Inauguration

We were lucky enough to go to the Inauguration this year. It was quite the experience. There were more than 1.3 million people there and it sure felt like it. Even though it was super crowded that didn't take away from the experience. People were so happy and friendly (to each other). Even though it was literally freezing...it was fun. Before the ceremony began there were chants of O-BA-MA....and YES WE CAN! It was like being at the biggest concert you have ever seen mixed with a high school basketball game. The basketball game part coming from the crowd singing "nah, nah, nah, nah...hey, hey, hey...gooooodbyyyyye," to George W. as he came out of the capital building. I felt that was too harsh and disrespectful....but funny none the less. Here are some quick pics.

A shot of the people coming off our train at the metro station....just our train, no others!!

Walking onto the Mall by the National History museum. I'd like to point out the row of port-o-potties. The reports were that all of the public restrooms were closed that day in fear of overcrowding. They lined the mall with toilets, and still feared that there were not enough. Roughly one toilet per 400 people, and there were a lot of toilets!

Chris and our friend Rick talking during our two hour wait for the ceremony to begin.

This is one of the many jumbo trons that were placed all over the mall. This was pretty much the only way that most of the people could watch the ceremony.

My frozen smile.

More of the crowd walking onto the mall.

Huddling up for body heat.

After the ceremony was over and we tried to get out as quickly as possible. However, with over a million people, that was more difficult than imagined. It took us almost 45 minutes to walk from outside the capitol to the Washington monument. We were being funneled through barricades and police officers. We even hopped a few barricades ourselves to try and beat the crowd...too bad everyone else had the same idea. There were so many people pushing that at one point my feet were not on the ground. Funny now....but terrifying then, especially for someone roughly the size of a ten year old.

So once we got through the crowd we ran...literally. It warmed us up and loosened our cramped legs. We stopped to pose for a quick picture, you can sort of see the capitol in the background. You would not believe the amount of trash everywhere....mostly tissues, newspapers, and hand warmer packages.

It was so cool to be a part of history and to have that experience. This was the most largely attended Inauguration in history. We were so lucky to be a part of it all.