Inauguration Day!!

Inauguration Day! January 20th, 2009

Finally! The morning arrived when years of work and time away from family and friends would pay off. Inauguration day! We were up and out the door by 7am to head toward the Capitol. It was a walk of a little over a mile~temperature: 18 degrees or so at departure.

Though we had the infamous purple tickets, because we arrived in the line on foot instead of by Metro train, we were near the entrance to security. Unfortunately, that was as far as we got for a quite a while. We were pinned into a corner, against a barricade fence until about 9:30am. Having been to our share of Obama rallies, we know that if we didn't make a move, we'd be on the outside looking in. So we made a break for the perimeter and didn't look back!

I wish Stan and Heather would have looked back a little bit, because we were separated near the entrance! After about 30 minutes on my own in the crowd, which was controlling my movements much more than I was (At one point, I literally could have lifted my feet off the ground and remained upright!), I got into security and onto the Capital Grounds, hooked up with my friends. Thanks to the tall waving stranger near them who flagged me in!

Once the ceremony started, I begin to lose my words. I can't possibly describe the feeling of being there and hearing the "President Elect" become the President of the United States. Suffice it to say, it was a feeling of pride and accomplishment I will never forget.

On to the images!

I finally hook up with Stan and Heather! No Unabomber jokes!

The first of thousands of photos taken in "Statue of Liberty pose"! Thank goodness for digital camera screens or I would have taken countless photos of the sky and other peoples heads!

The platform. The dignitaries arrived through the red archway.

President Obama's swank new ride

On the way back to the townhouse, Mr Bair, our rickshaw driver saved our frozen feet with a ride behind his bike.

Money well spent!

Bye Bye W!!

It's a new day!