For much of his life, Albert Lean Dean Dahl considered himself a Democrat.

But then, a few elections ago, he said he started to disagree with the direction the party was headed and decided to switch parties.

He said he wasn’t sure about President Donald Trump at first; however, after seeing him at Target Center on Thursday in Minneapolis, all of his doubts have been alleviated.

“He loves America, and I love America and everybody in that auditorium loves America,” Dahl said. “He convinced 20,000 people that he’s here for them. He’s here for Minnesota.”

Dahl, who traveled to the event with his sister, Jamie Kirsch, and friend John Perschbacher, was among several area residents to attend the rally Thursday.

Dahl said it was his first time to see a U.S. president and he will remember the event as “one of the greatest days of my life.”

“It was such a great experience,” he said.

Dahl, Kirsch and Perschbacher left Albert Lea early Thursday morning and started standing in line at about 8:30 a.m. to get into Target Center, Kirsch said.

At that time, there were probably about 3,000 people in line, she said. Even that early, people were excited to be there.

“The energy was amazing,” she said.

She and her group talked with people in the line the majority of the day, getting to know their backgrounds, until the people in the line were allowed to start moving into the skywalk around 1:30 p.m.

Once inside the building, they went through security checks and then entered the arena at about 3:30 p.m. They were lucky enough to get spots on the floor about 30 feet away from the podium, where they waited a few more hours for the rally to begin.

There were a few speakers before Trump came out, including MyPillow inventor Mike Lindell, Eric Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. When the president came out, Kirsch said “everybody went crazy.”

“Signs were up, and he got a standing ovation for quite a long time,” she said.

Kirsch said her favorite part of the rally was when Trump invited members of the Minneapolis Police Department on stage with him.

“It showed that he really does support law enforcement,” she said.

Perschbacher, of rural Alden, said Trump showed his love for the United States during his speech.

“Donald Trump may be a little gruff or not politically correct, but you can tell he loves this country,” he said.

He applauded Trump’s views on immigration and the trade deals he has implemented and said he does not think Trump gets covered fairly in the news media.

“He’s fighting for us,” he said.

Though he needs a hip replacement and it was painful to attend the rally, Perschbacher called it the highlight of his life.

“I’ve always wanted to see a U.S. president,” he said.

The three area residents said in addition to seeing Trump, they enjoyed being around people with similar views.

“It was exhilarating talking to the people and seeing how much we had in common,” Dahl said. “It was unbelievable how nice everybody was. It was so relaxing to be around people from Minnesota who were there for the same reason I was — to make sure this guy was for real. And I’m convinced that he is.”