Tour of the West Wing

We got to go on a tour of the West Wing last week! This was super cool because you can't just sign up for a tour through your senator--you have to know someone who works at the White House to get a tour. A friend of mine is a speach writer for President Bush and he was giving a tour to a family of 4 and there were 2 free spots, so he called my roommate and I to see if we wanted to come. Lucky us! We saw the Oval Office!! Which was amazing! I heard that when the president is working in there it can get messy with papers strewn about everywhere but that they clean it up for him to bring tours through and then put every piece of paper back exactly where it was so that when he comes back, it's just the way he left it. We got to see the roosevelt room and the room where the cabinet meets. I learned that it's the Navy that feeds the president his meals every day. We got to see the door of the situation room which is where the president goes when there is a crisis that needs his attention. And while we were standing there, someone came out of the room so I got a small glimpse inside...couldn't make out much, but there was electronic screens mounted all over the wall that I saw with info running across it. We weren't allowed to take photos inside the actual West Wing...but this is me right outside the door. Notice the presidential seal above.
This is me in the rose garden. The flowers are more to the left so you can't see them in this picture, but that is the oval office behind me. While we were outside, the president's dog Barney came scampering past. It was cool!
This is from just outside the west wing looking east at the main part of the White House.
This is me in the press briefing room. They don't let you go behind the podium anymore so I had to pretend like I was answering questions from the floor.
This is actually taken from the Indian Treaty room in the Old Executive Office Building which is directly west of the White House and is where all the people who work for the president have their offices. It is a gorgeous building! This is me posing for pictures for the electorate! :)