The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG – It was a last-minute, whirlwind weekend to say the least, but Tiernan Pearson says attending the 2017 presidential inauguration with his wife, Sarah (Henze) Pearson, was an experience he couldn't pass up.

Tiernan said he had read online that people could request inauguration invitations and he sent a request to Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers's office shortly after the presidential election. However, he didn't learn that he would receive an invitation until about a week-and-a-half before the inauguration.

"It was very spur-of-the moment," Pearson said.

Tiernan is a project supervisor for Cutting Edge Plumbing & Mechanical in Walla Walla and Sarah works as a para educator for the Prescott School District. Surprisingly, both were able to get time off work on short notice.

Tiernan said hotel prices were very high right after the inauguration but had dropped significantly by the time they reserved a room. He assumed the hotels hadn't booked as many rooms as they had anticipated.

"I think demographics played a role. When you are a blue collar worker, it's not usually that easy to get off work at the last minute. We were fortunate that we were able to make it work," Tiernan said.

The Pearsons quickly called on grandparents to babysit their two young daughters and booked flights and a hotel. They flew out of Spokane on Wed. night and returned on Sat.

Neither had been to Washington D.C. before and they spent Thursday playing tourist and attended the inauguration on Friday.

According to Sarah's Fitbit, the couple walked 8.5 miles on Thursday. They spent the day wandering around the Smithsonian and visiting monuments before attending a reception at McMorris Rodgers office on Thursday evening.

Tiernan said his favorite part of the trip was admiring all the old buildings.

"Being in the construction field, I have a real love of architecture. It was like a step back in time to walk among all those impressive old buildings with such amazing architecture," Tiernan said.

On Friday, the couple took a Lyft car to within four blocks of their assigned spot on the opposite end of the reflection pool. Tiernan said large screens made it possible to see what was going on.

"The security was pretty much like the security you go through when getting on an airplane. They had temporary sensors set up and funneled people through a gate area. There were dozens of metal detectors and security looked through your bags," he said.

After the inauguration, the couple met up with friends for lunch before attending the inaugural parade. Pearson said the security at the parade was similar but that the demeanor of the security personnel was definitely more intense.

"Security was a little more thorough, and people seemed more concerned. Probably because everyone was so much closer.

"The parade had a lot of military bands, but they also had a lot of tractors, which was something we weren't really expecting. That was kind of fun," Tiernan said.

Tiernan said that he had been prepared to be heckled by protestors, but that wasn't the case at all.

"Because of all the news reports, I expected more hoopla and figured there was a 50-50 chance that people would be in my face. I wasn't worried because I'm a huge human, but that wasn't the case at all. And there were thousands of police. You couldn't walk a block without seeing 20 officers. I felt very safe," he said.

Courtesy Photo

The inauguration ceremony ticket.

"We even walked around looking for riots and protesting groups. Most protestors were just quietly holding signs. The group that was causing damage was a very small group. We did walk by where they burned the limousine and the newspaper vending machine. It was actually very mellow. In my opinion, the news greatly exaggerated the situation," he added.

Tiernan said the experience was a positive one.

"It was a once-in-a-lifetime event and we were able to be in the right place at the right time and financially able to make it happen. We got to see history taking place right in front of us and were able to watch the whole inauguration process. It was fun to see all the places that you otherwise just see on TV. Seeing all the architecture was really the most awesome part to me," Tiernan said.

The couple looks forward to a return visit to D.C. when their daughters are a few years older and they can take more time to see the sights as a family.