Five hundred thousand people gathered on the mall in front of the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, more people than have attended any inauguration.

Today, inauguration day, our group of seven will be at our access gate (we’re in the silver (actually, it’s the blue!  see below…), tickets in hand,  by 8:00 a.m.  Dressed in comfortable shoes, mufflers, mittens and hats, we will stand with a milllion of our fellow and sister Americans and witness history.  We may have to watch it on a Jumbotron, but that is okay.  We’re here.  To us, the meaning is two-fold – ushering in the hope and promise that this new president offers, but it is more than that.  It is the end, finally, of the Bush administration.  We made it!!

But I digress…  No computers are allowed in the secure area, so live-blogging of the actual inauguration ceremony will be a bit delayed.  After the swearing in, there is a reception for all Iowans visiting DC at the Dirksen Senate Office Building from 2-4, so that’s where we will head next on foot.  The entire Iowa delegation minus Steve King will be there.

Even though our hotel is within walking distance, due to the crowds and the inaugural parade, we will be unable to make it back to our hotel before heading to Dirksen.  We have already been officially informed that those with tickets for the inauguration will have virtually no chance to also witness the parade.

Hotel rooms are a little pricey around here – our group is occupying two rooms – history on a budget.  Many thanks from the rest of us to Ellen Ballas, who had the foresight and took the initiative to reserve rooms last February when they were still relatively cheap.

Well, it’s time to queue up for the last leg of our journey to this defining moment.  Hope you will check back later for more live-blogging direct from our nation’s capitol.