How it all began...

Hi everyone,

Thanks for checking in. I'll try to keep this space up-to-date on our big trip to Washington D.C. as we witness first hand the 2008 Presidential Inauguration. First, I'll explain how this idea was hatched.

Going to Washington, D.C. in the dead of winter doesn't sound like the beginnings of a great vacation. Nor does visiting our nation's Capital in the company of four million cheering yahoos descending on the Mall on the same day seem like a romantic getaway. This trip may not end up being a vacation nor a getaway, but it will be a special event nonetheless.

A little background: Bev did something unusual last fall when she signed up to call voters in states like Ohio and Indiana to consider voting for then long-shot presidential candidate Barack Obama. No stranger to calling people she doesn't know and requesting what she wants, it was new for her to support any candidate directly. She's always promoted causes dear to her heart, like raising relief money for the South Pacific tsunami victims, advancing women's rights, and volunteering at the Pomeranian Rescue Ranch, but she's not a rah-rah when it comes to politics.

Something must have changed her mind when she went to Obama's website and signed up to make calls to Mid-westerners on the fence. (I stumble over making a phone order for pizza let alone interrupting some stranger's dinner to sell a candidate.) She got her first 50 phone numbers and started calling. 

The first call must have been a little frightening, not knowing what to expect, but she told me the voter was gracious. She then made call after call remarking that people were very thoughtful and polite. I think she only had one hang up and one grumpy old man. She raced through the first 50, then signed up for 50 more. Many people she called were already voting for him and others promised to take a hard look. Nearly 200 calls later, she said she thought this Obama may have a chance.

The election came and the rest is history. I was in Mexico and Bev was in Carmel, but we were calling each other throughout the evening, checking vote counts, gaging reactions, freaking out. Sometime in the course of events she said we should go to the inauguration in DC. That led to a bigger idea of taking some nieces and nephews. Bev called a contact in DC to check rooms first, but it was already filling up. She finally got the last suite just 10 blocks from the Capital and after checking and double checking, she confirmed it. 

Next, we pitched the idea to Mom, then Jackie and Brian, then Maria and Kara. Everybody liked the idea, but each had small reservations about the details of the adventure. Bev and Chris with four tweenagers who know how to party may be more than we bargained for. Luckily, Maria showed interest in going along which calmed everyone's nerves a little, especially mine. After she thought more about it, she decided it would a richer experience if she let the Parker and Harley go without her.

I called Kara to ask her if she were interested in the spot and without much hesitation she signed on. woohoo!

So, the Inauguraiders were born: Juliet, Parker, Harley, Lucky, Kara, Bev and Chris. 

We booked the red-eye from SFO to JFK and lucked out- we got the entire Row 36 from window to window. (God help the folks in Row 35.) We fly out Saturday night and arrive rested and cheery in New York the next morning. We've got a mini-van and directions to the hotel in Washington three hours away. 

Hopefully, they'll have the Jumbotron and speakers set up outside our window by then.

55 days to go. More details to come. Stay tuned.