Part Two: How I Got to the Inauguration, the Morning Ceremony

Next, it took two hours to pick up my inauguration tickets as all of D.C. was jammed and roadblocked. My sister and her husband drove me. Driving one block took so long, it became evident that taking the Metro would be faster. So after over an hour of trying to navigate the closed streets of D.C. proper, my sis and I jump out at a Metro Station because the Congressman's office holding my tickets call me: Do you still want your tickets? Because there are people outside our office waiting to grab them if you don't.

It was after 4:00 p.m. when my Congressman's office called. It was close. I mean it was a close one. After we jumped off the Metro, which was already crowded for the inauguration, we found the building that housed the offices of Congressional Representatives and ran in. Security stopped us and it was a good thing my sister warned me not to bring my bag because all the junk would set off the metal detector and it would take us ten minutes to get through. So, I only set off the metal detector twice and we were up and running on the fifth floor!

Offices are located by district and thus state, but we turned left when we got off the elevator and had to run almost a full lap of the floor until we found my Congressman. Sure enough, there were people waiting outside to grab our tickets had I not made it by 5:00 p.m. Even better, my Congressman's aide upgraded me to standing room seats behind the Reflecting Pool instead of the Mall Area, which would have been a mile away!

Afterwards, my sister and I walked to my hotel, met her husband there, schlepped my junk to my room, and had dinner. Traffic was crazy congested going in and out of the City even at 8:00 p.m. so we had dinner at a restaurant that didn't have a two-hour waiting list! After that, they headed off and I went up to my room, dizzy excited while I was unpacking.

I unpacked my gowns just in case I could find tickets to the Official Inaugural Ball. It was tomorrow night and I still did not have tickets and not likely would get any since they were sold out and way impossible to get. The vast majority of Official Inaugural Ball tickets are doled out to big donors, which I am not by the way. I was so excited I couldn't sleep, and it didn't help that I kept the television on; CNN only had coverage of the next day's inauguration. I got my thermals out, put my tickets in my coat pocket so I wouldn't forget, and hopped in bed. I knocked myself out in order to get some decent hours of sleep and when my wake-up call came at 6:30 a.m., I went downstairs to get breakfast. I asked one lady (sleepily) what time she planned to leave the hotel for the inauguration. She said 8:30 a.m. Now for those of you who do not know me, I am very slo-o-w in the morning, lol, to say the least. It was already past 7:00 and I had not as yet showered, and as you know, showering before going into 40 degree weather is not advisable unless you super dry yourself so you don't catch pneumonia.

I showered as quickly as I could, used a headband as a scarf, wrapped a real scarf around that, put on my earmuffs, then my Dr. Seuss hat, about five layers, then my goat, liner gloves, gloves, inserted hand warmers in between the gloves but not my socks, and headed out at 9:00 a.m. The inauguration started at 11:30 a.m. It was an eight minute walk from my hotel to the entrance. I just followed the hordes of people walking. After going through security after security check, I finally got to the standing-room area and it was already crowded by 10:15. I maneuvered myself this way and that to get a better view. And realized that I didn't know what I was trying to see. I could see the jumbotrons perfectly but wanted to get a direct sight of the President. A nice man pointed out that the arch covered in red velvet was where the speakers would be standing. So, I moved to another spot since the latrines were blocking part of my view and after an hour, the music started.

Buses with blackened windows drove past, and we realized it was people in the VIP seating area near the President. When various people appeared on the Jumbotron screen, we cheered, like Hillary and Bill, the crowed loved Beyonce evidently (one young girl seems to have attended just to take pics of Beyonce on the Jumbotron screen. When the cameras showed the President and his family walking in the hallway approaching, the crowed went wild. I was elated and knew it was all worth it, traveling cross country, buying last minute tickets and everything, standing hours in the cold, cold weather!

I also realized that I should have inserted my foot warmers into my shoes before I set off from the hotel. My feet were icicles, they went from biting cold to numb, which I gather can be bad you can't feel your extremities for a while. I remembered reading Jack London's "The Call of the Wild" and tried to insert my foot warmers when we were squashed in like sardines. I think my butt was pushing against someone when I bent over trying to balance myself as I unlaced my hiking boots and inserted two foot warmers apiece. After a while, the foot warmer under the arch of my foot directly against my skin started burning. (You shouldn't do that but I wasn't exactly in the mood to read directions). Couldn't feel my toes and the bottom of my foot was burning. But I was happy!

Yes, I did listen attentively to Richard Blanco's Inaugural Poem (here's mine if you haven't read it yet--my inaugural poem rhymes, btw). I didn't make a face like Republican Representative Eric Cantor did, and was very polite indeed, even if my inaugural poem was not chosen to be read for B.O. (I still love him to death!)

Sometimes, the President's voice floated by as in a dream but I noticed the reference to "takers" (the 47% that "take handouts" in this country). Was thrilled to hear a reference to gay rights, laughed when Sasha yawned during her father's speech, was so glad it didn't rain as the forecast predicted, and then it ended before I knew it! Took a few pics for some people. Can't find the pics I took, misplaced my micro SD chip, or SD micro chip and lingered after the ceremony the way President Obama did, looking back one last time...