Teenage Politics.....Too confusing..

So I took a little trip this morning out to Lancaster Airport. My main man dubbya was coming to town to say a few words. I missed him last week, but was determined to catch him this week. He was initially supposed to speak at 9:20 which would have been awesome cuz I only would have had to miss maybe three hours of work. However, they slid his arrival time back to 11:15. Because of the change, I had until 9:30 to be at the airport. I got off of 283 at about 7:55 and with only about six miles to go, I was feelin' pretty good. Then I hit the wall. Not literally of course, but figuratively. With about five miles, to go, I hit the traffic. It was now 8:00 am. It would take me 90 minutes to make it the next five miles. That's an eighteen minute mile. Traffic was abominable. Hershey was probably easy because you have two lanes going each way on Hersheypark Drive and 322 is the same. Not so around the airport. It was one lane each way after I got off of 283. People were actually parking their cars along the road and getting out and walking to the airport (over a mile in some cases).

I actually arrived at the airport right around 9:30. I promptly got parked in by Manheim's finest, who were directing traffic and parking. I walked to security, only to realize I had forgotten my ticket and photo ID (which it turns out I didn't even need). So I walked back to the car to get that stuff. By the time I got back to security it was just before 10:00 am. They did not actually close things down until around 10:30. I got through security with the hand-wanding and made my way to the viewing area. Compared to Hershey, it was a lot more informal. There were probably only about 300 or so seats (if that) down in front, and everything else was SRO (standing room only). I walked around to sample the flavor of the crowd. Youngsters, oldsters, Amish folks, entire classes of children, guys wearing suits, guys wearing trucker hats and a bunch of other people. As I stop and think about it (and I shouldn't be suprised), but I didn't see any people of color (black, hispanic, asian, etc..). But these folks were eclectic none the less.

I snapped a few photos here in there and looked around for a good placard. I was looking for just a plain GWB placard, but all I could find were "Seniors for Bush" and "Veterans for Bush." So I decided to get myself near the barrier nearest the runway. Had to get a picture of "da plane, da plane!" When the plane started it's descent, all eyes turned to the left and hands pointed up (just like in the Superman movies). I was able to get a few pics of Air Force One, but it was difficult because everyone, their mother, and their children were holding up placards. While the folks in my area waited for the stairs to be parked next to the plane and for the Prez to exit and wave to the crowd, I headed to another part of the viewing area to see if I could get a view of the stage.

I found a very narrow sight line to the stage and hung out there for the introduction (by Rick Santorum). George and Laura hit the stage, and who should be with them but good ol' Zell Miller. I was so hoping that he would say a few words, but no such luck. I tried to get a couple of photos of Dubbya through the waiving placards, but I'm not sure if I was successful. I left my spot shortly thereafter, to wander through the crowd. I listened to the speech for maybe another ten minutes before I started heading towards the exit. I continued to listen by the exit when I noticed a bunch of people leaving. I was suprised because I didn't think you were allowed to leave until the Prez had left the premises. But then I was excited because I wanted to get back to work as soon as possible and I certainly did not want to sit in any more traffic. So I bailed. I could hear the President as I walked out to the car. This time, it only took me ten minutes to get to 283.

So it was good. The traffic was bad, but seeing the Prez and all the people was good. I'm hoping that Mr. Kerry will stop by the burg this weekend so I can check out that crowd too.