Reflections on the Inauguration

Well, considering it is just shy of a month since the Inauguration it makes sense that I should tell of some on our experiences. The day was amazing; we had some amazing luck and considering we were purple ticket holders it is a miracle that we actually got onto the mall! Our day started at 6:15 when we went to the metro only to have the door stuck and the train not able to move. We decided to get on another train going in the opposite direction and go to the end of the line...later we found out how lucky we were to do that. People who showed up at the metro a half hour later had to stand in line around the block for several hours because of the crowds in the station!

As we proceeded on the train there were announcements of stops that were not being made because of the crush of people! We finally got off and walked to the area of the mall. The closer we got to the purple gate the thicker the crowds! It was impossible to move, however, the good news was the sea of people blocked the wind so we really weren't that cold! We stood on a side street with 2 and a half blocks of solid humanity for over 2 hours barely moving! Finally we decided we were never going to get in so we left the area. In order to do this we moved to the left and as we did that David looked toward the Mall and there was a big sign that said Purple Ticket Gate and there were no people (or very few) waiting! So, we did get in and because so many of the "Purple People" didn't get in it was fairly comfortable standing and experiencing the excitement and being with the people! One minor inconvenience was the tree that was blocking the jumbo tron but you can't have everything!

Watching the people was worth every minute of waiting! more details to come! People had their head bowed as Obama spoke; men and women held hands and cried when he was sworn in! The other event that is memorable was when Bush left; we all cheered as the helicopter took off. Actually it became quite comical to me; I was certain that Bush thought we were cheering in support of him when actually we were so happy he was gone!

We stayed and watched the motorcade. The crowd was so excited...unfortunately we did not see the President when he got out of the car and walked. If we had thought about it we would have stood further down the route; we were too close to the Capitol!

The parade was endless and because it started late it went on forever! And, talk about cold! By this time most of the people were gone; they were smart, probably eating something hot!