These are my crowd shots -- it really was unbelievable

It was so cold that...

Sam's gum froze.

Success on Inauguration Day (bodes well for President Obama)!

We found an excellent spot where we could see a screen and the Capitol. We couldn't really make out the figures up there, but we could see them moving!

Inauguration Drama

So, we have our spot on the Mall, and we've been standing around for a few hours and watched the sun come up. On the big video screens, they were playing the concert from Sunday night, and lots of us started dancing to the singing because our toes were starting to freeze. Plus, we were all a bit "punchy."

It was very crowded, and people were trying to get through the crowd, but there was no place to go. I started to bond with my neighbors over this....

Then, the Tour Guide comes up and says she has an even better spot-- more room to move around, closer to the Capitol, and good viewing of a screen. Some of us (like me) didn't want to move, some did. The "some did's" won out, and we moved with the Tour Guide.

There are no pictures of where she took us, because I didn't feel like taking any pictures. You could see the screen if you were over 5 ft 5, which most of our kids were not. Tour Guide's statement, "Oh, people have moved in here since I last saw this place." Seriously.

A couple of the kids started crying, and Sam was very upset that he couldn't see anything.

I forgot to mention that our adult to child ratio on this trip was optimal. Each parent attending was responsible for his/her child and one other. Well, the Teacher asked my other charge, not to be confused with Sam, if he wanted to go to the Air and Space Museum to warm up. He said, "yes." So, Sam and I were left with some of the others-- the group had been separated by this point-- and neither one of us was happy that he couldn't see anything from where we were. I told the others that were left that Sam and I were going to find somewhere else so that he could see the proceedings.

Inauguration Morning, January 20, 2009

My most excellent roommate and I told our charges that we would be calling them at 4:15 in the morning to get up to go to the Inauguration.

I called up there at 4:15, and they were already up and almost ready. Everyone was super excited. I believe we boarded the bus at 5 a.m. Guess what-- driving into D.C., the Driver couldn't figure out where he was, and the Driver and Tour Guide proceeded to argue over whose GPS was actually going to get us there. Needless to say, we all became apprehensive.

But, we made it. As we were driving into D.C., we saw soldiers setting up road blocks and people walking towards the Mall. At one point, we started seeing what looked like hundreds of people walking towards the Mall, which made us kind of nervous.

Not to worry, our tour bus was stopped, and a nice young man got on. He asked where we were from, and when we replied, "California," he was quite impressed (or at least he pretended to be impressed). Anyway, he told us that the roads were closed, and we had to walk to rest of the way to the Mall. He didn't quite understand how relieved we were to be forced to get off the bus.

So, we joined the hundreds that were becoming thousands of people walking to the Mall. We filled the entire street. It was freezing, but everyone was so happy and excited that we just kind of buzzed along. As we got closer to the Mall, there were volunteers saying, "Welcome to the Inauguration," and "Not much further now." We replied, "Thank you."

D.C. Event, January 20, 2009 - Expect Delays

This is actually what one of those traffic signs said the day before The Event. I wasn't able to take a picture of it, but I thought it was funny, which is why I'm sharing it.

The Kids with Obama and Biden (cut-outs)

Monday night, we went to an (unofficial) Inaugural Ball. The kids really enjoyed themselves, and it was the only time during the whole trip where we had decent food.

The Ball took place at Camelot, in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. They really did a good job-- very professional, which is why I'm mentioning them by name. Sam said it was one of the best parts of the trip-- good food and good music (according to him, I mean about the music, the food was good)-- what more could you want?

Well, we did want to get there without having to do a turnaround because the Driver and Tour Guide missed the sign for the place. Once again, too busy looking at GPS's to actually take in the signage. I saw the sign and started singing the "Camelot" song, and the Teacher in front of me started singing, too. Then, the Driver kept on going. I said, "Hey, there was a sign for the place back there." They kind of didn't believe me. So, I said to the Teacher, "You saw the sign, didn't you? You started singing the song." To which she replied, "I didn't see the sign. I thought we were just singing."

One more thing, some of our Bay Area kids couldn't get over how frequently we crossed state lines-- Virginia, Maryland, D.C.

P.S. I do know that D.C. is not a state.

Lots and Lots of Tour Buses

I have never seen so many tour buses in one place in my life (click on image to make it larger and get a better view of the line of buses, if you want).

It was so cold that...

the FDR memorial froze.

At the Smithsonian American History Museum

I guess they were ready for change, too.  (This was a Presidents of the United States exhibit.)

We're on the Mall - Inauguration Eve!

When we got off the bus, we could feel the electricity in the air. Everyone was so excited, and it was buzzing. I almost started to cry from all the emotion that came over me. I could have stayed there the rest of the day, just soaking everything in.

P.S. If you click on the pictures, you can get a larger image.

On the Mall - Inaugural Eve

When we got back to Washington, D.C., from Mt. Vernon, the place was absolutely packed. We were supposed to go to the Smithsonian American History Museum, but traffic was not moving at all. One of the teachers suggested that the bus driver let us off where we were, which was on the other side of the Mall, and we'd walk across it to the museum.

It was so cold that...

the Potomac had a sheet of ice on it.

More Mt. Vernon Pics

Because the line to get into the mansion was so long, and we were only allocated 2 hours at Mt. Vernon, we decided to skip the line and explore the grounds and outer buildings. Mt. Vernon is in a beautiful spot, and I can see why George and Martha liked it so much. We had a good time exploring in this way, and the kids even got to meet "Martha Washington!"

Did I mention that it was very crowded at Mt. Vernon?

This last image is the end of the line to get into the mansion. At this point, it was going to take 90 minutes to reach the house.

Monday, January 19, Trip to Mt. Vernon

We got up nice and early and headed out to Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home on the Potomac River in Virginia.   Unfortunately, our driver missed the sign for Mt. Vernon because he was too busy looking at his GPS, and we ended up driving about an hour more than necessary to reach it.  By the time we got there, after convincing him that we really did need to turn around, the place was packed with school groups.

Capitol

This is a picture of the Capitol building taken from the bus. We circled the Capital four times on Sunday night, as the bus driver tried to get out of D.C. and to our hotel in Chesapeake. Traffic was not the issue at this point.  In fact, there wasn't too much traffic at all on Sunday night, although that would soon change.

First Stop - Arlington National Cemetery

After we got some lunch at the Pentagon City Mall, we headed to Arlington National Cemetery. Because of the big concert at the Lincoln Memorial, lots of roads were closed. So, our bus driver had to take a roundabout way to get to Arlington. Later, we were to discover that our driver took a roundabout way everywhere.

We viewed the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The kids were quite taken with it and displayed a lot of reverence. We were quietly and somberly waiting for the Laying of the Wreath ceremony, when this loud voice announced, "It's been canceled!" That was our Guide at Arlington being inappropriately loud again. (She also got in trouble at the Eternal Flame- JFK memorial.) She also had the habit of taking off with none of us following her. We would have to send someone chasing after her to make her stop until we reached her. It was kind of bizarre, but that was only the beginning of our bizarre tour experience.

Arrival in D.C., Sunday, January 18 , 10 am

We've arrived! Here we are walking through Dulles Airport and then waiting for our tour bus. D.C. was packed full of tour buses, as you will see.

Almost There, Atlanta airport - Sunday morning, January 18

We had to change planes in Atlanta. Our flight left San Francisco at 10:00 pm on Saturday and arrived in Atlanta at 5:20 am local time (or 3:20 am Pacific time). Sam and I managed to get some sleep on the plane. Sleep was not something we got much of on this trip.

Awesome

Obviously, this is not one of our pictures, but I wanted to give everyone a sense of where we were during the inauguation. We were between screens two and three. See the black screens on the left hand side of the picture? Those are the big video screens. Count down from the top. There's a patch of not so many people. That's where Sam and I ended up. It was most excellent.

Domestic Bliss Restored

They're home! My days as a single parent have - thank goodness - come to an end. Andrea will be posting non-grainy pictures from the trip shortly. Along with rants about the inadequacies of certain D.C.-based tour operators.

Deep thought: it's a lot cheaper to eat out with one adult / two kids than it is to eat out with a full family of five. Just saying.

The new patriots

What an extraordinary day. I spoke briefly this morning with Andrea around 9:30 am east coast time. They'd been on the Mall somewhere between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial for awhile - it was crazy crowded already. They had a good vantage point near one of the big screens. It was really cold, but everyone was bundled up and doing OK. I look at this picture of Sam at the inauguration and I realize how fortunate we were to be able to have him and Andrea at this landmark event. President Obama set out an ambitious agenda for his administration, and more to the point, for all Americans. Sam's old enough now to realize what's happening in the world around him, and Obama is going to be the president that dominates public affairs as he makes the transition into his teen years and probably onto young adulthood. I hope he comes to appreciate how fortunate he is to have a president in office that shares his family's values and aspirations. After having to listen to his parents rail against the Bush administration for the past eight years, I'm confident he will.

Not till you see the whites of their eyes

Having just crossed the Potomac on a flotilla of small watercraft, the Fighting 7th Sinaloans prepare to overtake the despised British occupying Mt. Vernon. If the redcoats have any sense, they'll run like the wind to avoid the wrath of Novato's youth. VICTORY!

UPDATE: No offense intended toward our beloved relatives and friends in England! I'm afraid us Americans (or this one, anyway) intuitively play out Revolutionary War scenarios in our minds whenever we get around colonial-era landmarks.

Plenty of bathroom space

Evidently they're expecting a crowd! After Mt. Vernon, the group was headed to the Smithsonian. Traffic was so crazy that they could only get as close as the Mall, so the bus driver dropped everyone off and they walked the rest of the way. Andrea says it's just electric moving through the city. People everywhere and everyone's really excited and really happy. Here's a couple of shots of the portapotties that got shipped in. Andrea says there are crews all over setting up the big video screens for tomorrow.

More tasteful posts on the way shortly. Honest.

Home of George & Martha

This would appear to be Mt. Vernon. Not really sure which part, whether this is the big house or what. Andrea says it was a mob scene, but it doesn't look so crazy here. Everyone got a decent night's sleep last night, and they've been busy all day. More soon...

Eating at the mall

Very patriotic and very crowded mall food courts in D.C.

Arlington

That's Sam in the red coat and his buddy Nick under the hood.

At the airport with Tweens

Just heard from Andrea - they're at the "Pentagon Place Mall" or something like that getting lunch. It's on! Once they eat they're headed to Arlington National Cemetery. Weather's pretty decent evidently.

Kind of Cold For Californians...

Brr. Currently 23 degrees in D.C. according to the Washington Post. I hope those handwarmer thingies work OK.

And they're off....

Andrea and Sam just took off for SFO with the Sekisheros - very excited! Their flight leaves at 10pm PST and arrives in DC (via Atlanta) tomorrow morning at 10am east coast time. They hit the ground running with a pretty darn ambitious itinerary:

DAY ONE – Sunday, January 18, 2009
Arrive in D.C.!
Guided sightseeing of Washington, D.C.
Arlington National Cemetery
Iowa Jima Memorial
FDR Memorial
Photo stop at White House
Dinner at Fuddruckers – Alexandria, Virginia
Guided night sightseeing of Washington, D.C.
(WW II Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial)
Check-in to hotel : Chesapeake Beach Bay Resort and Spa

DAY TWO – Monday, January 19, 2009
Breakfast
Excursion to Mount Vernon (George Washington’s plantation)
Introduction to the Smithsonian and visiting Smithsonian Museums
Dinner at the student Inaugural Ball: Camelot, Upper Marlboro, Maryland

DAY THREE—Tuesday, January 20, 2009 Inauguration Day
Breakfast
Inauguration Day events
Evening Activity in DC : ESPN Zone
Dinner in Washington: Fresco’s Italian Eatery

DAY FOUR—Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Breakfast
Library of Congress
The US Capitol
National Archives
Supreme Court
Transfer to airport—depart for home

All packed up

Coats and suitcases and backpacks. Don't forget your toothbrushes!

We're Leaving on a Jet Plane

Sam and I will be heading to SFO pretty soon. We're supposed to be arriving in D.C. at 10:30 tomorrow morning. I am so excited that I can barely stand it.

Welcome to our Inaugural Blog

When I casually mentioned to people that Sam and I would be going to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration of our 44th president, everyone said, "Take lots of pictures!"

This blog is our way of sharing this amazing experience. Sam and I will be taking pictures with our cell phones while we're in D.C., and John will be posting them. We're hearing that bandwidth is going to be difficult, but we'll do our best.

When we return to California, I will download our digital images and videos and post them here... also.

Here's to the American Dream. It really does live.