Thursday, September 11, 2008
The motorcade!
One nagging fear that I had throughout the rally was that we hadn't asked where the buses were going to pick us up. As we made our way (very slowly) out of the venue we were told to line the street in front of the park and the buses would pick us up there. As we got close to the street a ripple of excitement went though the crowd and we started to see sets of motorcycle cops going by with their lights flashing. We quickly realized it was McCain's motorcade. I couldn't push my way to the road to see so I took several pictures holding my camera up over the crowd. I mostly got crap.

There was another burst of excitement when the bus, the Straight Talk Express, slowed down and stopped. The bus door opened and I think McCain may have stepped out. The secret service dudes were freaking out and the motorcycle cops were circling back to keep the crowds pushed back. Unfortunately the bus stopped right across from the protesters and they quickly ruined our fun. The bus door closed and the bus started easing past us. Cindy and John were right at the front of the bus waving at us as they went by. McCain passed about eight feet in front of me and do you think my camera got the shot? Hellz no.

After the motorcade left we quickly realized that Fairfax had problem. Actually it was more like a cluster****. There were thousands of people lining the street waiting for buses to take them back to the shopping center and there weren't but four buses. Within twenty minutes we realized that we were screwed. We might be waiting there all afternoon for a bus. We decided to try to walk. I asked a cop how far it was back to the mall where we had parked. First he gave me a look like I had a penis growing out of my head, then he told me that it was probably 2.5 to 3 miles. We decided to walk. We made it half a mile before deciding we needed lunch or at least a drink. The McDonald's was packed, the Pizza Hut turned out to be a Pizza Hut Express and every restaurant in the shopping center was full. We got drinks and sat for a minute on the sidewalk in front of Safeway.

I decided that walking under the given conditions was for the birds and I went in search of a phone book. The super-nice lady in the birdcage at Safeway gave me the number for the Yellow Cab company and we called a cab. Since all five of us wouldn't fit we decided to send two back to retrieve the truck and come back to pick us up. It took twenty minutes to get our cab (others had had the same idea) and it was an forty later that the truck was able to make it back to us to pick us up. By then Mickey D's was emptied out and we grabbed lunch and hit the road.

Secret Service dude, just like in the movies.


McCain's bus, the Straight Talk Express.

Written at 7:26 PM by Highlandgal.
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