Gov. Sarah Palin arrived home to a chanting, cheering crowd, a blur of smiling supporters eager to embrace her after a whirlwind of national scrutiny since she was named Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate.

McCain, meanwhile, got a rough reception campaigning alone in Philadelphia Wednesday, as supporters of Barack Obama forced him to cut short a campaign appearance.

"It's been an amazing couple of weeks," Palin told the crowd of more than 2,000 gathered inside an airport hangar on Fairbanks on Wednesday. They chanted, "Sarah, Sarah" and waved signs that said, "Palin is great."

The governor's trip coincides with a ceremony to send off a unit of the Alaska National Guard to Iraq. The unit includes her son,

The governor is also to sit down for her first major interview with the news media while she's home, with Charles Gibson of ABC News. Palin has not done interviews since the first and only one she gave to People magazine on the day McCain introduced her as his vice presidential choice. This is Palin's first venture away from McCain and his advisers, although several of the campaign's staff accompanied her to Alaska. She did not interact with reporters during the flight.

As she prepares, reporters already in Alaska are finding out more about the relative newcomer to national politics.

Palin routinely claims to have put an end to Alaska's infamous "bridge to nowhere," even though she supported the project during her gubernatorial campaign and turned against it only when it became a national embarrassment and Congress threatened to cut its funding.

Palin has claimed that she put the governor's jet on the Internet auction site eBay, and McCain has said it was sold at a profit. However, the jet was never sold via eBay.

And Palin said she eliminated the governor's chef from the state budget, yet she gave the person another job in state government.

Palin offered the crowd much of the same campaign speech she's given since McCain named her to the GOP ticket on Aug. 29. She received the loudest bursts of applause when promising to push for drilling in this oil-rich state.

"Our state, Alaska, will be a leader in our nation's energy policy and bring us one step closer to energy independence," she told the audience.

"I can't wait to introduce you to John McCain," she said. "He's a friend of Alaska."

Meanwhile, in Palin's hometown of Wasilla, Alaska, a small group of supporters of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama marched up and down a highway, chanting slogans and holding signs that said "8 years is enough" and "Obama! Believe." Palin was mayor of the town of about 7,000 residents from 1996-2002. Some drivers honked and waved in support of Obama; others stopped and yelled "Sarah!"

Meanwhile, McCain made a solo trip for a round-table discussion with half a dozen female business leaders at the Down Home Diner in Philadelphia. The appearance, inside a bustling indoor downtown marketplace, formed a sharp contrast with the earlier joint show, as the arrival of both McCain's bus outside and him inside was greeted by loud Obama crowds.

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The Republican could barely be heard over the Obama cheers by the women he met, or by reporters when McCain made a statement after.

"Pennsylvania is a battleground state, as we can tell," he said with a small smile.

The Republican ticket has been basking in the enthusiasm of large campaign rallies as it has traveled the country after the Republican National Convention. McCain's Philadelphia stop was his first without Palin by his side.