So today was the big McCain/Palin rally in northern Virginia! I was one of 23,000 people. Yes, that's 23-THOUSAND! It was incredible. Here's how the day went:
I woke up bright and early (4:45 a.m.) to attend. My husband, who was covering the event (he did a regular report, but you can also see his "live blog" from the event here), had to wake up at 2:15 a.m., so I can't complain. I drove to my friend's house and we set out for the two hour drive - me, my friend L, and her little 3-month-old baby, T. Around 8:30, we arrived at the mall where shuttle buses were picking everyone up to take us to the park where the rally would take place. We got one of the last parking spots in the place and immediately realized there were tons of people. Here's the line we waited in, which was just one of several lines:
And here's the baby:
Isn't he just adorable?! (Oh, and by the way, he is adopted, so I got to talk to L all about adoption today, which I do every time I see her! I'm probably like a broken record!)
So we waited in line for a shuttle for probably like 45 minutes. Then we arrived minutes later at the park where we went through a security check:
It was packed! It was immediately clear that we weren't getting anywhere near the stage, so we found my husband, said hi, then made our way to a hill that was already full of people. We found a spot on the top of the hill where we could somewhat make out the podium where they'd be speaking, and realized we were lucky to find a spot where we could see at all. Here was our view:
Way, way, way in the distance you might be able to make out a big blue sign, between the two tree branches, with the word "Country" on it (as in "Country First"). That is right in back of the stage. It actually wasn't as far away as this picture makes it seem.
So the previous picture was before anything started, and many more people would soon arrive. The grass you see is the spot that was behind the media bleachers, which is empty because you couldn't see anything from there. Soon, though, people were forced to stand there, even though I'm sure they never laid eyes on Gov. Palin or Sen. McCain. Here's the same spot about a half hour later:
Here's the Straight Talk Express arriving, although I'm pretty sure McCain and Palin were brought in in unmarked vans. So then who actually rides on the bus??
Fred Thompson spoke first:
That tree was in our way the whole time! Here's T again, sleeping through his first political rally:
I moved over a bit to get this shot, since it shows how many people were there much better, although this is just a fraction of the entire crowd:
The fire marshall's official tally was 23,000 people in attendance. That's amazing!! My husband said that the national press corp apparently scoffed at that number, but it seems pretty official coming from the fire marshall!
Next, McCain and Palin and their spouses came to the stage. Cindy spoke, although Todd did not (I was hoping he would!):
Then it was Sarah's turn:
The crowd went nuts! It was so cool! I have to admit that I still am moved when I think about her being our next vice president. I'm not one to care about "women power" or feminism, or anything like that (well, mainly because it has been hijacked by the pro-abortion movement); I think the best person for the job should get the job. But when the best person for the job also happens to be a woman, that is just so exciting, and suddenly I find myself being just so proud of her as a fellow woman!
Then McCain spoke and despite talk that everyone was there to see Sarah, people were still super excited and cheered just as much for him, if not more:
Here's one last pic of T:
I wish I got a picture of him with his "I vote pro-life" sticker on too, but I didn't. It was so cute!
Well there are no pictures of it, but catching the shuttle bus home was a mess. The crowd was nearing a revolt! Alas, we got on a bus and made our way to our car, and arrived safely home in the late afternoon. All in all, it was a great day!
