was Katie!! She said she would prepare a script and also leave a lot of space open for Katie to add her stories and her own questions if she had any. This is about the 9th year or so that DiscoverE has been holding this event. The Capitol Hill briefing is the launch of the Girl Day events.

We ended the call and the final question was is there anyone on Capitol Hill that Katie would like to meet? Katie mentioned our US Congresswoman, Jennifer Wexton, who is a big advocate for education in Loudoun County and both girls really admire her. The phone call ended with DiscoverE saying she would arrange a meeting with Katie and Jennifer Wexton before or after the event.

Katie asked about bringing two of her mentors/teachers at the Academies of Loudoun, that was approved and the planning began.

We decided to make an event out of it and found a hotel right on Capitol Hill, walking distance to everywhere we had to be. Don and I cleared our calendars and took the day off of work. Her two teachers got the day off. We had many more communications with DiscoverE...received the script/questions, learned about the other 4 women on the panel, revised the script, added Katie's stories into the script. We began emailing with Jennifer Wexton's scheduler to arrange the meeting...changed that a few times. A panelist got sick, had to be replaced. Jennifer Wexton got called into a committee meeting at the last minute and her meeting with us had to be bumped up to earlier. Emails were flying every day for the past week about this event...and we made it to Feb. 11. We dropped Junior at the kennel, had a fun dinner and made our way into DC.

Here is the photo story of Katie's 14 hours on Capitol Hill:

arrived at the hotel

 Had to find the local Starbucks:

It was a nice night and not raining, so we explored the area a bit...

Library of Congress

Library of Congress again...

 I had been holding this bracelet for Katie...the night before this event was the perfect time to give it to her. :)

After a good night's sleep, we didn't have to be anywhere till about 10:00, so sleeping in a bit, hotel breakfast and studying the script/questions...

She cleaned up pretty nicely.

The binder had the questions/script in it and she would have it with her for her moderating part.

First stop, Longworth House of Representatives office building for our meeting with Jennifer Wexton.

It was a wonderful meeting. She took pictures outside of her office with us and then we came in to her office for about 20 minutes and just visited and talked. Lots of talk about Loudoun County and the Academies (she has visited there) and also just talking about women in STEM and being in a career where women are the minority - something Jennifer Wexton was talking about that they had in common as she is a "Freshman" Congresswoman with many other new women in Congress.

The executive director of DiscoverE joined us there for some pictures, though our meeting was just the three of us.

the Executive director of DiscoverE

Next stop...Rayburn House office building where the DiscoverE briefing was going to be held.

Katie's two Academies of Loudoun teachers were already there and waiting for us...Mr Chapin and Mrs. Wissler

Katie prepping for the event and going over the questions...

Katie's seat...

Two of the other panelists...a college student and a young woman in STEM working in a corporate job

Figuring out where everyone will be sitting...

The audience was mixed. Many lawmakers, corporate STEM companies and young girls :) Quite a few girl scouts had made the trip in for this event.

The opening remarks by the head moderator for the whole event...

Congressman Lipinski (Illinois) was the featured speaker before the panel started.

Panel time - the girls took their chairs and Katie started...

After it was over, lots of time for photo ops and more conversations and networking.

These are the ladies from Raytheon. The lady second from the left is the one that made the phone call to the Academies and asked for a student...she's the reason that Katie was there. Very cool for Katie to be surrounded by successful women in STEM careers.

This young girl came up to Katie and another of the panelists at the end as wanted to talk to them.

We left the briefing and planned on wandering for a bit before driving home. Lunch was provided and Katie didn't get a chance to eat, so first stop...a bench and her food. She definitely looks like she belongs...

After exploring, we retrieved our car, our luggage and made the drive back to Loudoun County.

What an incredible opportunity for Katie. She made some great connections, was offered a job as a STEM camp counselor in Oregon, Morocco or Indonesia this summer...she's not accepting it. :) She learned about "networking" and made us very proud.

That shy little girl isn't so shy anymore and she's going to light this world on fire!!!

Stay tuned...

Seldom A Dull Moment doesn't even begin to describe what else is coming up....

Katie's going to keep us busy for the next 5 months!! She not leaving high school quietly. :) 

Page did NOT disappoint! We finally made it to Antelope Canyon - Day 4 of our Grand Vacation

 So...3 years ago Carleigh was on pinterest and saw a picture of inside Antelope Canyon. We researched where that was...too far out of our way for our next (2017) "wild west" trip. Oh well! Fast forward 3 years and we are heading to the Grand Canyon. In my research I find that Page, Arizona has many fun sights that is only a 3 hour drive from the Grand Canyon. Upon further research, THAT IS WHERE ANTELOPE CANYON IS!! 4 nights changed to 3 nights at the Grand Canyon and 1 night added in Page, Arizona - Antelope Canyon tour booked and we are finally going to see where those amazing pictures are taken!

Day 4 started out a little stressful as we left Grand Canyon to drive to Page for a 12:00 tour of Lower Antelope Canyon. It had snowed overnight and they close a lot of the roads there for just 1-2 inches of snow. The only way to Page was through the Grand Canyon and out the east entrance (which we had done the day before with no problems). Today...the ranger told us at the south entrance that Desert View road was closed and didn't know when it would reopen. That was our route to Page, and going another route would add 3 hours to our drive and we would miss our reservation. Nothing was open yet to get it confirmed that the road was closed, we drove around the park a bit and one of the lodges said they thought the road was open...so we ventured over and it was! Very snowy, bit signs saying be careful...and we were on our way to Page, Arizona.

we left our hotel before sunrise to new snow

Desert View Road - we were told it was closed...

 We made it out of the Grand Canyon and said our goodbyes and then watched the climate change as we drove...no snow at this elevation ...

We spent a lot of time driving through the Navajo Nation land. We later found out that the Navajo Nation is about the size of West Virginia and covers parts of 4 states - including Arizona.

We started rising up again in elevation and found more snow...

At one of the scenic views were many Navajo people selling handmade jewely, crafts, ornaments, etc. We stopped and I got a couple handpainted, handcarved ornaments.

the wonderful Navajo woman that I bought the ornaments from

Back down again and the snow started to disappear...

We finally made it - with time to spare to the spot for our Antelope Canyon tour.
Here is what we did, and if you are thinking about visiting - this is what we would recommend...

Ken's Tours - Deluxe Tour of Lower Antelope Canyon

The only way to see inside Antelope Canyon is on a guided tour. The land is on the Navajo land and is not accessible without a guide. There is upper and lower - two different tours. Upon LOTS of research, I chose Lower Antelope Canyon. Less crowds, smaller, more twists and turns, many ladders, stairs to get in and out. Upper is easier to access and no ladders, stairs, and much more popular.

We made the right choice. We also chose to do the deluxe tour - a private tour with just our group and a guide. The regular tours have up to 15 people in a group and one guide to meet all the needs of the group. What that means is that we had an official Navajo tour guide take us through the 1 1/2 miles of the canyon and take all the pictures and give us all the attention because we were the only ones with him. It was totally worth the extra dollars to have the private feel of this tour. 

The deluxe tour waiting room - after you check in you wait here for your private guides.

For the Lower tours - you walk right over to the opening and climb in...the upper tours take a 20 minute truck ride to the opening and you walk in...

see the stairs that are going down into the canyon...

 Malcolm our guide helped us with the settings on our cameras to get the perfect shots and he actually took Don's iPhone and took the pictures with it during the whole trip.  These pictures don't do it justice! This is something that you have to see for yourself to fully appreciate it! Words can't describe what you see when you are down there. You are walking through the canyon - some spots are very tight and narrow and some are wide open - there are 11 ladders/metal staircases that you go up or down.

the ladders to exit the canyon at the end.

All of the above pictures were taken with iPhones - thanks to Malcolm helping us with the settings to get the perfect shots. He also stopped every few steps and helped us decide where to get the photo from. All of the different colors are due to the angles of the light shining down into the canyon.

Just as we climbed down to get in, we climbed back up to get out...here are the pictures I took of Don, Katie and Carleigh exiting the canyon.

the girls with Malcolm, our tour guide

The tour took about an hour and after that we headed to a fun lunch place in Page and planned the rest of our day. We were spending the night here, so we had lots of time ahead of us. Malcolm had given us quite a few tips on places to go and we basically followed his advice!

First stop, Glen Canyon Dam overlook..

Lots of open space and rock to climb on and just enjoy the scenery. Still a little cool, and not too bad. It was a beautiful day!

Next stop - the Hanging Garden Trail - we didn't have a lot of time here, but it was a fun little hike and more beautiful scenery.

Our final stop and one that we had planned already was sunset at  Horseshoe Bend. Horseshoe Bend is the other big sight that Page is known for. It's about a mile hike from the parking lot to the "Horseshoe Bend." It was worth it... very cool formations - notice the "Horseshoe."

The sun set and we headed back to our hotel - about a 5 minute drive from Horseshoe Bend. We found another nice place for dinner and then hunkered down for the night . We had to pack and get ready for our road-trip to the Phoenix Airport the next day...(about a 4 hour direct drive and we turned it into a 7 hour scenic tour. :)

Stay tuned for how the Rahns drive to an airport...not the direct route, but the scenic route!3 National Monuments, an outdoor lunch and lots of mileage through Arizona...

It's Seldom a Dull Moment with the Rahns!