As soon as Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert announced their rallies in D.C., my sister and I knew we had to get here. I’ve always been a big fan of their shows, mostly because they make me laugh on a daily basis, and everyone can use a laugh after a long day.

We decided to take a road trip from Chicago and set out on the 12-hour drive on Friday. It was an amazing day for a drive, and we felt a real camaraderie with all the other travelers we saw on the road with “Rally to Restore Sanity” or “March to Keep Fear Alive” posters on their cars. We honked at people with slogans on their windshields, and they were always excited to get a reaction from strangers on the road. We didn’t know what to expect from the event itself, but we knew that whatever happened, it would be a fun experience.

My sister, my cousin and I set out on Saturday morning from Arlington, Va. to catch the Metro into D.C., but we soon realized that wouldn’t be an easy task. The line snaked up the escalator with people waiting to purchase tickets. We quickly switched game plans and asked my cousin’s husband to drive us as far as he could without getting stuck in traffic. It was a pleasant surprise to see that there was absolutely no traffic in town because everyone decided to use public transport.

The crowds were, as expected, huge, but everyone was in a great mood. Even though there were moments where we were stuck in between people and literally could not move even a few feet, people were calm and very rational. It spoke well to a rally promoting sanity.

The biggest thing I took away from the experience was how nice people can really be. I didn’t hear any cross words, and everyone handled the long waits with patience. Everyone was in a sharing mood, and there were a lot of “pleases” and “thank yous” as people made their way through the masses of people.

Crowd-watching was also amusing: People were dressed up in costume and had creative signs. One guy was dressed as Waldo and held up a placard that said: “Where am I?”

There were political viewpoints on posters and others that were simply funny, but the common denominator was that people were there to have a good time and be rational. There was no anger. There were no outrageous statements.

When the event began with a performance by The Roots and John Legend, finding a spot with a view was nearly impossible, but people were great at improvising. Many people climbed up trees and others found spots on top of port-a-potties and garbage bins.

The rally itself was like an extended version of “The Daily Show” or “The Colbert Report.” There were the usual jokes and political commentary. It was a VERY pleasant surprise when Yusuf Islam came onto stage to sing “Peace Train” (before he was knocked off by Ozzie Osbourne in an extended songs-with-the-word-“train” skit).

Although the event was never supposed to be taken all that seriously, Stewart and Colbert did have an interesting discussion about fear and sanity in their “formidable opponent” segment. It was heartening when Stewart mentioned the fact that there are 1.5 billion Muslims in the world and the crowd starting cheering just at those words. He didn’t even have to mention that there are Muslims who aren’t terrorists to gather a reaction, although he did make that distinction later.

“The inability to distinguish terrorists from Muslims makes us less safe, not more,” he said.

He also closed with words of true sincerity about the state of the world and what he was trying to achieve with the event, namely that the majority of America consists of normal people who have varying viewpoints that don’t fit in with the extremes.

“If we amplify everything, we hear nothing,” he said.

In the wake of the rally, I’ve been reading plenty of news analysis about why the event was held and what it meant. There has also been plenty of talk about what Stewart said about the role of the media and other criticism that was doled out.

But that’s not what I’m going to take away from this. Anyone who watches Stewart and Colbert on TV already knows what they’re all about. They didn’t stray much from that message. Sure, it was delivered in a different way, but they advocated for what they’ve always talked about.

For me, this was just a nice reprieve from all the political rhetoric and arguing that has been building up with the contentious Midterm elections nearing. I’m frankly sick of hearing about how Muslims are horrible, how anybody who has a liberal viewpoint will end up in hell and all the other hateful discussion that tear people apart.

This was a day spent around interesting people who were more than ready to get along. It was a great feeling, and that’s what I’ll remember most whenever I look back on the rally.