Carson High School students preparing for inauguration

Editor's note: Teri Vance is Washington, D.C., for the inauguration. She continues to blog from the nation's capital.

WASHINGTON, D.C. " The group of Carson High School students who came to the nation's capital for the inauguration of Barack Obama have had a couple of close encounters with the president-elect.

They arrived on Saturday and were at Union Station when Obama's train arrived from Philadelphia. Obama never entered the station, however, instead entering with his motorcade and leaving from the back.

Sunday morning, the students arrived at Arlington National Cemetery just as the future president was driving away.

"He waved at us, though," said Mackena Bell, 18, a Carson High School graduate.

The students braced against temperatures in the 20s to tour historic monuments Saturday night and the cemetery Sunday morning.

At noon, they watched the changing of the guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which Brandon Patterson, 16, said was his favorite part of the trip.

He visited the city once before on a school-sponsored trip in the eighth-grade.

"There's a lot more people and bleachers and port-a-potties," he said. "Other than that, it's pretty much the same."

The city is preparing for an estimated crowd of 2 million during Tuesday's inauguration.

According to one report, there will be 5,000 port-a-potties set up.

"This is the largest temporary restroom event in the history of the United States," Conrad Harrell, of port-a-potty toilet supplier Don's Johns, told the Associated Press.

Michael McSweeney, 17, also toured D.C. as an eighth-grader, but is noticing a difference this time.

"Everybody seems pretty pumped up wherever you go," he said. "Everybody's wearing Obama stuff. There's definitely a lot of positive energy."

Angila Golik, the history and government teacher who organized the trip, said she was impressed with the spirit in Washington, D.C.

"Everywhere you go you see these signs hanging that say 'hope,' and 'thank you' and 'welcome,' " she said.

She took a picture of a sign hanging on a building that read, "Welcome Sasha and Malia."

While the 14 students and four chaperones were at Arlington, they also were able to place a wreath on the Challenger memorial dedicated to those who lost their lives when the space shuttle exploded on Jan. 28, 1986.

They drew names to determine who would actually place the wreath, and chaperone Lou Holland was selected.

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"It holds special significance to me," he said. "I was in the aerospace industry at the time. I remember the day very well."

The students plan to travel to Mount Vernon today and then visit the Smithsonian Complex. On Tuesday, the students will meet early in the morning to attend the inauguration.

Kristin Holland, 17, is looking forward to seeing Obama sworn in as the nation's first black president.

"I'm glad I get to carry that memory with me," she said.