Story highlights Obama departed Friday afternoon for Palm Springs, California

He attended the inauguration ceremony at the Capitol and gave a farewell speech to supporters at Joint Base Andrews

Washington (CNN) Gliding toward Joint Base Andrews in his military helicopter Friday, Barack Obama watched a dramatically altered Washington recede from view, the work of his presidency now over and the future of his accomplishments uncertain.

Waving at a crowd gathered to witness his political and ideological opposite sworn into office, Obama revealed no apprehension at handing the most powerful job in the world to Donald Trump. His head cocked, there were no outward signs of hard feelings as Donald Trump derided his tenure during his inaugural address.

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But the differences with his successor were plain. The White House's final tweet under Obama was a photo of Obama hand-in-hand with Democratic Rep. John Lewis, the civil rights leader who Trump lambasted this week, walking down the Alabama bridge where Lewis was beaten by police in 1965.

And Obama previewed a return to public life when he was addressing members of his staff at Joint Base Andrews moments after Trump was sworn in.

"This is just a little pit stop," he said. "This is not a period, this is a comma in the continuing story."

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