POTUS Bus!

President Obama in downtown Boone, October 17, 2011
Photo courtesy of High Country Press

Yesterday was such a surreal day. I heard rumors that the President would be driving through town on his bus tour after leaving Asheville and on his way to Wilkes County. Here's the series of serendipidous events: First, I met my Ex, Fred, and his friend Lynn at Woodlands Barbeque in Blowing Rock for lunch and we jokingly speculated that maybe the Prez would stop and have lunch with us. The man loves Barbeque, after all. When we finished eating we were not allowed to leave because the road was closed.

There was a policeman directing all cars that were on the road into the parking lot next door, telling them that the road was closed by order of the Secret Service. (And, as a side note, this policeman happens to be one of my neighbors.) At one point a car tried to leave and I heard Stacy say to him "If you want to go to JAIL, just try leaving this parking lot!"

And then...

Finally... here was the big black bus! Our first clue was a group of State Trooper motorcycles followed by several State Trooper SUVs, all with lights flashing.

And, then he was gone. It took about an hour to get home from there, with several detours. First, I tried to come home on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but traffic was not moving, so after waiting forever I turned around and took the main road back into Boone. I tried to go the back way to Deep Gap, got stuck again, turned around again, found another back road and when I was within 2 miles of home the road was closed again. Because, guess what? Here came the big black bus again!

Apparently, while I was stuck in traffic all over the county, the President went to Mast Store in downtown Boone. I happened to catch him again on his way to Wilkes County.

It was a thrilling, but exhausting afternoon. I'm grateful that we decided to get lunch where we did and that I had my camera with me. I don't care what your politics are, it's exciting to be able to say you saw the motorcade for the President of the United States go by. You can read Fred's rendition of the day here.