In-Awe-Guration

As most of you know, I attended President Obama's Inauguration. My friend and Neighbor, Cody Watson, got the tickets by emailing Senator Bennett shortly after the election. When his wife didn't want to go, I jumped in. Fortunately, I have a buddy who lives in DC who offered to let us stay with him. So, I used some of my hard-earned frequent flier miles and set off for quite the adventure. In an attempt to keep myself eligible for the family inheritance, I tried for as long as possible to keep this little trip secret from my mother-in-law, but she found out shortly before I left. Pictures below:

This is me with my ticket. I waited in this mob for about 3 hours just to get to the security checkpoint. There were no toilets at this part, and it was the single most people I've ever seen in my life. I was quite the hero to these people, because I was tall enough to look over the crowd and report to the masses what was going on. They called me 'Tall Man'. I was also loaded with a bunch of granola bars, which I gave to some weary people. I kept telling them how I was a boy scout. Little did they know how prepared I really was. I had an orange juice bottle in my pocket that I was going to pee in, if I didn't get to a restroom soon. Fortunately, I never had to use it.

Here is a shot I got of the Obamas.*

A few things became clear to me while attending this event. First of all, the Democratic Party is odd. The place was packed with a bunch of Hippies (you know, the kind of people who throw paint on you if you wear fur), as well as fur-wearing people who seemed to believe they were at a Baptist revival. They were swaying back-and-forth and shouting 'Amen' periodically. They tended to repeat the last 3 words of each stanza form Obama's speech. I can still hear it now, "Unclench Your Fists", etc, etc.

These guys were on top of most buildings. I felt very safe with them there.

The highlight of my trip was when Pres. Bush boarded Marine 1 and flew directly over my head. For some reason, this really touched me. I felt bad that there were people mocking him. Every time they would show him on the TV screen, they would start singing, "Sha-na-na-na. Hey-hey-hey. Goooooodbye." I haven't been entirely pleased with G.W. Bush the past 4 years either, but I hated to see disrespect for the president.

Did I mention that people were everywhere?

This was my view of the event. In a strange way, I felt like I was at Woodstock. It was a total 'Kum-bay-ya' moment. People were crying, kissing, and hugging. After Obama's speech, I saw this chubby Black lady next to me with tears rolling down her cheeks. She just really looked like she needed a hug, so I gave her one.

Emily pointed out to me that I had a bunch of photos of the same thing, so I changed this one. This is my brother and I at the Lincoln Memorial at night. At this point, I was exausted. I began standing at 5:30 in the morning on the subway, and the first time I got to sit down was around 3:30 pm in Senator Bennett's office.

This was my first view. When I first got on the Mall, I headed to the back, to have a little elbow room. Eventually, I realized I couldn't see very well, and there was something (like a stand for TV Cameras) blocking my view of the action - so I moved around a bit and got much closer.



At night, they lit up the skies with these lights. It was obvious that they were Masonic symbols.



The White House. Notice the guards on top.


The place was a disaster. There were no garbage cans anywhere. Trash was piled ankle-high. Miraculously, I went back the next day and it was mostly cleaned up.

I took this picture for my buddy Tom Ferguson who seems to have a fixation on local TV reporters. I pushed Senator Chaffetz out of the way so I could meet this guy. I lied and told him I was a big fan. But I'm pretty sure he knew I was lying when I called him 'John Hollenhorst'. He corrected me and told me his name was 'Richard Piatt'. Meh.

Speaking of second-rate celebrities, here is Don King. It was SUCH an honor. I think he thinks he is a civil rights hero. He is really just an idiot.

Most of you know that if there is anything I love, it is mass-hysteria. I need little motivation to join in on any given craze. So, I had to jump in and buy some buttons. Believe it or not, I even paid full price for them. These kinds of guys were ALL OVER THE PLACE selling anything Obama-ish. I saw Obama shoes, Obama hot sauce, Obama incense and depictions of Obama hugging Martin Luther King, Jr. The craziest of the T-Shirts had Obama in a white robe singing Gospel, and depicted him as some kind of singing Messiah.

While there, we also visited 2 Smithsonian Museums and Manassas (aka Bull Run, the battlefield where the Civil War began). However, Emily dislikes my long posts, so I'll have to skip the pictures. i will leave with one more, as it shows the 4 of us who endured the Inaugural craziness.

Clockwise from left is me, Dan Webber (mission companion and DC resident), Cody Watson (neighbor with the tix and speed-walker extraordinaire) and my brother Trent. Trent drove down from Pittsburgh when he heard I was in town. For some reason, he wore camouflage pants and a hooded sweatshirt, and looked very much like either a uni bomber-type figure or someone looking to distribute religious material.

* OK, as you may have guessed, these guys were Barack and Michelle look-alikes.