A Day on Air Force One

I spent the day on the nation's bird, as a friend likes to call it. The rest of the world knows it by the name Air Force One. It wasn't a particularly exciting day but it could have been my last trip on AF1 with Mr. Bush so I thought I would document it somewhat. I'm not very good at multitasking in the sense when there's work to do, I can't snap pictures of it AND get the work done. Luckily today was a long day with not much news from our events so I had a little extra time on my hands.

We had two stops today- in Miami for a fundraiser and then a meeting with Cuban American leaders and then in Charleston, SC for another fundraiser on Kiawah Island. I worked for 12 hours today but it seemed more like two days!! We had three flights on AF1 and two helicopter movements and then about seven hours of sitting in vans or pool holds. And five meals. All of that can really make a girl tired. But I had a fun day! It was a smaller pool (not everyone is covering POTUS anymore) and we actually had a good time together.

We get to Andrews AFB about an hour before POTUS does. This is when we get swept by USSS and get situated on the plane before he gets there. This morning, POTUS had already made a big statement on the economy before he got to Andrews so most of the news had already been committed by the time he got to us. FLOTUS was with him when he arrived but she broke off and took her own plane somewhere and met back up with us later in the day. As they were getting off Marine One, FLOTUS was whispering sweet-nothings into POTUS's ear. It was actually pretty cute.

On the first flight- from Andrews to Miami- we had just enough time to eat lunch, watch Good Morning Vietnam (I didn't get to chose the movie!) and then of course we had a gaggle with Dana, the press secretary. That's when she comes back to our cabin and we have a mini-briefing off camera. There's a science to being able to balance your audio recorder, take notes and actually be able to hear what she's saying over the roar of the plane, all while balancing yourself during minor turbulence. I'm glad Dana is short like me because my arm doesn't get nearly as tired as it used to with Tony Snow or Scott McClellan. Then it's my job to ask questions, take notes, and then send them out to all the networks. The key is finding some sort of signal long enough to get the e-mail out before the plane lands. Oh but in more important news, lunch was pretty decent today- it was an open-faced turkey, tomato, alfalfa sprouts and cheese sandwich along with some macaroni salad, homemade potato chips, and small samples of three different cheesecakes.

We went to a neighborhood in Coral Gables, Florida where we hung out at a poolside clubhouse of a posh neighborhood for about 25 minutes. Then we sat in the vans waiting for a while. Then we went to a restaurant called "Havana Harry's" and sat in the vans while POTUS met with some Cuban American leaders. Then we went inside for approximately :45 seconds while POTUS talked about Cuban Americans. Gloria Estefan was not present. Neither was Ricky Martin. Then we sat in the vans and waited again. Finally we went back to the airport and got on AF1 again.

This leg of the trip was about an hour long. But that was enough time to get chips and a 7-layer bean dip and these chocolate cookie sandwiches with cream cheese in the middle. It was intensely good but I could only eat one!! We started watching the movie "Get Smart" which I decided was just as good without any audio.

We landed in SC at the Charleston AFB where POTUS and FLOTUS (who had joined us by this point) shook hands with some members of the military and their families. He also met with the Softball Little League World Champs who were from Simpsonville, SC. I wanted to tell him that that could have been me. I was on the All-Star softball team when I was 12 and at the peak of my athletic career. Of course my dad was the coach which might have had something to do with my place on the team. Anyway, I digress. Those girls were very happy to meet him and he posed for pictures for a while.

Then we got on a helicopter and flew over Charleston and to Kiawah Island. It was a pretty cool ride!! We landed a few moments before him so we waited for him to land and then had to run to the motorcade to drive to another fundraiser. We went to the Sanctuary of Kiawah Island which is a hotel that I will never ever be able to afford to stay at. It was beautiful and they served us dinner there. We hung out there for about 15 minutes before we went to wait in the vans for a while. At this point it began to pour so by the time we ran to the helicopters and then ran to AF1, I was definitely looking like a drowned rat. Thankfully, the barbeque chicken pizza and chocolate mousse for dinner on the plane helped me feel much better!

With the pool rotation and then the rotation between my co-producers at my network, that could easily be my last trip on AF1 for this administration. But it was a great day and I didn't mess anything up too badly so I count that as a success. The only things I didn't succeed in were getting more M&Ms from the plane and getting up to the cockpit to see my friend Denio who is one of the pilots. There are about 40 USSS agents and probably some anti-ballistic missiles that separate me from getting to go up to the cockpit to see him (not to mention POTUS's office and living space, etc.) As much as the Becky Protective Detail loves me (and I added another agent to my detail today!), there are some rules that they just won't break. I keep asking for a one-on-one interview with POTUS while we're on the plane but I just keep getting laughed at. I don't understand! :)