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"parking was crazy."

OMG! Was it EVER! I didn't try to get there before 3:00 because I had seen the local TV channel here in Orlando early on filming the long line of people - (some of whom had been camping out there since around 1AM so that they would be first to get in) - and knew that there was no way that I could get anywhere near the stage.

When I got there, I had to park in the grass in the median along with hundreds of other cars between a golf-cart road and Morse Blvd - over a mile away. There was NO parking left anywhere else, and the police had the road blocked - not allowing any more traffic in.

There was a bi-plane flying in circles over the site carrying a banner that said, "The South is Palin Country".

As I started walking toward the rally site, I encountered other people heading back out because they said they had already been standing in line for hours and finally gave up hope of getting in. One guy gave me the two tickets he had, and advised me to try and wave down someone in a golf-cart and offer them 5 bucks to give me a ride into the village. He said, "you have over a mile yet to walk." I didn't take his advice, and finally made it in there just as Sarah's bus was arriving with the law-enforcement escorts about 10 minutes before she was scheduled to speak (at 4:30).

It was wall to wall people and they used the same sort of crowd-control fencing as they do at Disney. Luckily, I was able to at least get up to the fence that separated the early arrivers from the rest of us peons. :) They had big screens up everywhere and lots of loud speakers, so we didn't miss anything. The crowd was really going wild over a lot of what she was saying - the excitement was electric. I'm really glad I went, even though I didn't get a chance to get close enough to shake her hand or get an autograph. No doubt I'll get another chance when she comes back here - maybe to Orlando!!

I had to take my shoes off and walk in the grass as I headed back to my car, as my blisters had blisters by that time. :) I lucked out though, when some sympathetic soul came along in a golf cart and asked me if she could give me a ride to my car. I couldn't get in that cart fast enough! :) We were both surprised how far we had to go to get me to my car - I had no idea that I had walked that far!! If she hadn't given me a ride, I would no doubt still be walking.

The Villages is about an hours' drive for me from where I live in the Orlando area, and after getting home about 8:00 and winding down a bit, I sat down here at my computer with both feet up on a chair beside me to file my report before I fall asleep. With all that sun and walking today, I am so tired right now I can barely stop yawning.:)

Thanks to Starwise for the report and all the great pictures! And thanks to the others who were there for their reports. I doubt if we'd have ever been able to find each other in that crowd even if we had tried.