My Inauguration Trip
First things first, I know this is nearly a month overdue. Sorry, but I think that it might result in a more positive memory of the trip. It just didn’t seem to go all that well, or at least not as planned. So, without further adieu, here’s how I recall things going…
It all started Sunday night with John driving down to our house from Sacto. He met us at Paradiso for dinner, and then we headed home to watch the “We Are One” concert on HBO. While I eventually went to bed, I never actually went to sleep… too excited.
Monday morning we left around 4 AM, and picked up Lance on our way to SJC. Parked at an offsite lot, and then took the shuttle over to the airport. This is when we realized that John would be separated from us right away – Delta and American did not share a terminal. We said goodbye temporarily and split up.
Lance and I got through security right quick, and then ate some forgettable food before heading to our gate. We didn’t realize it at the time, but we were about to enjoy the last “easy” leg of our entire trip – SJC to ATL.
Arriving in Atlanta, I thought we were prepared. We were told the gate that our connecting flight was at while on approach, and I figured out how to get between terminals using the provided airport map. We only had 40 minutes before our connecting flight left, but we thought this was going to be easy.
Well, ATL is a massive airport, and there’s a whole lot of construction going on. So our 40 minute layover disappeared rapidly. After spending about 20 minutes getting to the gate, we discovered that the gate had been moved and we again had to switch terminals. This is where the running started… We got to our flight as they were making the “final boarding call” over the airport PA system.
We got to Richmond, and it was wicked cold. Got our rental SUV, and headed North. After some debate over dinner, the decision ended up being Waffle House. Because all I had eaten in the last 18 hours was a scone from Starbucks in San Jose, I was happy to eat anything. Before hitting the road again, we decided that it wasn’t too cold to eat some ice cream…
About 45 minutes later, we arrived at our hotel in Fredericksburg, VA. It was a forgettable motel room, for 3 guys staying 2 nights it would be fine. But, did I mention it was wicked cold? Lance and I went across the street to Target and stocked up on granola and energy bars for the big day. It wasn’t for another hour or so before John finished his journey from Norfolk to Fredericksburg…
There was some debate over what our plan was for the next day. We had three tickets for reserved seats on the Parade Route, but we had come all this way and really wanted to see the actual swearing in (even if we were a million people away and only watching on a TV screen). Looking online, I found an interview with the head of the Secret Service that said TV screens would be on the parade route so that people could watch. Done deal, we were going to have the best of both world’s…
It was time to sleep, but who could actually sleep with this excitement? John and Lance could as it turned out. I think I slept for 2 or maybe 3 hours that night. The alarms (2 iPhones, an iPod, and a cell phone) went off at 3:00 AM, and we were on the road North by 3:40 AM.
Just as I commented on how there was an obvious lack of traffic, we stopped and found ourselves in total gridlock. It was now 4 AM, and there were lots and lots and lots and lots of cars trying to go the same place as us – the Springfield / Franconia Metro Station. After spending about an hour and change going 1/4 of a mile, we made a U-turn and parked in a retail store parking lot. It was about a mile walk to the train station.
All three of us bought advance Metro tickets online, but so did everyone else. This didn’t prove to be much of an advantage. Even still, it only took about 15 minutes to get on a train, and it wasn’t even very crammed!
We got out of the Chinatown Metro station in DC around 6 AM, and got our barings. We quickly made our way to where the Presidential Inauguration Committee online documents told us we should enter the parade route. Problem was that nobody else bothered to look online, and it was total chaos and confusion. The Police were out in force, but only seemed interested in letting people know they were around. There were no signs up to direct people, and so it was up to the prepared folks like us to help the masses figure out where to go.
Metro Police were holding up the crowds a few blocks ahead of the actual entrance to the parade route, but didn’t tell people why. We ended up being stuck in an pretty unbelievable crowd of people for a few hours. Wall to wall people, a full city block wide and several blocks deep. That’s when they started trying to drive the buses full of Army and additional Police officers through. There was no room for people to move, but somehow they were going to get these buses through. I thought I was going to be crushed or trampled to death, seriously.
They did get those buses through the crowd, and as the last bus passed the police line a sea of people surged through the line – this included John and Lance, but not me. Now, on top of all the chaos and crowds of people, we were separated. Several missed calls and text messages later, Lance decided to come back toward the police line and wait for me (not that it had anything to do with me still having his Parade ticket in my wallet…).
Finally, the Metro police started letting people through about 50 at a time. I met up with Lance and we ran a few blocks down to the real parade entrance gates. It was about 9 AM, and we would be stuck here until nearly 2 PM. It was a pretty rough process, and there was lots of pushing, shoving and a significant lack of personal space. John, Lance and I all got through at separate times, but we did all get through.
The Secret Service security scan was pretty basic, but very time consuming. You had to remove everything from your pockets and go through a metal detector. For me, my pockets contained the following: iPhone, wallet, keys, digital camera, flip video camera, water bottle, six power and granola bars, sunglasses, Zune, headphones, instant pocket warmers, gloves and my scarf. It took a minute or three for me to get put back together after I got through the line.
Our assigned bleacher seats were directly behind the security checkpoint, and so it was a quick dash over only to learn that there were no more seats. My ticket said that my seat was “only guaranteed until 30 minutes before the start of the parade,” and it was 40 minutes before. Luckily for me, I proved to be a persuasive person, and got myself into the grandstand area. I didn’t have a seat, but I was inside the area and right up against the barricades on the parade route.
Now, we waited even more. The parade started about 45 minutes late, and so we had lots of time to kill. It was very cold, I was very dehydrated and hungry, and so it made for a pretty miserable experience. (Yeah, I was dehydrated and hungry. Even though I had a water bottle and plenty of granola bars with me. The reason is because I was scared to eat or drink anything in line. There was no such thing as getting out of line to go to the bathroom or what not. So, I wasn’t about to eat or drink and risk having (temporarily)warm and wet pants in that insane cold).
Finally, the parade started. John had already given up and we would later find out that he was enjoying a bowl of soup and the warmth of a nearby restaurant. Lance was up in the bleachers, and I was pinned up against the barricades. Luckily for all of us, it was only about 15 minutes before President Obama drove past us. It would have made up for everything should he have gotten out of the car right in front of us, but instead he drove far enough past us that it was difficult to see him.
Very few folks stayed for the rest of the parade, it was just too damn cold and miserable. It was a mass exodus when we left the “secured area” to meet up with John. We walked about a mile before we found a Tapas restaurant that had open tables. It was the best meal I recall eating in quite some time. Plus, it was really warm inside. It was also the first time I had sat down since rolling out of bed at 3 AM. We must have been there for two hours…
Then we walked the mile back to the parade route and crossed Pennsylvania Avenue to head toward the memorials. We saw the Washington Monument, WWII Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial before we had had enough abuse for the day. The bitter cold and 20 MPH winds off the river likely had something to do with it too! But, that’s when we found that it was going to be something like a 10 block hike back to the nearest Metro station. A cab would be in order, but we didn’t have any cash between us and the cabs in DC don’t take credit. We hoofed it back to the George Washington University / Foggy Bottom Metro station, and got on a train back to Virginia.
(I must say that I was really moved by the Lincoln Memorial. It triggered a reaction that I wasn’t really prepared for, and was really quite overcome. Powerful stuff, and it would be worth another trip back to DC just to see it again)
So we got back to Springfield / Franconia and had to walk the mile back to our car. It was really something, and cold. Finally we got back to the hotel around 11 PM. We left before 4 AM, and didn’t get back until 11 PM. Yep, that was a full day.
Midnight rolled around and we were all trying to get to sleep. John had to leave at 3 AM, and that’s when we had to be getting up. John left on time, and we got up on time, but around 3:40 AM is when Lance realized our flight was 30 minutes earlier than we had thought. We had an hour and a half drive back to the airport, and our flight in just over 2 hours. This pretty much dashed my plans on showering for the day.
I hauled ass to the airport, and was lucky not to get a ticket (sorry John!). We ended up getting there just 40 minutes before our flight, got the rental car returned and had just enough time to grab coffee before getting on board. Then, we waited. They would have to de-ice our plane, and somehow the Richmond, VA airport wasn’t prepared or very experienced at de-icing planes. WTF? It resulted in a 30 minute delay. Did I mention we only had a 45 minute layover in Atlanta?
The pilot made up about 10 minutes en route to ATL, and we once again found ourselves running through the airport to make our plan. Once again they were making the “final boarding call” over the airport PA when we got to the gate.
The flight back to SJC was quick – we arrived nearly an hour early! We got to our car, and drove home. I dropped Lance off and then made it home just in time for Lane’s nap. I laid down and slept with him for just about 3 hours. Then went to bed for the night only about 4 hours later. I was just exhausted. Something like 8-9 hours sleep over four days is just not healthy…
All in all, I had a memorable trip as you might imagine. If nothing else, I think I will remember the sheer joy that (nearly) everyone in attendance showed. Even though we sat in some crazy lines from 6 AM until 2 PM, I really can’t recall talking with or seeing anyone who was not thrilled to simply be in attendance. Everyone was friendly, and quick to strike up a conversation. I only talked to one local, and met people from Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Tennessee and Los Angeles.
A big reason that this trip was so memorable was getting to share the experience with John and Lance. So, big ups to both of them for taking this adventure with me. Hopefully my remembrance of the events is similar to there’s, and something tells me that any inaccuracies will be discussed in the comments below. 
You can find lots of photos on Flickr from John, Lance and myself. Plus, I also put together a video that recaps the trip below. Thanks for reading!
And, we’re off… (almost)
I’m all packed, and am about ready to get on an airplane in the morning with Lance and John to head toward DC. I say “head toward” because we aren’t actually flying into DC. Lance and I will be flying to Richmond, VA (via Atlanta), and John will be flying to Norfolk, VA (via Dallas). We all plan to meet at our hotel in Fredericksburg, VA sometime tomorrow night and make our plans.
We’ll be at the Springfield, VA Metro station at 3 AM Tuesday morning and hopefully on a train to DC shortly after the station opens at 4 AM. We have tickets to the Inaugural Parade that starts around 2:30 PM, but will be braving the elements all day long. That’s about all we have planned.
We all fly back on Wednesday morning at 6 AM. Total time spent away from home on this “vacation” is only about 52 hours…
I’ll be updating my twitter feed and posting some photos on Flickr from my phone for as long as the wireless service actually works.
Wish us luck!
Our Seascape weekend
The weeks leading up to Christmas were pretty hectic for us, and we really wanted to have a change in scenery for a few days. After finding out that seemingly every hotel and timeshare spot in the Santa Cruz / Monterey area was booked solid, my boss suggested that we check out the Seascape Beach Resort. And, what do you know, they had a few rooms available. While it was somewhat overpriced, we spent three amazing days here and loved every minute.
I was able to keep the whole thing a surprise for Shelly. She knew we were going away for the weekend but had no idea where. When we started heading South, she assumed Monterey. To keep things interesting, I got in the slow lane and slowed down slightly at every major freeway junction between here and there…
Since we drove down early on Friday, the hotel arranged for an early check-in for us. They had our room ready where we arrived at 11:00 AM, and it had a wonderful view down to the beach and of the ocean.
That night we arranged to have a bonfire on the beach, which is one of the cooler services that this place offers. They pick you up at your room and drive you down to the beach in a golf cart. They start the fire for you and give you all the fixings for S’mores. Stay as long as you’d like, and they have a phone down the beach that you use to call when your ready to be picked up, and they then drive you back to your room. It was awesome.
We spent part of the day on Saturday exploring Santa Cruz. There is a hands-on marine discovery center that is affiliated with UC Santa Cruz that we visited. This was the highlight of the trip for Lane because they had a shallow tank setup where you could handle Starfish and other creatures. He got to hold five different Starfish, and then got a toy Starfish from the gift shop. If you hadn’t guessed, he really likes Starfish!
One of the last things we did was rent bicycles on Sunday morning and rode through the residential areas that surround the resort. I rode a bike that had a seat on the back for Lane, and Shelly went solo. It had been way too long since either of us were on a bike, and it was Lane’s first time!
This weekend was just what the doctor ordered for both of us, and it really sucked to come home to the real world. If your thinking of going South to escape for a weekend, I can’t recommend this place enough.
You can view all of our photos from the trip over on Flickr.
My 2009 Resolutions
- Complete a Story Corp video interview with all of Lane’s Grandparents and Great Grandparents
- Stop making frivolous purchases (aka: be less of a consumer) and continue minimalist approaches to life
- Keep up with the editing and publishing of all of this video that I am taking
- Lose 40 pounds
- Take my water bottle with me to work every day
- Stop drinking soda
- Take my family camping at least twice
Flip Video + Windows Movie Maker
I loved my Flip Ultra and Flip Mino video cameras, but hated the fact that Windows Movie Maker didn’t play nice with them. The problem is with the video codec that the Flip uses. Anytime you went to view or edit a video inside of WMM, you’d only get audio and no video.
To fix this problem you just need to install some video codecs…
On a 32-bit Vista PC, all you need is the Vista Codec Package from Shark007.
On a 64-bit Vista PC, you need the above plus the x64 Components also from Shark007.
Enjoy!
