When President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden take their historic train ride from Philadelphia to Washington D.C. on January 17th, they will be riding in the company of everyday Americans who have been invited to make the journey based off their extraordinary stories. This is one of those stories.

Mark Dowell is a second-generation Ford Motors employee.  He and his wife Melinda both work at the Ford plant in Louisville, Kentucky, a few miles from their town.  He’s a University of Kentucky fan, while she roots for Louisville.

The Dowells live in Crestwood, a small rural community, less than four miles square, with a few thousand residents.  It was the highest ranked city in Kentucky on a recent list of the “Best Places to Live in America.“  Yet despite their homey surroundings, 2008 was a turbulent year for the Dowells, just as it was for millions of Americans.

Melinda lost her job early in the summer and was called back to work just three weeks ago, after six months of unemployment.  They are among the thousands of Ford employees coping with rotating layoffs and the possible shutdown of the local plant.

Yet, despite these challenges, Mark is hopeful about the next four years:

The economy took a toll not just on me but on my extended family too.  But this is definitely the man that can get us back on track.

Mark, Melinda and their two daughters will have the experience of a lifetime, as they join the President-elect and Vice President-elect on the train ride to our nation’s capital.

Says Mark:

We’re still stunned by it.  I’m very honored to meet the President-elect and Vice President-elect, and to be a part of history right as it’s taking place.  To ride the train into Washington, D.C. with them is really an honor.

The Dowells will join a number of other guests invited by the President-elect and Vice President-elect which together represent the diversity of our country and the different life experience of the Americans who make up our great country.