Gov. Linda Lingle will be away from the state for a week as she travels to Washington, D.C., for meetings with Obama administration officials and a National Governors Association conference.

Lingle is scheduled to take personal leave on the Mainland today and tomorrow. On Friday, she is to meet with Assistant Secretary of Energy Cathy Zoi, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.

The governors will meet for three days beginning Saturday.

On Sunday, Lingle and her fellow governors are to attend a White House dinner hosted by President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama.

She is set to return to Hawai'i Feb. 23.