John McCain & Sarah Palin's first campaign stop after last night's convention was in lovely Cedarburg, Wisconsin. It's only about two hours away from me, so I thought I'd make the trip & snap some pictures.

Unfortunately, someone in the campaign grossly underestimated the appeal of being first, and so instead of getting some great shots of the potential President and his running mate, I was stuck in this line for over two hours:

I was one of the last people to make it through the metal detectors and onto to "McCain Street". I arrived just in time to listen (but not see) Palin & McCain basically rehash their convention speeches. How disappointing. I realize that politicians give a basic stump speech, but I didn't realize it was almost exactly the same as their nomination speech. The dynamic duo (well, okay Palin is...) didn't stray too far from the text and really offered nothing in specifics in terms of either policy or for the people of Wisconsin. Here was my view of some Secret Service agents on the roof and the bleachers where the media got to hang out.

So, without seeing the candidates or hearing anything new, I pretty much entertained myself by taking pictures of other people in line. One note - there were almost no Obama supporters at the event. Maybe they were afraid of the bitter people of small town Wisconsin? There were, however, tons of kids. These were two of my favorites:

The other side of the hockey kid's sign said "My Dad thinks you're hot". Ladies & gentlemen, the pursuit of love recognizes no political barriers.

Finally, here's a lovely flower picture from the sidewalk to brighten your weekend.