Inauguration Craziness

Hello friends! So, it's been 2 months since an update and I haven't filled any of you in on my fabulous trips home over Thanksgiving or Christmas. There was also a New Year's Eve party that was great fun. And while all of that was great, I did want to do an update on the inauguration chaos that has ensued here over the past week.

Yes, yes - I was one of the 2 million people on the National Mall yesterday. I was also one of the 750,000 people on the National Mall on Sunday for the opening concert, which by the way, was AWESOME! (Garth Brooks, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, Stevie Wonder, and a ton more!) It was cold (even for Minnesotans) - about 15 degrees with the wind chill which is the coldest it's been here in years. And it still isn't bad for winter but when you're sitting outside in it for 7 hours, it's a bit much. Thankfully, growing up in MN taught me about hand warmers, long johns, and dressing in layers!

The crowds on Tuesday were out of control - shoulder to shoulder people for as far as the eye could see. I've never been at anything like it. The coolest part, however, was the energy of the thing. People were freezing, tired, and in horrible crowds for HOURS and were still in a great mood. There wasn't a single arrest and people were just amazingly happy and patient.

They had to close down a ton of streets into DC - and by streets I mean freeways. I couldn't have driven anywhere near downtown even if I wanted to. There were so many people that the cell phone towers couldn't handle the load and we couldn't get phone service. I tried connecting with Joey until my phone stopped sending text messages.

I had an intern from Australia staying with me. We took a shuttle down there which worked out great. Getting home, however, was a crazy adventure. The lines for buses and metros were hours long and the crowds were so thick we couldn't even get to the museums (which were open for people to stay warm in). So we decided to walk to my office to warm up and then metro home from there(about 4 miles). It wasn't a bad walk but it was surreal walking down the freeway without any cars on it. It was like we were in one of the alien invasion or disease outbreak movies where they are evacuating the city and everyone is walking out of town. There were National Guard troops lining the road and everything!

All in all we were down there for about 7.5 hours but it was definitely worth it. We were far away (I decided it wasn't worth it to get there at 4 am to get up close) but could see and hear everything on a jumbo tran. It was the coolest and craziest thing I've done in a long time.

Here are some of the pictures for your enjoyment! The first few are from the concert:


These are from the inauguration:

This is my partner in crime for all things inauguration. Suhanya is an IJM intern in Uganda who was in town for training and was staying with me. She didn't have a hat so she bought this styling Obama hat which was just plain hilarious. Also notice the pin - it says "I witnessed history - Barack Obama Inauguration" which she got for free from Potbelly's when she went there for lunch. All the hype was just hysterical!