I warned my sister that if the weather was poor (cold, rainy) we we're not going to make the trek but the Saturday of the rally could not have been more beautiful. Bright sunny skies and a brisk fall nip in the morning air greeted us as we loaded up to drive to the nearest Metro station for our train ride into D.C. We had no idea of what kind of crowd to expect but when we found pouring into the metro station lots at 9:30am we knew it was going to be a landmark day.
As Kathy has said, waiting in line is for sissy, so she slipped through the turnstiles to buy out tickets and we were on our way. Our station was the end of the line so it was encouraging to see the train was almost full to capacity by the first stop. We kept packing more people on at every stop. There was a great brotherhood amongst all the passengers, many who were wearing costumes and carrying handmade signs. We were followed a man dressed as a rubics cube as we left the train because we figured he was going the same place as us.
We made it to the National Mall by 10:30 and staked out a place in front of one of the massive video screens. The mall was already milling with people but no where near as crowded as it would become later. The video screen was playing excerpts of the Daily Show and the Cobert Report that were leading up to the rally to keep the audience entertained. All around us the place was filling up and I was glad I didn't have any coffee that morning because one trip to the port o john would mean I may never see my loved ones again.
The pre-show began with the guys from the Myth Busters using us as their largest test audience ever. We did a mass "wave" that I'm pretty sure you couls see from space. It was an event made for texting as you could not hear on a telephone because of all the noise a quarter of a million tend to make.
The show was outstanding as I'm sure you know. I laughed, I cried, it was a part of me. So many surprises and a few poignant word from Jon at the very end ensured that this was an event not to be repeated.
I can't contemplate the size of the crowd any more than a grain of sand can contemplate a beach. This was far beyond any other crowd I'd ever been a part of but there was a feeling in the air similar to some of the outdoor concerts I've been to. We weren't commuters or huddled masses or ever tourists. We were a force to be reckoned with. Our goal was to have a good time and I can sincerely say "Mission Accomplished".
