JOHNSTOWN -- Smiling and walking with a bounce in her step, Brianne Wain, rushed to meet up with the rest of the College Republicans.

In her left hand, she clutched a piece of paper with Sarah Palin's autograph.

"I'm so excited. She's awesome!" she said. "She was so down-to-earth. I don't know how to explain it, I'm so thrilled."

Wain, who said she would keep the autograph "forever" and likely frame it, was one of 10 members of the Penn State College Republicans that woke before dawn on Saturday to gather outside Osmond Lab.

While most of State College slept, they piled into two cars to make the nearly 90-mile journey to see Palin, Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate, address a crowd of thousands at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown.

David Frantz (junior-political science),

who was outside the lab before dawn, said

it was worth waking up early to see Sarah Palin.

"Absolutely," Frantz said. "I would've gotten up even earlier."

In Johnstown, across the street from the entrance of the arena normally home to the Johnstown Chiefs, dozens of protesters stood with signs in support of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. They chanted at the lines outside the arena as they waited to see Palin.

Frantz said the protesting "wasn't completely unexpected" and added Palin's son Track is fighting for their right to protest in Iraq.

Brendon Campbell (freshman-security and risk analysis) is a "big fan" of Palin, whom he calls "a real conservative," but said he has some problems with McCain.

"She's a true conservative and a true inspiration," Wain (freshman-biology) said over the music playing while the crowd waited for Palin's speech to begin. "I believe she'll do great things."

Before country music singer Aaron Tippin introduced Palin, he played a few songs, including "Drill Here, Drill Now" and "Kiss This," which he dedicated to Obama.

"If you talk the talk, you gotta walk the walk," Tippin said. "This lady talks the talk because she walks the walk."

Members of the College Republicans craned their necks to watch and to take photographs as Palin walked on stage, waving to sections of the boisterous crowd surrounding her. Some chanted "Sarah, Sarah" and "U. S. A." along with the crowd.

Behind her, supporters held up signs -- Hunters for Sarah, Mom of son with autism for Sarah, Steelers Fans 4 Palin, Girl Power -- in addition to the thousands of Country First signs scattered about the crowd that were given out before her speech.

The College Republicans and other audience members clapped as Palin talked about McCain's plan to freeze spending for everything but those programs that are most vital in order to combat the trillions of dollars of debt the United States has accrued. "We are going to get this economy back on track again," she said.

College Republicans and the surrounding crowd briefly interrupted Palin to chant "drill, baby, drill" as she addressed energy.

Palin, who was accompanied onstage by her daughters Willow and Piper and her son Trig, focused much of her speech on her anti-abortion stance.

"No one is above the law, and no one is below protection," Palin said.

Afterward, Frantz said he didn't expect the abortion part of her speech but that it was good to hear.

"Her stance on pro-life is unmatched," said Joe Ramagli (junior-journalism), vice chairman of Penn State Students for McCain. "I'd not heard her talk about her pro-life stance like she did."

Frantz said the speech was amazing.

"It makes me feel, for the first time, like I'm part of the process," he said.

After Palin's speech in Johnstown, her motorcade stopped at Way Fruit Farm in Port Matilda, just 11.5 miles from State College, en route to the University Park Airport.

Palin walked through a pumpkin patch at Way Fruit Farm to look through pumpkins with her daughter Piper. Secret Service flanked the pumpkin patch on all sides as community members and the College Republicans looked on.

Palin shook hands with several members of the crowd saying, "Hi guys, nice to see you."

Campbell, who was also present at the patch, said, "I think it just plays to the fact that she's just an average person."