Raising Rural Runges: D.C. Day 3 - A taste of Minnesota

Day 3 we began our morning back at the Hart Senate Building for Breakfast with Senator Franken.

Wednesday mornings Minnesotans visiting D.C. can have "Breakfast with Al!" From U.S. Senator Franken's website: "We serve real Mahnomin porridge made with wild rice that we bring in from White Earth Reservation. It's a native Minnesota dish that was first created by the voyageurs. The wild rice is cooked with cream, berries, and nuts. It's become a big hit here in the office; our guests like it so much they keep asking for the recipe. I would like to add a special thank you to Mitch Omer and his staff at Hell's Kitchen in Minneapolis for allowing us to use their Mahnomin Porridge recipe, which you can find HERE."

Scott enjoying his porridge 😊

Senator Franken addressing the breakfast attendees and taking some questions.

Then time for pictures (taken by staff and mailed to you)!

We took A LOT of Ubers! This was our new friend, Jared's, first time in an Uber....he was Uber-excited!!!

Scott typically sat in the passenger seat and "interviewed" the drivers asking them everything from what country they were from to who they were voting for for President. It became a standing joke that we would try and count how many questions Scott could fit in a ride and see if he could make it to 20!

Sidewalk entertainment!

Minnesota Farm Bureau President Kevin Paap addresses the Minnesota and Iowa Farm Bureau members back at the AFBF building.

American Farm Bureau Federation President, Zippy Duval

Next up was Ambassador Darci Vetter, Chief Agriculture Negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative discussing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

CEO of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, Randy Krotz

After all the serious speakers, Scott decided it was time for an elevator selfie on the way to lunch! Such a fun group!!!

Back to the Food Trucks!!! This time Scott chose a chicken sandwich from Philly Mike's Fillet...

And I chose 2 fish and 1 shrimp taco from DC Taco Truck...

It's now December...in Minnesota...REALLY missing the wide variety of food at our fingertips in D.C.!!!

Caught MFBF President Paap addressing the Illinois Farm Bureau before they left to go home!

Next up was our tour of the Capitol!

The Statue of Freedom

Minnesota's statue at the Capitol

Hawaii's statue - weighs over 6 tons!!!

Ears of corn can be found snuck in designs everywhere!

Imagine all the important historical decisions that were made in this room...

Just WOW.

MN Farm Bureau at the Capitol Crypt - with a couple of Iowa tag-a-longs 😉

The star on the floor of the Crypt - which is the literal center of Washington, D.C.

We weren't allowed to go to the Rotunda of the Capitol because Vice President Biden came to the Capitol while we were on our tour...

We had a couple hours of free time after the Capitol tour before cocktails with Jim Wiesemeyer, Pro Farmer's Washington Consultant, so we decided to check out the Supreme Court.

Going up...

The attention to details is mind blowing!

Going down.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

Justice Antonin Scalia

Outside the Supreme Court

Library of Congress - didn't make it inside unfortunately, but the outside is AMAZING!

Rayburn

There is just so much to look at that walking is the best way to take it in.

The Holiday Inn Capitol (where we stayed) is right across from the U.S. Department of Education - which I had to take a picture of for all my AMAZING teacher friends!!!