Inauguration 2009

As many of you know, I am in Washington D.C. this week with a group of 17 high school girls for the Inauguration. My cousin, Stacey, is also traveling and staying with us. And thank God for that. I don't think I would be here typing this if she weren't here helping me! Let's just say that yesterday was a true test of patience and nerves. I'll lay out the day for you in a timeline:

Monday, January 19th
7:30 a.m. - Met with girls for breakfast before their daily activities with Close-Up to discuss plan for Tuesday
9 a.m. -Left hotel and went to Georgetown, walked, shopped, ate, etc. (We were told in one of the stores that Cher had left minutes before we walked in !)
7 p.m.- Left hotel for Black Tie & Boots Inaugural Ball sponsored by the Texas State Society of Washington D.C.

Tuesday, January 20th
2a.m.- Returned from ball and slept for 45 minutes
4:00 a.m.- Met students in lobby and left hotel for the metro. Metro was packed when we got off at our stop near the mall in front of capitol. It was shocking to see so many people this early in the morning
5:00 a.m.- Arrived at our sport on the mall at which we would remain for 8 hours
6:00 a.m.- Trip to the bathroom (port o potties) to retrieve two girls who had to go and could not get back. This was unbelievable...I could see the students 30 ft away and they couldn't get to me. I told them to stay where they were and I went after them. It was the most horrible time I think I can remember. People would not let me get through, were asking for money to pass and even flat out refused to let me through and to even move one inch! I finally made it to the girls and we tried for about and hour to get back to the group. I didn't get much sympathy when trying to get back even though explaining the whole time that I needed to get back to my students. Eventually we were crawling, yes, on our hands and knees, to get back to the group. It was scary- but we eventually made it.
9:30 a.m.- Crowd finally shifts enough that we are no longer having to lean against one another and be continuously pushed. It was extremely cold and windy, but we tried to keep bouncing to stay warm.
11:45 a.m. events are now underway and crowd is much better. There was so much excitement around at this point, it was awesome! I have a great video of the swearing in of Obama, and the crowd cheering and waving flags all around us.
1 p.m.-the next test for us of the longest day...getting home. We had made a plan to walk back due to the mass crowds of metro and the fear of losing the student in that mess. We walked 5 miles back to the hotel.
4:00p.m.- we made it back! And are so exhausted and in so much pain from the day- I couldn't believe it was over and we made it back. There were many times throughout the day that I didn't think it would be possible. 12 hours of constant crowd, pushing and walking.

With all of this, we decided this day was the most memorable ever. And not only for the history...it was the longest, coldest, most trying day that I could ever imagine, much less live through. I will definitely remember this for the rest of my life and will have a story to tell my kids and grandkids.

I hope this doesn't sound negative, just a true description of the day. I have decide that this is the only Inauguration that I will ever need to attend- good thing I picked such a big one!

I feel like I am 80 years old today. So sore and tired from yesterday. If you think this is an exaggeration, try standing in 20 degree weather for 8 hours, then walking 5 miles. :)