I'm still trying to make sense of everything that went on during my few days in D.C. Obviously I know a new president was sworn in and there was a parade.

So I wanted to look back through my notes and Twitter feed for the highlights and everything else.

I've been a journalist for roughly eight years now and I somehow ended up with a ticket to cover not only a presidential inauguration, but a historic one.

The staff over at the Bonny Eagle High School Eagle Times have me beat by at least a decade.

It's been a long, long day, and by the sounds of it for some revelers its going to also be a long, long night.

Before I check out for the evening - at least on the blog (you can always catch me LIVE on Twitter) - I wanted to pass on a little bit more of the scene today heading into the inauguration.

Apologies again for the shoddy state of blogging earlier today. What is it about best laid plans? Turns out the cellular and wireless network really did get hit as bad as predicted, answering one question rather quickly.

We're coming to you live from the inauguration. I had a few technical difficulties due to the fact that a ba-jillion people are around the Capitol today and they all have some sort of wireless device.

This is going to be a little rough, so bear with any typos.

WASHINGTON, D.C. # A sea of humanity flooded onto the National Mall this morning, as Americans flocked to witness the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.

Well before dawn, crowds packed into subway stations, bus stops and onto sidewalks to ride or trudge to mall for the noon swearing in of Obama, the nation's first African-American president.

Police, National Guard troops and an Army of inaugural volunteers in red woolen caps and scarves funneled the spectators through the streets around the mall.

Helicopters fluttered overhead and police on mounted horses clopped through intersections, as thousands of people trooped past barricades and temporary fencing.
It was cold on the mall, with temperatures in the 20s and a light breeze that worked its way under woolen scarves and down parkas.

But the crowd was upbeat, breaking into spontaneous cheers and singing "When the Saints Come Marching In," and other tunes as they pressed toward the mall.

Vendors hawked t-shirts, buttons, posters and other Obama memorabilia from nearly every street corner, and many folks appointed themselves unofficial ambassadors for the event.

"Welcome to Obama Town," one man called from behind a barricade as people streamed onto the mall. "Welcome to history."

I got up at 5:30 this morning to a phone call from Greg Rec. The immediate anger of being awake that early subsided when he told me we had a cab on the way at 6 a.m.

Party may of course be an overstatement. But it was about as packed as an old-school house party can get.

If the shindig over at the NZ Embassy was for the who's who of Maine politics, then the reception held by Democratic Reps Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree was for the people.

While some of the team had the honor of rolling in style at a fancy reception for Maine's political class over at the New Zealand Embassy I got to hit the ground running and follow a bunch of shoe-tossing activists.

Yeah, actually exactly what you are thinking.

PORTLAND, 4:45 EST - We've got two guys who've been to Iraq and back twice, a veteran of countless political campaigns and election cycles...and the guy who makes videos and cracks jokes about bacon. And we're heading to DC, at least according to the departures board at our gate here at the Portland International Jetport. (Note: Technically don't we have to wait to call it an "International" jetport until the flights to Nova Scotia begin?)

It's going to take a lot of planning to pack 1 million or more people onto the mall in Washington, D.C. for Tuesday's presidential nomination.

Jennifer Willard, who plans to be there to witness Barack Obama's swearing in, doesn't like the way those plans are shaping up.

Willard, a political science major at the University of Southern Maine, was invited to the event as president of USM's chapter of Golden Key International Honour Society. She's part of a larger group of academic honors students attending a conference organized by the University Presidential Inaugural Conference.

Turns out that the group is expected to arrive at the mall at 6 a.m. Tuesday. That's an hour before sunrise and six hours before Obama takes the oath of office.

"Standing from 6 until noon doesn't sound terribly exciting to me," Willard says, "so I'm trying to think of something more interesting to do."

The evening will definitely be more interesting. Willard and her husband, who live in Cumberland, have tickets to attend the "All American Ball" at the Westin Hotel.

The clever title and glossy team photo may have tipped you off, but in case you didn't know, the Press Herald is sending a group of journalists down to cover the inauguration of Barack Obama and Joesph Biden.

Most odds say it will be one historic madhouse with massive crowds unlike anything ever seen before, and massive transportation gridlock.

Just take a look at this interactive map from the Washington Post to get an handle on the inauguration festivities and just how jammed up the National Mall will be.

Just how big will all of this be? Let's consider some details:

By one estimate there will be a record 1.4 billion text messages sent on inauguration day.

The merch for inauguration-goers will reach levels perhaps never seen before, passing Super Bowl levels.

A few other interesting stats (via CNN):
20+ Jumbotrons
5,000 port-a-potties
10,000 National Guard troops

It's going to be a spectacle of such epic proportions that even the guest of honor, the president-elect himself, is saying it's OK if you want to stay at home.

So why add four more people to the madness over the course of three days? Because it's history, and because Mainers are going to be a part of it. From U.S. Small Business Administration appointee Karen Gordon Mills to the Sanford High School marching band, and the countless families, students and everyone in-between, Mainers will be a part of a one-of-a-kind day, an "I was there when it happened" kind of instant-history day.

So that's where we'll be.