Day 6: The Long Journey Home

Dear Diary-

I woke up at 7:11am in order to pack. The last thing I remember before officially passing out the night before was Sarah telling me she wasn't going to wait for me to leave. I started to pack my stuff. I managed to get rid of one coat, but I added another bag. It was a plastic bag, so it didn't really count. Sarah and Cara brought me up what could only be described as a breakfast buffet. I ate cereal and a breakfast sandwich. I did some of my driving school (which my wonderful mother finished for me...I love her).

At noon, we left to drive to the Baltimore airport. We made it there pretty quickly. I probably fell asleep on the way. When we got there we needed to stop at a gas station to fill up before we returned the car. We turned down a road filled with lots of curvy turns and hills, but no gas station. After driving down it about 15 minutes, we turned around and found a gas station somewhere else. The gas cost $1.69/ gallon. We filled up and returned the car.

I began my second "Million Bag March." We took a shuttle to the airport and I went through security. Our gate seemed to be in another state, but we eventually made it there with all of our bags. Cara and I went to get some food. I got a root beer made by some Green Turtle place and it was delicious. I didn't tell Sarah because she might have wanted one and I didn't get her one because she didn't ask for it (if you are reading this...sorry Sarah). I got some pretzel sticks and got Sarah a Diet Coke with ice, and we headed the mile back to our gate.

We got on the little propeller plane that could, same row. I had the same seat and Sarah got the winning lotto seat this time. We flew to LaGuardia without incident, and then the fun began.

Our flight to Chicago was a United flight, so we had to change terminals. We were advised that there was a bus that would take us to the next terminal, so we went outside to look for it. When we got outside, the Dollar Rent-A-Car man asked me where we were going and I told him the next terminal. He then told us we would wait forever for the next bus and that he would drive us, which was weird but we just wanted to get over there. He helped Cara with her bag and we all jumped in his Dollar Rent-A-Car van. He drove us to the next terminal, and we tipped him some money.

When we go into the terminal and up to security and they told Cara that her carry-on is too big and that I have too many bags and that we're both going to have to check our bags. So, we go back over to the counter where you check in bags and I check mine. And those assholes at United charge you for every bag you check. It was $15 fucking dollars for me to check my book bag! But I had like 4 bags so there was nothing else I could do. Again...I'd like to reiterate...UNITED AIRLINES SUCKS. Anyways, Cara made her bag smaller so that she would not have to check it. Then the asshole woman said I still had too many bags, so I had to consolidate. I did this by opening one bag, which was full, and just putting everything on top and carrying it around like that, which looked ridiculous. One more time....UNITED AIRLINES= FUCKING ASSHOLES. Ok...I might have it all out now.

So, I proceeded through security looking like a retarded asshole. Then, since none of my bags could close anymore (but there were only 2 now), all of my stuff spilled all over the security conveyor belt and onto the floor. The TSA people were pretty nice about it, unlike those UNITED ASSHOLES (ok...that was the last time).

So, we head over to our gate and I unconsolidated back into three bags. By this time, I thought I deserved cookies. So, I went and bought myself two cookies and a Diet Pepsi. Soon after it was time to board. The flight was full and we were not sitting together. I was sitting in between an Asian woman and a business man, who were already seated when I got there. So, me, my big bag that did not close, my little plastic bag, and my purse squeezed our way into the middle seat. I believe the Asian woman laughed at me.

So, the flight home wasn't too bad. I slept or closed my eyes the whole way. When we got off, I started to look for my cell phone, but we were too late and all the lost and founds were closed. Krisno picked us up and we headed home without incident.

The end.

Day 5: One Step Closer to Hillary

Dear Diary-

We woke up, got ready, ate breakfast, and headed towards the train to go to the Newseum. If you haven't guessed it, the Newseum is a museum dedicated to the news. In front of the museum, there were front pages from each state the the day before, the Inauguration. In another section of the museum, there were Inauguration front pages from all over the world. It was interesting to see how news in the US is front page news in so many other places, but I guess Barack Obama is a big deal everywhere.

We first watched a movie about the news and the museum. I might have fallen asleep during it or I may have closed my eyes, but it basically just told about all the different events that make news- war, peace, etc. Then we headed up to the top floor, where all the world newspapers were located. Next, on the 5th floor was the 9/11 gallery. They had the antenna from one of the WTC towers and the front pages of many different newspapers from across the US and world from that day and the one after.

We also saw an exhibit which had newspapers from forever ago to the present. I looked at the Chicago Fire newspaper, Kennedy's assassination, and a bunch of other historical ones that I can't really remember. They also had some videos of fake news like SNL skits and a video about women in the news business.

My favorite exhibit was one that had a bunch of different (maybe all?) Pullitzer Prize winning photos and the stories behind them. They were all really good photos and the stories behind them were interesting. One was a photo of a child obviously dying of starvation curled in a ball with a vulture behind her looking ready to eat her. The photographer took the photo and then cried. He was told not to touch any of the people because they might be diseased. He then received much criticism for not picking up the child. He eventually killed himself, I think because he couldn't live with the guilt of not helping the child.

Anyways, we didn't get to see all of the museum, but what we saw was very good. We had to leave because next we had a tour of the Capitol! We walked over there and stood in the security line with hopes of seeing Hillary Clinton roaming the halls.

We were early for our tour, so I got a chocolate covered rice krispie treat in the Capitol cafeteria. There was a sculpture of Sacajawea, so we took my picture next to it. Then i got lectured for touching it by an old security lady. Then it was time for the tour.

It started with a movie, which I fell asleep during, so I can't tell you what it was about. Then we toured the Capitol. We saw the rotunda which is where people lie in state and lie in honor. There were sculptures and paintings that were explained. We went into a room which is where the house of representatives (I think) once sat, and they had marked where some famous people had sat. There was also part of the room that if you stood and talked there you could here it on the other side of the room because of the way the ceiling was shaped.

We also saw the walkway that Obama walked down and then onto the platform the day before. We saw another room that was supposed to be where George and Martha Washington were to be buried, but it wasn't finished when they died and then their family decided not to move them.

Our tour guide mentioned that we could get passes to the Senate floor viewing gallery simply by heading across the street to our Senator's office and asking for them. Knowing that the Senate was going to attempt to again confirm Hillary as Secretary of State that day, we Immediately headed over to Dick Durbin's office when our tour ended. We easily obtained passes...so easily that we also went to Hillary's senate office in order to get some passes with her name on them (because she would only be a Senator for a couple more hours).

We headed back to the Capitol and then waited in line to get on the Senate floor. We got yelled at by another old security lady to not sit on the floor for some weird reasons that she appeared to make up. When no one listened to her, she went and got a police officer to tell everyone to stand up. I don't know what got stuck up her ass that morning, but apparently it was very far up there.

Anyways, we didn't wait as long as they had told us before we got to go inside. We had to check our phones and cameras (which I had neither of) and then go through security again. We finally made it into the gallery in time to watch some of Hillary's confirmation hearing. The distinguished Senator from Maryland spoke, and then there was time before the vote was to be taken so John Kerry rambled on, basically to himself, for about half an hour.

John Kerry is hilarious! He was talking about the environment and said such things as..."this scientist told me" and "those 5 or 6 states...I don't exactly remember all of them right now." Anyways, there were funnier ones, but I don't remember them. It went on and on and on, and I dozed off at some points. And it didn't really appear to have much to do with Hillary Clinton.

Then, it was finally time for the vote. Ninety-six senators voted. I got to see Dick Durbin, Roland Burris, John McCain, Diane Feinstein, and everyone else. Ted Kennedy, Hillary, Al Franken, and one other person were not there. Anyways, the vote came out 94-2, and because it was a role call vote, Hillary was confirmed. Everyone applauded, which they weren't supposed to do.

After Hillary's confirmation, they began to talk a little bit about the Ledbetter case. We stayed for a couple minutes then we left. We had probably been at the Capitol for 5 hours that day and we needed to eat.

We walked over to a tavern closer to our train station and we were pretty sure we saw Rahm Emmanuel driving a Cadillac on our way there (Sarah disagrees).

Anyways, we ate. I ate a cheeseburger. Then we went souvenir shopping. I bought five t-shirts (two with Obama and MLK, one with Obama and doves, one with him dressed as a sheriff, and one that said "Obama in the house!") and a stack of Barack Obama $9 bills.

We took the train back to the hotel. I basically passed out as soon as we got back and couldn't manage to wake myself up until the next morning.

Day 4: Inauguration

Dear Diary-

We awoke at 5am on Inauguration morning to the news that parking lots at Metro stations were already filled and closing. Drama ensued. We dressed and bundled as fast as we could, with no time for breakfast or coffee, and ran out the door. The highway was crowded leading up to the train station. There was a sign that the parking lot at our train station had been filled, but we didn't believe it so we kept going. We were all nervous the train station was going to be filled. We listened to the radio, and they were announcing train stations closing but never mentioned ours. Eventually, they said that there were still hundreds of spots left at our station but that lines were long and we would have to be patient and have our $4 to pay for parking ready right when we pulled up (yes, they said this all on the radio). While we were waiting, I put in my heated insoles for my feet. They are like those hand warmers, but they fit perfectly into your shoes. Considering how cold my toes always are, I needed them. And they made me feet all nice and toasty! I might start wearing them every cold day. We eventually made it into a parking garage and did not have to pay. We were all relieved because we now knew we would be able to make it into DC.

We walked towards the train and were able to immediately get on one. Fortunately, we were the last stop on the line, so the train was empty when we boarded. This, however, was unfortunate for everyone else at all the other stops. Our train was basically filled at our stop. A couple people got on at the next two stops, but after that it was full- not Chicago or New York full, but full enough for a train of people that probably never take trains. This resulted in a lot of angry people at the 10 or so other stops we made before we got into DC. People yelled and screamed that there was more room and to let them on, but it didn't happen. One woman tried to force her way onto the train. This resulted in a man yelling something akin to, "I'll cut you, bitch!" and then pushing her off. Great times.

The train moved extremely slow. There were probably about 10 minutes between each stop. The woman standing in between me and Cara was from Chicago and wrote for Crane's restaurant section, so Cara was able to give the woman her whole career history. There was a man with a shaved bumpy head and his wife from San Diego standing in front of me. There were also some women from North Carolina and a man from New York already dressed in his tux for a ball later that night.

We eventually made it to our stop at L'Enfant Plaza, and we were greeted by thousands of people. The DC public transit system charges you based upon how far you travel; therefore, you have to swipe your card to get on and then again to get out of the station. So all of these thousands of people were waiting to swipe there cards to exit the station. We maneuvered our way through all of these people and found the elevator, which had a very short line. We waited and went up the elevator, saving ourselves about 30 minutes sitting in the crowd. By this time, they had opened the gates and were no longer making you swipe out. So, we exited the station and entered the crowd of millions of people trying to get onto the National Mall.

We were herded like cattle through the streets. It felt quite weird, kind of like I was walking towards my death. But anyways, I ate a muffin while walking. Then we were herded towards the 14th St. security check point because most of the other ones were closed by that point. At this point, we were at a standstill with thousands of other people. There was a man that was or had been in the seminary and was afraid of Chicago and had been to JFK's inauguration. We stood there still for probably half an hour. Other people piled in along the other side of the thigh high barrier. Still no one was moving. The DC police had no idea what the National Guard was doing at the security checkpoint, so they were a major help. It appeared as though people were cutting around the security gate, so Sarah hopped the barrier and went to go check it out. That was the last time we saw Sarah for awhile.

Cara and I waited about 10 more minutes and it appeared that many many people were going around security. We hadn't heard from Sarah, so we decided to go ahead and check it out for ourselves. We hopped over the barrier, looked for Sarah, and looked for a spot to stand. We walked across the National Mall, closer to the Jumbotrons, and found a spot looking at the second one. We (and by we I mean Cara, I still had no phone) attempted to call and text Sarah, but because there were so many people all the networks were jammed and it was hard to get through. We eventually got a text from Sarah that she was by the back gate standing under a tree, but we didn't want to lose our spot so we didn't move.

After standing there about 15 minutes, Cara realized her passport was no longer in her back pocket where she had left it. We reasoned that it must have fallen out when we hopped the barrier, so we headed back in that direction. We got to a point where we needed to cross a street and two National Guards told us we had to do it at a crosswalk (even though it was a closed off street). We walked about 30 feet towards the crosswalk and then 2 other National Guards let us cross. This is just another fine example of the excellent communication amongst the security to which the media referred.

Anyways, we got to the front of the Department of Agriculture building and one of the Dept. of Agriculture police escorted Cara over to where we had been standing earlier. I stayed back and the other officer told me that she had been there since 2am and had to stay until 11pm. Long ass day.

Well...Cara found her passport! Crisis averted! One of the volunteers found it on the ground, held onto it, saw Cara looking for it, and gave it to her. She saved the day and the trip. After many thank yous, we headed back to our spot and attempted to get food, but the line was too long. We were then finally able to get a hold of Sarah and directed her over to our spot. We were all together, with all our ids, without my cell phone, and everything was working out perfectly.

Sarah had an adventure of her own after she left us in the line. She went back for us and we weren't there. She some how ended up having to army crawl in the bushes to get back into the area. Then, she was stopped by a line of National Guardsmen. She yelled at one of them, "How could you do this to me!" and I think made him feel bad. Then, she just ran through them and to freedom. Sarah, in effect, played red rover with the National Guard and won.

By this time, the events of the day were starting. The Senate started to process onto the stage. As others processed in, I changed my foot warmers (which were still working very nicely). Everyone cheered as many people entered, and everyone booed as George Bush entered. We anxiously awaited the arrival of Hillary, and cheered very loud when she arrived. Sarah and Cara took lots of pictures.

There were people all around and every time the cameras went on the crowd everyone waved their American flags and cheered like crazy. Everyone was quiet during the oaths and the inauguration speech. This was really nice because you got to hear everything. I especially enjoyed the first holy man to give a prayer who changed personalities in the middle of his prayer and the second one who rhymed very well. Anyways, after Obama's speech (which was also very good despite its lack of rhymes) everyone started to leave. We linked arms and started running. I was last in the link, so I was kind of like a little kid being dragged along. I was also the one getting dirty looks and running into people. I just gave them a look like I didn't know what was going on and apologized.

I didn't really know where we were headed, and then I realized it...the MSNBC booth. Obviously...where else would we be headed? After running into about 15 people, we were there. Luke Russert was standing outside the make up trailer, so we stood next to the gate. Some other women came over and said they loved his Dad, so he came over and started talking to them. He took a picture with them and then with all the other people that came over and asked. He was extremely nice to everyone. Then, we asked him to take a picture with us and he did. It turned out pretty good except my head is exceptionally small in it.

Once we left Luke Russert, we walked as close as we could to the Capitol, which was still extremely far away. Then we decided it was probably time to head back because it was cold and we were hungry. We walked back to the L'Enfant stop and it was super crowded, so we tried to walk back to another stop. We walked as far as we could and realized we wouldn't be able to make it to another stop. We were able to see the Illinois and Delaware floats that were going to be in the parade, so that made us (and by us I mean Sarah) feel better about not going to it.

We headed back towards the L'Enfant stop. The only way I can describe it is it must be what it feels like to live in China. There were tons and tons of people trying to crowd into one entrance of the train. Other stops had been closed due to security reasons and overcrowding, so this seemed to be one of the only ones around. It was insane. They did not charge for the train simply because there were too many people trying to get on. I'm glad they didn't because I'm sure people would have been trampled if they had. There were National Guardsmen standing on things telling people not to push. I ended up on an escalator, and I was glad because I was afraid of being pushed down the stairs.

Once we made it to the platform, a train came. It was not very full at all, and I was able to get a seat. It didn't fill up that much as it headed towards Virginia. I fell asleep and woke up when we got to the last stop.

We got in the car and thought about food. All I had eaten was that muffin and a granola bar on the trip back. We drove towards the hotel and grabbed some food around there. I got a grilled cheese and french fries from a deli that appeared to be Italian but owned by Indian people. We took our food back to the room and watched the parade on tv while we ate. We all eventually feel asleep.

We woke up about 9pm, hung around awhile, and then decided to have our own ball in the hotel lobby while we watched the real ones. Our ball included ice cream, Sun Chips, and red wine. Very classy.

Day 3: The Day I was High on DayQuil

Dear Diary-

Note #1: Yesterday, I realized I had been here before. Not DC, but Virginia. I am not far from where Mike Burns lived and I went to his house once on our way to Miami. I remembered this because I saw the NRA headquarters and he lived by those.

Note #2: I have been taking DayQuil every four hours.
This is how it works:
Hour 1- extremely drowsy
Hours 2&3- high
Hour 4- normal
repeat...all day

I woke up about 8am this morning, ate breakfast without incident, and returned to the room. I took my DayQuil and fell asleep for a little bit. Then, I forced myself to wake up, get dressed, and get the hell outta the hotel.

We drove to DC and drove by the Pentagon. I think we were by the part that got hit by a plane because the windows looked new, but I could just be fabricating. We continued to drive around DC, and drove through some areas that looked like we would live in them if we lived in DC (i.e. a little sketchy). Sarah and Cara were attending a concert at the Black Cat on this night so we parked across the street from there and walked to Metro and took a train towards the American History Museum or whatever its called.

While we were walking around, I saw some of the best t-shirts I have ever seen. One had Obama, a lion, and MLK, and it said something but just the picture is funny enough for me. The next best was a pink shirt with the saying "Behind every great man is a great woman," and it has a picture of Obama and a bunch of Black ladies behind him including Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, etc.

So, we walked by the IRS, took some pictures of the Capitol, saw some other important buildings. Eventually we made it to the museum, we entered and went straight toward the first lady exhibit. There was a little wait, but not too bad. They had Martha Washington, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Jackie Kennedy dresses among others. Then we saw an exhibit about a house and all the different people that lived in it. Then we went through an exhibit that seemed to be about presidents dying in office or at least that's all i got out of it. McKinley was assassinated, that's what I learned.

After the museum, we walked across the National Mall and over to the MSNBC booth. Now, if you don't know, MSNBC is akin to the Bible in our house. It's always on the tv. Always. Anyways, I was high off the DayQuil at this part of the day, so I stood in a big crowd of people screaming and calling people they know to say things, such as "I'm waving an orange hat! Turn on MSNBC! Do you see the orange hat?" or "I'm wavin' my hand! Do you see my hand?" And then get off the phone convinced that the people they called saw them even though they were about 10 people back. Made me laugh. I had to keep my eye on Sarah the whole time because I didn't have a cell phone and if I got lost I was gonna have to spend the night at the MSNBC booth.

Anyways, we may have been on camera, but we (and by this I mean Sarah) were really trying to get a sign. Eventually we moved over to the side because they seemed to be giving out more signs over there. Then, Keith Olbermann came on the MSNBC set and Sarah and Cara wet their pants and yelled and screamed and took pictures. Then, we got our signs and decided to go over by where they came out of their booth to try and meet people. We saw Keith Olbermann come out and everyone screamed. Then we saw Chris Matthews and Sarah screamed "I hate you, Chris Matthews." And then to ourselves, Cara said, "So what's up with the vertigo, Keith Olbermann?" Sarah said, "Hey, what's up with the botox, Chris Matthews" and the security guard standing in front of us laughed.

We stood there for awhile seeing who was coming in and coming out. At one point, a man butted his way in front of me, and I thought "What the fuck? Just cuz you have a nice coat means that you can go in front of me?" And then I noticed the man behind him had a thingy in his ear, so the guy that pushed me must be important. And then I saw the guy's face and it was Dick Durbin! My own senator pushed me! And then the three of us realized it at the same time and all said' "Dick Durbin!" And he said, "Hey!" And then he went and got heavily make-upped and then went on MSNBC. Cara disappeared and went around the back to where everyone leaves. She was able to get Dick Durbin's autograph on her Obama sign.

We stood there a little while longer, heard Al Sharpton was on his way, waited around more for Keith Olbermann, and then left and walked towards the Metro. We went back to the area where we parked which is called DuPont Circle or U Street corridor. It was about 4 o'clock and I was in the normal hour. We all hadn't eaten since breakfast so we decided to get some food. We walked to a bunch of restaurants, but apparently we were there an hour before any of them started serving dinner. Cara yelped some places and there was one around the block that was open. The sidewalk was super crowded, so we decided to walk in the street. We were walking and all of a sudden I looked down and saw money. I tried to grab it once and almost got run over by a car. On the second time, I got it. And it was $20! God does love me.

Anyways, that place we walked to was having some sort of poetry reading and was filled to capacity, so we couldn't eat there. I saw a place called Martha's Table up the block so we started in that direction. As we got closer, it appeared that Martha's Table was, in fact, a soup kitchen. I was tempted to eat there, but no one else was into it, so we continued. We eventually ate at a place called Chix. They had chicken. I ate it with green beans and noodles n' cheese. There was a large group of middle-aged ladies in front of us, and they moved like turtles. It took us at least 20 minutes to order and then at least another 20 to get our food, but it was good. I took DayQuil when we got there, so I was very tired and by the time we left I was high again.

When we finished eating, we stopped and got coffee and then headed back to the car. Cara and Sarah were attending a concert that I was not, but they still had time before the concert. We decided to spend this time driving by Hillary Clinton's house. We turned down her dead end block and saw a secret service guy in a parked black car at one end of the block. We still continued further, but it looked like people (probably secret service) were standing in the middle of the street in front of her house. At this point, we turned around. If we didn't have secret service or FBI profiles before, we probably do now. However, this probably won't stop us from going back.

Then it was time for Cara and Sarah to go to the concert at the Black Cat. I dropped them off and started my adventure back to the hotel. I thought I knew my way, but the thing about DC is when you think your going the right way they turn that street into a one way street going the way you don't want to go. I drove down different streets for probably about 15 minutes, ended up by the Kennedy Center, and ended up on some street similar to a highway. I thought I was going the wrong way, so I got off on some scary street that looked like it was from a horror movie. Oh, and by the way, did I mention I don't have a cell phone so I have no way to get help if I get lost or get a flat tire or in a crash. That only helped my anxiety. Anyways, I follow this horror movie street and guess where I end up...Hillary Clinton's house! I didn't drive by again cuz I turned the wrong way. I pulled over and figured out how to get back to the hotel. I had to go back down the scary, death street and get on going the way I came, back to the Kennedy Center, and on 66. Then, there immediately was a sign for 50-West, which I knew I shouldn't get on, but I did. Moral of the story: I took the long, scenic route home.

I was home for about 2 hrs, took a nap, and then headed back to get Cara and Sarah. I only got a little lost, but I figured it out within 10 minutes, and I eventually made it to them. They closed the bridges as I was crossing them, so Sarah and Cara thought I wasn't gonna be able to get in. But I did and then Sarah drove home because I was too anxious. We made it back safe and I went to sleep.

Day 2: Barack Obama Made Me Sick

Dear Diary-

Today, Barack Obama made me sick. I have been fighting a cold for probably close to a week, and after all the fun of yesterday, I didn't feel so great this morning.

The alarm first went off probably around 6am. At this point, I was coughing and coughing and coughing and it wouldn't stop. I was feeling super. So super, that I decided it was better to just take the day off. So, I went downstairs to get some breakfast. I made a croissant with eggs and bacon and grabbed a little blueberry muffin. Then, I spilled it all on the floor. So, I made it again. I ate it without incident. Then I took another muffin, orange juice, and a coffee up to the room with me.

I went up to the room and fell asleep. I woke up and drove Cara and Sarah to the train. We got a little lost, but we have insurance, so everything was all right. "We have insurance" not only means that we can drive like assholes, but it also means that we can break the law. Because we have insurance, everything is ok all the time. Except me. In our lostness, we drove by a place called pie gourmet. I'd like to go back there.

Anyways, I dropped off the ladies and headed over to CVS to get myself some medicine. I got a DayQuil/ NyQuil combo pack for cold and flu plus Vitamin C. I also purchased 3 packs of Kleenex and some cough drops. I came back to the hotel, took some DayQuil, and slept until 2 o'clock. Isn't it supposed to not make me sleepy? My Mom called at some point, but I do not remember what she said.

I woke up at 2, talked to my Mom and basically laid around. I did some of my traffic school, and ate my blueberry muffin. I sent Sarah and Cara an email with the hotel's phone number because I was getting kind of lonely. They called a little before 6 o'clock and said they were going to come back. I took a shower and then went to go pick them up.

I did not get lost this time and found out that it is extremely easy to get to the Metro station. Cara and Sarah were there. They jumped in the car and told me of their day of going to the Holocaust Museum and the concert at the Lincoln Memorial.

We drove towards the hotel and thought about eating. Cara yelped some restaurants by the hotel and drove around looking at them. We then decided to head back the way we came from and go to either Chili's or the Cheesecake Factory. These options then expanded into Chili's, Cheesecake Factory, or Champps. We chose Cheesecake Factory because they offered so many options. We were, in fact, in suburban heaven. So many options and such large portions.

I began to feel quite nauseous. I ate some bread and drank some Sprite. I ordered a bbq chicken pizza. Cara ordered fish and chips and a Long Island ice tea, and Sarah ordered chicken tacos and a Georgia peach drink. We discussed various topics over dinner. At one point, Cara said, "I know I'm not a good person, so that's why I don't take pity on myself when bad things happen to me." This is when I decided to write a journal about today, because that quote needed to be recorded.

Our food came. I ate. I no longer felt nauseous, so we ordered dessert- chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake a la mode with a side of hot fudge. When it came, I ate the cookie dough part, Cara the cheesecake part, and Sarah the ice cream. It worked out perfectly, just like our sleeping situation. We paid the bill and headed back to the hotel.

I drove around the perimeter of the mall where Cheesecake Factory was, and I finally found a sign to get on the highway we needed. I went to go straight when I should have turned left so I was diagonal in two lanes waiting at a stop light (but we had insurance so this was ok). There were no cars when I did it, but then the light was literally five minutes long. Cars pulled up on all sides. All sides had red lights. All of a sudden, I see the red van behind me pull to my side and wave me along. Together, we both went through the red light.

We made our way home without incident. And that's it.

Day 1: Really, Am I That Dumb?

Dear Diary-

At approximately 4:30 this morning I took a shower. After that shower, I made my final preparations to fly to Baltimore to begin my Washington D.C./ Inauguration trip. At approximately 5:50 am, I went downstairs with all my bags. This was beginning of my "Million Bag March." I was so prepared. I brought 10 pairs of socks, 10 pairs of underwear, 2 coats, a book bag with all my schoolbooks and this wonderful lab top I am writing on now, and other such things necessary for this sort of undertaking. Because my hands were full, I had placed my cell phone in the back pocket of my jeans. When I put on my boots, I sat on my stairs and placed my cell phone next to me. Soon after Cara, Sarah, and I were walking out the apartment door in order to begin our adventure.

Our wonderful roommate, Krisno, had offered to drive us to the airport, so I piled my bags in his trunk. At this point I had to move my car, so I moved my car safely to the side street; and hopped into Krisno's car, Diet Coke in hand, ready to take on the world. The Diet Coke had been in my car and had frozen just a little, so it tasted a bit like a slurpee. I thoroughly enjoyed it, so much so that I never realized I did not have my cell phone with me. As we approached O'Hare, I asked Sarah to call my phone to see where I might have placed it. No ring in the car. We got to the airport. No ring in the trunk. The phone must have been left in the car when I moved it.

I decided that my phone was a necessity because I would have to call my Aunt Moe while in D.C. We were early enough that Krisno was able to drive me back to the car to obtain my phone. Nope, not in the car. Must be in the apartment. And you guessed it, it was on the stair where I had left it. While retrieving my phone, our wonderful dog, Aki, decided to run all over the hallway. So, in turn, I also ran all over the hallway trying to get this damn dog back into the house. I finally cornered him, acted like I was really excited to run in the apartment, and tricked him. Yes, he is dumb. So, I run down the stairs, phone in hand, back into Krisno's car, and he drives me back to O'Hare airport.

Cara had obtained my boarding pass and met me before security, helped me with a couple of my bags, and we made it through security with approximately 15 minutes to spare before the flight was scheduled to depart. Sarah was at the gate. The door had been closed but we were allowed through. And yes, we made it onto the plane. I thought to myself, "Barack Obama, you are so right, yes we can."

We were seated in the last row of the plane. We had the luxuries of seats that did not recline and a wonderful screaming child sitting next to us. There was no overhead space left, so me and my 2 coats, bookbag, bag, and purse fit nicely into my middle seat. To put icing on the cake, US Airways is so kind and so concerned about the welfare of their passengers that they serve you tap water. No snacks, no drinks, no bottled. Tap water. To their credit, I guess they spend their money on good pilots. I believe we were not even ordered offered the tap water, but I had fallen asleep by that point.

Did I mention this was the first leg of flight? This flight went pretty well. We landed in the beautiful city of Philadelphia, PA. We deplaned and me and my bags proceeded to take a shuttle to a different terminal to board our flight. When we arrived in the new terminal, I ate a delicious egg, cheese, and bacon on a bagel from Au Bon Pon and then proceeded to the gate. Our plane was not at its gate, but we began to notice that all of the other planes were a little small and there was no skybridge. I have always told myself I would never fly on a small plane, only big jets, small planes crash. But when your propeller plane arrives to take you to Baltimore, there is nothing else you can do. While I did not quite like this idea, I boarded the plane somewhat confidently knowing that my emergency Xanax was in my bag. I flirted with taking it but decided to wait.

The inside of the plane was about the size of a CTA bus. And guess where we were sitting? The back row, which in CTA fashion had 5 seats straight across. The overhead bins could carry no more than a newspaper, so once again me and my bags fit in the second seat from the window. Cara won the lotto and got to sit directly in the middle with no one in front of her. We were waiting for the propellers to start propelling when the pilot announced that Barack Obama's train was moving through the Philadelphia area so it was now a no fly zone. We waited briefly and then took off. I perused the Sky Mall catalog and then fell asleep. I woke up to the plane moving a lot like a roller coaster. Instead of taking my emergency Xanax, I put down my head and pretended I was on a very bumpy Lake Shore Drive. Worked perfectly.

We landed and deplaned in Baltimore. We went into the bathroom and spent close to an hour trying to make ourselves look pretty. Not sure if it worked. At about this point, I realized I had no idea where my phone was. I had never put in on silent for either plane because I had no idea where it was. So, I figured it would eventually ring and I would figure out in which of my million bags I had put it.

We next walked through the airport and hopped on the what they call in Baltimore a light rail, which is a train. I purchased three tickets for the train, which were never checked by anyone, so I basically wasted my money. We took the train past the Ravens stadium and Camden Yards and got off at Convention Center to go pick up our rental car. We walked a couple blocks to a hotel with a Hertz mobile. We entered the mobile and were given a beautiful red Chevy Cobalt. However, to get insurance or not to get insurance? Finally, we decided it was probably better to spend the extra money and go with the insurance, especially with the way I drive. We put our stuff in the car, bundled up, left the car in the garage, and headed over to where Barack Obama would speak at his stop on his train tour to DC.

While it was a balmy 20 degrees in Baltimore, it was still cold. I was wearing my typical two pairs of socks, boots, two pairs of pants, and as many shirt layers as I could. This thing in Baltimore was very much the same as the one I attended in Springfield, except there was about an 80 degree difference in the weather. We went through security and found the spot where we could see the best. At this time, a fur-coated man kept getting closer and closer to us. Cara said he had been hitting on her earlier. In order to keep this man away and to keep warm, we all decided to hug and rub our legs together. At this point, I looked up and realized we were on Gay Street.

Anyways, it was cold. Not you couldn't stand outside cold, just you didn't want to stand outside cold. We only had about 30 minutes to wait though, so we decided we could it. I'm not sure if the frostbite on my toes got any worse, but it definitely didn't get any better. And then I found the best way ever to try and stay warm...dancing to disco. The music on around us was some disco song that lasted about 20 minutes and I danced the whole time and continued to dance when it ended and continued to dance throughout the 15 speeches various politicians made before Barack Obama and during his speech. Dancing keeps your toes and feet off the cold ground; however, I couldn't use my arms because they were busy trying to keep my fingers warm. Anyways, I was so busy dancing and so cold that I didn't really listen to him speak. But I figured, he never really says anything that different anyways...change is coming or here or something like that. So, as soon as he stop talking about whatever he was talking about we ran back to the car, which was much further now that I was frozen.

We got in the car and immediately thought about crab cakes. I was not leaving the state of Maryland without eating a crab cake. So, we drove around while Cara yelped places to go. We decided on one in Lexington Market, and as we decided, Sarah accidentally got on the expressway that lead to either Washington or NY. We took Washington and got off at the first exit we could. This is the point in the trip where we got to see the real Baltimore, and it ain't pretty. How ghetto is your city when you need a blue light camera on every other street corner? Seriously. And it wasn't just one block like that. So after our tour of the ghettos of Baltimore, we finally made our way over to this crab place in Lexington Market. However, we got there and you could only stand at high tables. And the whole thing was stands of different food places all right next to each other, kind of like a carnival. Anyways, we decided to go somewhere else.

We got in the car, drove the wrong way down a couple of one way streets (Baltimore doesn't appear to label these very well), and navigated our way over to Bertha's, which appeared to be in a non-ghetto neighborhood, possibly the only one in the city. At this point, we labeled ourselves Lewis, Clark, and Sacajawea, because the day had so far been filled with navigation and adventure. I decided I was Sacajawea because I really just sat in the back, took the occasional nap, and didn't really help in the navigation process. From the way we were looked at when we entered the bar part of Bertha's, I got the impression that these men may have never seen women before or we all had 666 on our foreheads. Either way, we were directed towards the restaurant, and I was finally going to get my crab cake. We ordered some mussels as an appetizer because the whole shtick there is "Eat Bertha's Mussels." They were delicious and none were chewy. And then I got my crab cake sandwich, which was extremely delicious. I think we may have to go back to Baltimore for more crab cakes. After cleaning our plates, we played our favorite game- set up the camera and put it on the timer with multiple shots and take pictures of ourselves. A nice waiter did offer to take a picture of us, but we kindly informed him that we actually like doing this and do it all the time. We paid and were given 3 "Eat Bertha's Mussels" bumper stickers. We left Bertha's, piled into the car, and headed towards the highlight of the trip- Hillary Clinton's house.

Sacajawea fell asleep in the back seat and woke up somewhere in DC to "insurance!" meaning we paid for the insurance so we could drive like assholes. And every time we did, we simply said, "Don't worry, we have insurance." I was asleep, so I don't know how long it took, but we made it to Hillary's house. It was very cute and on a dead end street. It was a three floor colonial type place, with one light on on the first floor, and one on on the second. I was under the impression no one was home, even though there were cars out front. We tried to get around the back, but apparently they don't have alleys in DC. We drove by a couple more times because red Chevy Cobalts are extremely inconspicuous and then turned around in the driveway. It had a circle drive, but we didn't go all the way through.

We started to drive towards the hotel and ended up at the National Mall. We found a parking spot right by the Lincoln Memorial and headed over. It was all blocked off in preparation for the concert the next day. We went over to watch the sound check and Garth Brooks was performing. He sang "American Pie," "Shout," and some freedom or America-type song. Pretty cool. Then we took pictures of the Washington Monument and headed back to the car. We drove by the White House, which you can't actually drive by, I should have figured. We were gonna head towards the Capitol, but there was too much traffic, so we just went to the hotel.

Again, I napped and woke up when we got there. Hotel- pretty nice place. One king bed for the three of us, but I don't think we would have wanted it any other way. I started to come out of my ignorance about my cell phone. I knew I had taken it through security, and after that was not quite sure. I chose to just ignore the feeling that I had lost it again, because really am I that dumb? Yes, in fact, I am that dumb. I called it from Sarah's phone and it did not ring. I did not turn it off for either of the flights because I could not find it. It was lost, probably at O'Hare. I was upset, but this isn't anything new in my life and wasn't anything to cry about, so I got over it. I guess change may be coming to America, but apparently not to my cell phone habits.

Anyways, Cara's mom sent us a care package with some wine, candy, crackers, and a candle. We settled in and I inspected my frostbite to see if it got any worse- nope, still the same. We decided to go to the vending machines and get some pop. Our floor was sold out of everything, so we headed up to the fourth floor and got a Barq's root beer. The Cherry Coke was sold out, so we headed down to the second floor. On the second floor, I hit the Cherry Coke button and got a Nestea- who the hell likes that shit. Cara hit a mystery button hoping it would be the Cherry Coke and got a water. So then, still wanting a Cherry Coke, we went to the first floor. It was all sold out as well. So then, I went back to the second floor to try my luck again with the Cherry Coke button. I gambled and I lost- Nestea again. We then headed back to the room. By the way, I did this all barefoot and in the stretchy pants I wear as my extra layer under my regular pants, basically my long underwears.

Well, I guess that's about it.