Whistle Stop Tour

WOW! That is pretty much all I can say! We kicked off today with an exciting event at the train station in Philadelphia. It was amazing to see all of the people lined up to see our President-elect Barack Obama. Afterwards we all went downstairs to the train station to board with the First Family! Walking through their train car was unbelievable. The train car they were in was Truman's car, which was built in 1930. We stopped in an open area and I had a chance to slip him a note that my teacher wrote to him! Barack replied to the note by saying, "Oh so we are going to be penpals now." He is such a down to Earth funny guy who is just like the rest of us. As we were walking through the rest of the train with the President-elect and his family, his daughter Sasha saw the game Apples to Apples laying out and kindly asked me, "Would you like to play Apple to Apples with us?" Of course I would have loved to, but the Secret Service guy wanted us to keep moving back to the coach car. About 45 minutes later we made our stop in Wilmington, Delaware. It was freezing!! Afterwards I couldn't even feel my toes. In Delaware a man traveling with us, Greg Weaver, introduced Vice President-elect Joe Biden. Greg had been a conductor on the train Joe took every morning. Then, Barack Obama gave another one of his heart warming speeches! Now this is when the fun begins. My sisters and I boarded back on the train and decided if we could meet up with Sasha and Malia. Of course they made it possible! I spent about three hours with the girls in their part of the train. Sasha and Malia are just so nice and fun to talk to. We also played with their friends Caitlin, Catherine, Stephanie, Caleb, Ryan, and Paige. We played Apples to Apples, Sasha and I finished a Fancy Nancy Puzzle, and we all had a blast. When it was time for everyone to get on the bus for the Baltimore event, us kids stayed on the train and decorated one whole car for Michelle's birthday. When she boarded back on the train, Sasha snagged a blindfold and we all surprised her with the room and a beautiful cake. I felt like I was a part of their family. This was basically a private family party and no one else was arround snapping pictures. It was a chance for them to relax! When we started coming up on the Washington D.C. station, Grace and I had to leave, but first we snagged a picture with Michelle. She was so nice about thanking us and making us feel welcome. Hopefully we will get a chance to see them again but if we don't, that is fine by me. Hey I already chilled with the First Family!!!

-Lindsay

P.S. I want everyone to know that the First Family is all so nice and they all just want you to feel welcomed! Meeting them in person makes them feel so much more real. They really are just normal people!