And then we waited...and waited. It was approximately 7 a.m. by the time we settled into our place beside the Washington Monument. We quickly realized that many people were underdressed for the cold temps and biting winds. We discussed our concern for the many older people who were clearly uncomfortable but refused to leave. We managed to contact others we knew, who were also there that day, and gave them directions on how to find us. One older woman we knew had arrived with an unfamiliar 30 something man of Asian ethnicity. She said he had been alone and asked to accompany her group. He smiled a lot but didn't say much beyond his name, which was "Q". I'm not even joking. We were of course immediately suspicious but weren't sure what to do with him, so we let him stick around. As the time of the speech came and went, we all became very anxious if not downright irritated. "Where the heck is Trump?" we asked. We filled a lot of the time scanning the crowds, identifying odd characters and behavior. We also took note of several visible sniper teams on rooftops. Suddenly a large batch of late arrivals started to funnel in from behind the Washington Monument. We thought this was very strange since most people had already been there for hours. Many of these people also seemed out of place by their overall appearance. One particularly memorable event was a couple (looked like hippies) with a covered wagon style stroller weaving through the crowd. We watched them approach some of the recent arrivals and remove a massive American flag from the stroller (which also had a child in it). It was unfolded and stretched out by several who began walking it around above the heads of the crowd. I believe this may have been the very same massive flag that was later draped from the side of the Capitol for all to see on MSM. And finally, after a lot of other speakers, President Donald J. Trump took the stage and began his speech. I'm not positive but if I remember correctly, it was over an hour past when it was supposed to start. This turned out to be an important fact.

Part 4 coming soon