An insanely long post all about the inauguration trip

This trip was a perfect blend of planning (me), winging it (Heather), and luck. It also involved a lot of hospitality and help from other people. First, there was Beth, who agreed to let Heather and I stay at her house for three days. And provided turn-down service and cooked us meals!

After meeting three times in person, Beth graduates from blogfriend to friend. The three of us girls sat around Tuesday night, watching American Idol, drinking beer, and talking about the inauguration. It felt as if we had known each other for years... in real life. I know I will see Beth again and hopefully, see her little boys as they grow into the incredible men I know she will help them become. (Maybe next time we meet I won't have serious hat hair and windburned face.)

Then there was my mother-in-law, who helped us get tickets through one of the North Dakota senator's offices. Everyone should get a mother-in-law like Roxane, and hopefully one day I will be a mother-in-law like her to my sons' partners. The senator greeted every person who came to get tickets and introduced himself as Kent.

Here I am celebrating the GOLDEN TICKETS! But as you can see, they were silver. The Silver section was the standing section immediately behind the reflecting pool.


After picking up the tickets, we spent two hours walking around the inauguration site to scope out security, pathways, and access. In hindsight, this was vitally important because it was mass chaos the morning of the inauguration. While the tvs showed millions of people on the Mall, what they did not show were the hoardes of people packed onto every street around downtown.

We started to get cold, so Heather suggested we check out the American History museum. Heather had been to DC before and knew the ins and outs of all the museums. Again, vitally important to this story! Much to our surprise, we found this little gem.

We walked and walked and walked the rest of the evening. We walked past the back of the White House. We saw the Washington Monument. We walked up the Lincoln Memorial and toured it. Everywhere we went, there were throngs of joyous people, excited to be part of history.

We then met up with Goddess in Progress for drinks and food. She was exactly as I imagined - smiley, smart, funny, and friendly. I'm always amazed at how having twins barely seems to phase her and her unending positive attitude is inspiring. Again, it was great to put a real face to a virtual friend. I was wracked with disappointment and sadness when I got her text that they shut down her gate on inauguration day. Read her story here. (Dude, again with the hat hair.)

Beth had let us know about the Virginia Railway Express as an alternative to Metro and it was perfect. The day of, we managed to get on an earlier train and got into DC at 7AM. Because we scoped everything out ahead of time, we knew the Silver gate was two blocks from the train stop. We got off the train and a massive line (10+ blocks) had already formed, so we got in it.

Security was moving fast for our line. They were a large number of security stations with two security people at each gate - one to check bags and the other to pat people down. What is missing from this method? Someone to check tickets! No one even checked our tickets! We were in the secure area by 8:30 so we stood and chatted with people. (And froze.)

The inauguration itself... again words do not do it justice. As we watched people walk out, the crowd went wild. People were chanting "Yes We Can" and "Obama!" There are a few moments in my life that I will always remember every detail: walking across the stage to accept my Caltech degree, crossing the finish line of my marathon, my wedding vows to Jon, the birth of Nate and Alex, and hearing millions of people cheer for President Obama.

Heather suggested we head to the Air and Space Museum immediately after the inauguration to hit the restrooms and get food. We managed to beat 99% of the crowd as when we left the museum, people were crowded in every available space. We headed to our train, which overlooked a Metro station. And when we saw this, we knew we had to profusely thank Beth for helping us find alternative transportation. This is the line at one Metro stop. It stayed like this for hours.

This was the trip of a lifetime. While I cheered for Obama, tears streamed down my face. For the first time in my life, I feel we have a president who represents what I hope my boys will become. And as I said to Beth and Heather, Michelle Obama is one of my role models as a working mother. She has shown you can have it all. This is a First Family I hope to emulate and they inspire me to be a better person.

On 1.20.2009, my hope faded. I know change will come. I know good things will happen. I no longer need to hope. I have FAITH.