Ron Nilson equated attending Friday's presidential inauguration to the Super Bowl of politics.

"It's one of those dreams," said the CEO of mining equipment manufacturer Ground Force Worldwide in Post Falls moments after watching President Donald J. Trump be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States.

Nilson attended the ceremony on the mall of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., with Randy Oaks, president of 3 Acorn Insurance in Post Falls; Paul Finman, owner of LCF Enterprises in Post Falls; and Erik Finman, Paul's 18-year-old son.

While making their way through the masses after Trump's inaugural address to a gathering hosted by Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, the group bumped into former Kootenai County Commissioner Dan Green, who was visiting his son, Ryan, in the nation's capital and also took in the ceremony.

Erik Finman said attending the inauguration rejuvenated him about the future of the country.

"Just seeing the future and how it's going to turn out is incredible," said Finman, who was named one of Time magazine’s 25 most influential teens of 2014 for turning $1,000 into $100,000 by investing in Bitcoin digital currency.

"Trump has brought new life to this country. He's so good about getting people excited about the future."

Finman said he's looking forward to change under Trump.

"He's not too left and not too right, and I believe he'll make the best decisions for America," he said.

Finman said he was somewhat surprised to be joined by so many other young people at the inauguration of a Republican president.

Oaks said he was "taken aback" but admired the tough tone of Trump's speech. Trump said the "American carnage" of recent crime and drug trends needs to stop immediately.

"Over the years you get conditioned to blanket statements (from politicians)," Oaks said. "He was very direct on what he wants to accomplish, and the crowd ate it up."

Oaks said he thought there would be a stronger protest presence than what there was.

"We've seen protests here and there," he said. "It got rough in a couple areas (Thursday night), but the protests seem to be isolated."

Nilson, who was about 100 yards from where Trump spoke, said the energy was evident during the celebration of democracy.

"The biggest transfer of power is not from Obama to Trump, but the transfer of power coming back to the people," he said. "Empowering the people and making sure people have a more active say is the biggest thing that's happened in my lifetime."

Green, who received a ticket to the ceremony through Labrador's office, watched from a standing-only area.

"This is a long way from Idaho and I'm excited to be here and take it all in," he said. "I look forward to change in the way Washington works — if that can be done. Washington has been unresponsive to many Americans."