DUNMORE -- Thousands of people from northeastern and central Pennsylvania traveled to Philadelphia for Sunday's historic mass.
About 200 parishioners from the Diocese of Scranton gathered at Holy Cross High School in Dunmore for the bus trip of a lifetime.
"We're just so excited," said Wendy Ratchford of Scranton. "It's a chance of a lifetime. We're so excited. Can't wait to get there. Hopefully, we'll get to meet him. Hopefully."
Janet Salkoskas, of Tafton, and her sister Lynn were also among those making the trip.
"I don't have very high expectations about getting too close, but they say just being there in that environment, being surrounded by people of the same faith and mindset, is an uplifting experience." said Janet.
The journey from Dunmore to Philadelphia began with a prayer, and then it was off.
Four buses from here, dozens more carrying nearly 3,000 people from the Diocese of Scranton alone.
The ride to Philadelphia was surprisingly easy. The Schuylkill Expressway, notorious for its big city traffic, was empty, open only to buses ferrying the faithful to the event.
Many of the buses ended up at the stadium complex in south Philadelphia, where it's a four-mile trip north on the subway.
"Good, very organized," said Janet. "I'm actually very impressed with the city of Philadelphia. I never saw I-76 with no cars on it, so that was a sight to see."
But, the real sight to see was still ahead. Center city Philadelphia was a sea of humanity. Everyone tried to get to the Ben Franklin Parkway.
Lines at security checkpoints in center city stretched for blocks. Some people waited in line for hours.
Janet and Lynn tried three different checkpoint lines before finding one with a relatively short line.
By 2 p.m. on Sunday, about five and half hours after they left on a bus from Dunmore, the two ladies made it inside the secure area, just blocks from where his Holiness was to officiate a mass for a crowd expected to be more than a million people.
"I'm hoping for a very spiritual experience. I really am looking forward to an uplifting experience at this point. Good way to reconnect and feel blessed," said Janet.
Others hoping to see the mass were so backed up in the security lines, they just gave up and watched the mass on the big screen jumbotrons set up around the perimeter.