WOW! SO totally amazing! It was so surreal!
I like telling stories when I journal so that when I read my journaling in years to come, it will help me remember each memory like it just happened yesterday. So, here is my story on one of the greatest weekends of my life!
On Saturday morning, Oct 11th, Brad, Maddie and I got up at 6am to go down to the War Memorial in Johnstown to see Gov. Sarah Palin rally for victory. Olivia spent the night at Gramma & Pappy Thomas's house, so her and gramma went down early too. Doors were to open at 8am and she was to speak at 9am. When we got there the crowd/lines of people were outrageous! We were in line by 7:30am. At 9:15am, as we are getting closer to the front of the line... the secret service comes out and says that we need to clear the back area (where we were). He said that Gov Palin's motorcade was arriving shortly and that we could get back into line elsewhere, or go home - that not all of us were getting in. We were all very disappointed and after standing around for awhile, Brad and I chiseled back into line with a group that we were originally in line with. We got up to the glass doors when we saw the McCain bus come around the corner, and at that point I turned to look at the doors and they were closed! They had closed the doors and we were the very next to get in! Nobody told us that they were done letting people in as we watched them quickly tear down all of the metal detectors & tables... as if we were not even out there. Well, it is now 10:30am, we are both very distraught and mopey and I still needed to go to work. I finally got a hold of my mom and found out that her and Olivia were able to get in and were happy to have gotten in! I am happy that O got to experience this!
As I am at work, I get a phonecall from Brad saying that Palin was rallying in St. Clairsville, OH on Sunday, and that he wanted to go. I really wanted to go too... as I love spontaneous roadtrips, but then all of the "responsible" parent thoughts start spinning in my head - I have to work the weekend / what do we do with the girls? / what do we do with Gabby? / how do we afford it? / where will we stay? / do any Marriotts have rooms? So, after throwing those thoughts onto Brad, he tells me that he will take care of it and to get back to work. He called me several hours later and told me the specifics and that we were indeed GOING to St. Clairsville to see Sarah!!
After taking the girls to his parents for the night, he arrived at the hotel around 10:30pm to pick me up. We drove in his car to St. Clairsville, and on the way we just 'had' to stop at Wheeling Island Casino! What a trip! We laughed, talked and just enjoyed each other's company so much. When we got to the casino, we ate some dinner at the lil' cafe-type restaurant and then went to the floor to gamble some money away. Overall, we came out $25.00 ahead of what we went in with, and we had fun going around to different machines and playin'.
So, on to the hotel (Fairfield Inn & Suites, of course) in St. Clairsville and we finally arrived at around 2am. It was a very long day, but ended up to be a very good day. Our rally did not start until 5pm on Sunday night, but the gates were to open at 3pm. We wanted to ensure that we were NOT going to miss this one and ensure that we were amongst the FIRST in line!
Sunday morning came and we went for a late breakfast and then headed over to the Brush Run Park for the rally. We arrived there at 12pm and were told by the police that the secret service didn't want anyone up to the gates until 1pm, so we drove around and waited. We finally got in and were 5th in line to get into the gates.
It was a gorgeous day and it was an open airfield-type of park with a big barn that had an open stage. When we were finally released through the gates, we ran down to the area to stake out our spot. They had a trailer with haybales in for people to gather to sit on, but the dogs needed to 'sniff' them before people were allowed to grab them. (I thought that was neat). It was highly secured by state & local police and secret service personnel. I felt safe and I felt safety for Gov. Palin. We baked in the sun for 4 hours, but it was totally worth every minute. They sold bottles of water for $2/each and eventho I thought that was outrageous... it was so necessary!
Governor Sarah Palin arrived at around 5:30pm (1/2 hr late), and the crowd roared in excitement! There were over 7,000 people in attendance and the noise that we made was incredible. When she came onto stage the crowd erupted in cheers, chants and energy like nothing I have ever experienced before. She only spoke for about 1/2 hr, but it was the most powerful 1/2 hr speech I have heard in a long time!
We didn't get her autograph, didn't get to shake her hand, but to be there and get pictures of her, was just as incredible. Not only did I get to see Governor Sarah Palin, but I had one of the best times with my hubby!
Go McCain-Palin '08!
I like telling stories when I journal so that when I read my journaling in years to come, it will help me remember each memory like it just happened yesterday. So, here is my story on one of the greatest weekends of my life!
On Saturday morning, Oct 11th, Brad, Maddie and I got up at 6am to go down to the War Memorial in Johnstown to see Gov. Sarah Palin rally for victory. Olivia spent the night at Gramma & Pappy Thomas's house, so her and gramma went down early too. Doors were to open at 8am and she was to speak at 9am. When we got there the crowd/lines of people were outrageous! We were in line by 7:30am. At 9:15am, as we are getting closer to the front of the line... the secret service comes out and says that we need to clear the back area (where we were). He said that Gov Palin's motorcade was arriving shortly and that we could get back into line elsewhere, or go home - that not all of us were getting in. We were all very disappointed and after standing around for awhile, Brad and I chiseled back into line with a group that we were originally in line with. We got up to the glass doors when we saw the McCain bus come around the corner, and at that point I turned to look at the doors and they were closed! They had closed the doors and we were the very next to get in! Nobody told us that they were done letting people in as we watched them quickly tear down all of the metal detectors & tables... as if we were not even out there. Well, it is now 10:30am, we are both very distraught and mopey and I still needed to go to work. I finally got a hold of my mom and found out that her and Olivia were able to get in and were happy to have gotten in! I am happy that O got to experience this!
As I am at work, I get a phonecall from Brad saying that Palin was rallying in St. Clairsville, OH on Sunday, and that he wanted to go. I really wanted to go too... as I love spontaneous roadtrips, but then all of the "responsible" parent thoughts start spinning in my head - I have to work the weekend / what do we do with the girls? / what do we do with Gabby? / how do we afford it? / where will we stay? / do any Marriotts have rooms? So, after throwing those thoughts onto Brad, he tells me that he will take care of it and to get back to work. He called me several hours later and told me the specifics and that we were indeed GOING to St. Clairsville to see Sarah!!
After taking the girls to his parents for the night, he arrived at the hotel around 10:30pm to pick me up. We drove in his car to St. Clairsville, and on the way we just 'had' to stop at Wheeling Island Casino! What a trip! We laughed, talked and just enjoyed each other's company so much. When we got to the casino, we ate some dinner at the lil' cafe-type restaurant and then went to the floor to gamble some money away. Overall, we came out $25.00 ahead of what we went in with, and we had fun going around to different machines and playin'.
So, on to the hotel (Fairfield Inn & Suites, of course) in St. Clairsville and we finally arrived at around 2am. It was a very long day, but ended up to be a very good day. Our rally did not start until 5pm on Sunday night, but the gates were to open at 3pm. We wanted to ensure that we were NOT going to miss this one and ensure that we were amongst the FIRST in line!
Sunday morning came and we went for a late breakfast and then headed over to the Brush Run Park for the rally. We arrived there at 12pm and were told by the police that the secret service didn't want anyone up to the gates until 1pm, so we drove around and waited. We finally got in and were 5th in line to get into the gates.
It was a gorgeous day and it was an open airfield-type of park with a big barn that had an open stage. When we were finally released through the gates, we ran down to the area to stake out our spot. They had a trailer with haybales in for people to gather to sit on, but the dogs needed to 'sniff' them before people were allowed to grab them. (I thought that was neat). It was highly secured by state & local police and secret service personnel. I felt safe and I felt safety for Gov. Palin. We baked in the sun for 4 hours, but it was totally worth every minute. They sold bottles of water for $2/each and eventho I thought that was outrageous... it was so necessary!
Governor Sarah Palin arrived at around 5:30pm (1/2 hr late), and the crowd roared in excitement! There were over 7,000 people in attendance and the noise that we made was incredible. When she came onto stage the crowd erupted in cheers, chants and energy like nothing I have ever experienced before. She only spoke for about 1/2 hr, but it was the most powerful 1/2 hr speech I have heard in a long time!
We didn't get her autograph, didn't get to shake her hand, but to be there and get pictures of her, was just as incredible. Not only did I get to see Governor Sarah Palin, but I had one of the best times with my hubby!
Go McCain-Palin '08!
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