I have many fond memories of various field trips in elementary through high school to various locations. I can't remember all the places we went but I do remember how we got there. It always involved a charter bus. My mom would pack a lunch and/or snack and my entire class would get on a bus and drive some ridiculous distance for whatever fun activity. In junior high, we rode a bus to Canada and somehow I still look back on that trip with fond memories.
Fast forward to this week, and I find myself once again on a chartered bus but this time, it's with my colleagues from the White House press corps and we are driving around North Carolina and Virginia and we are following/chasing POTUS to cover him talking about the jobs act.
***For the record, the main reason I agreed to go was in the hopes that the bus tour would essentially turn into a "see Becky's family tour"as the bus winded through Roanoke and the rest of the wonderful commonwealth of Virginia. POTUS didn't end up in the 'Noke but I did get to see several friends!! We didn't stop at every stop that POTUS did. Many times we were going ahead of them to beat him to the locations of his big speeches.
We started out the bus tour by flying to Asheville, NC for a rally at the airport. Flying into the area reminded me a lot like the 'Noke with the mountains and the leaves beginning to change. The event was outside with several hundred people waiting the arrival of Air Force One. Yes, I realize this was a bus trip but he had to get to NC in some fashion. It's not often that we are that close to watching AF1 land. Usually, I'm either actually on the plane or we are already waiting for him in the workspace. This time, our workspace was right there so we got to see that enormous plane land. I don't think when I'm on AF1, I really have a concept of how big that plane is!
Anyway, the highlight of that first stop was not POTUS (we see him all the time of course!) but the food. We had a restaurant providing food that was perhaps the best food I've ever eaten. Luckily, I had passed up the first two breakfasts offered on the plane and so I was fully ready to eat when we got there. And I'm so glad I waited. The food by Tupelo Honey Cafe was awesome. I can still remember how great the sweet potato pancakes, goat-cheese grits, the stuffed blueberry french toast, etc. taste.
I'm glad we started the trip off with that positive experience because after that, it was just a lot of work and a lot of riding on a bus. Our first ride on the bus was from Asheville to Millers Creek, NC. At this point, I still had a positive attitude about the bus trip. It was a pretty ride. They had passed peanut butter crackers around the bus. I didn't have to share my row with anyone. Life was fine. It was still Day One.
We ended up at the West Wilkes High School where the second scheduled event of the day was held. This time it was in a sweaty, crowded gym where the temperature was approximately 152 degrees. I didn't stay in there very long because I couldn't breathe. After seeing several people pass out due to the heat and stuffy conditions, I decided to watch the rest of it from our workspace in the auxiliary gym.
The highlight of this stop was that I got to see some of my dear friends, John and Jenny. I have known them since I was about 12 and I was their kids' babysitter when I was in high school. They are dear, wonderful, awesome people who have a contagious joy. They moved to NC a few years ago but they are the kind of people that whenever I see them, I leave my time with them with a joyful, optimistic spirit. We got to hang out for about 45 minutes because we stayed behind POTUS to file stories. While we were waiting for the other networks to finish up their work, we got to have a quick bite to eat and chat and catch up. Jenny prayed for me and my colleagues and I'm telling you, it was like a mini-revival!! I just love them!!! 
After that, we got back on the bus and headed to Greensboro, NC to spend the night. This ride wasn't all that great because it was dark and seemed to go on forever but eventually we got there and had a good night's sleep.
The next morning, we got up and went to the local YMCA in Jamestown, NC. Our workspace was surrounded by weight machines and treadmills. I almost felt guilty in eating the oatmeal for breakfast! POTUS gave the same spiel about the Jobs Act. People cheered. Music played. POTUS shook hands. It was very much the routine of an event.
Except this time we had to load up the buses as he was shaking hands. So we hopped on the bus yet again and quickly took off for Emporia, Virginia. We were trying to avoid being in traffic that was stopped due to his motorcade so there was a lot of hurrying.
When we got to Emporia, we went to the second high school in two days- this time to Greenville County High School. I'd like to say there was something unique about this stop but really after a while, they all sounded and looked the same. We were in the gym with a bunch of other people who were cheering for POTUS. The best part of this stop was that I ran into my friend Bob G. right there in Classroom 105! I met Bob when I was an intern at the local NBC affiliate when I was in high school and he was in college. And then we meet up again covering POTUS in rural Virginia! It's a small world after all!!
Fast forward to this week, and I find myself once again on a chartered bus but this time, it's with my colleagues from the White House press corps and we are driving around North Carolina and Virginia and we are following/chasing POTUS to cover him talking about the jobs act.
***For the record, the main reason I agreed to go was in the hopes that the bus tour would essentially turn into a "see Becky's family tour"as the bus winded through Roanoke and the rest of the wonderful commonwealth of Virginia. POTUS didn't end up in the 'Noke but I did get to see several friends!! We didn't stop at every stop that POTUS did. Many times we were going ahead of them to beat him to the locations of his big speeches.
We started out the bus tour by flying to Asheville, NC for a rally at the airport. Flying into the area reminded me a lot like the 'Noke with the mountains and the leaves beginning to change. The event was outside with several hundred people waiting the arrival of Air Force One. Yes, I realize this was a bus trip but he had to get to NC in some fashion. It's not often that we are that close to watching AF1 land. Usually, I'm either actually on the plane or we are already waiting for him in the workspace. This time, our workspace was right there so we got to see that enormous plane land. I don't think when I'm on AF1, I really have a concept of how big that plane is!
Anyway, the highlight of that first stop was not POTUS (we see him all the time of course!) but the food. We had a restaurant providing food that was perhaps the best food I've ever eaten. Luckily, I had passed up the first two breakfasts offered on the plane and so I was fully ready to eat when we got there. And I'm so glad I waited. The food by Tupelo Honey Cafe was awesome. I can still remember how great the sweet potato pancakes, goat-cheese grits, the stuffed blueberry french toast, etc. taste.I'm glad we started the trip off with that positive experience because after that, it was just a lot of work and a lot of riding on a bus. Our first ride on the bus was from Asheville to Millers Creek, NC. At this point, I still had a positive attitude about the bus trip. It was a pretty ride. They had passed peanut butter crackers around the bus. I didn't have to share my row with anyone. Life was fine. It was still Day One.
We ended up at the West Wilkes High School where the second scheduled event of the day was held. This time it was in a sweaty, crowded gym where the temperature was approximately 152 degrees. I didn't stay in there very long because I couldn't breathe. After seeing several people pass out due to the heat and stuffy conditions, I decided to watch the rest of it from our workspace in the auxiliary gym.
The highlight of this stop was that I got to see some of my dear friends, John and Jenny. I have known them since I was about 12 and I was their kids' babysitter when I was in high school. They are dear, wonderful, awesome people who have a contagious joy. They moved to NC a few years ago but they are the kind of people that whenever I see them, I leave my time with them with a joyful, optimistic spirit. We got to hang out for about 45 minutes because we stayed behind POTUS to file stories. While we were waiting for the other networks to finish up their work, we got to have a quick bite to eat and chat and catch up. Jenny prayed for me and my colleagues and I'm telling you, it was like a mini-revival!! I just love them!!! After that, we got back on the bus and headed to Greensboro, NC to spend the night. This ride wasn't all that great because it was dark and seemed to go on forever but eventually we got there and had a good night's sleep.The next morning, we got up and went to the local YMCA in Jamestown, NC. Our workspace was surrounded by weight machines and treadmills. I almost felt guilty in eating the oatmeal for breakfast! POTUS gave the same spiel about the Jobs Act. People cheered. Music played. POTUS shook hands. It was very much the routine of an event.
Except this time we had to load up the buses as he was shaking hands. So we hopped on the bus yet again and quickly took off for Emporia, Virginia. We were trying to avoid being in traffic that was stopped due to his motorcade so there was a lot of hurrying.When we got to Emporia, we went to the second high school in two days- this time to Greenville County High School. I'd like to say there was something unique about this stop but really after a while, they all sounded and looked the same. We were in the gym with a bunch of other people who were cheering for POTUS. The best part of this stop was that I ran into my friend Bob G. right there in Classroom 105! I met Bob when I was an intern at the local NBC affiliate when I was in high school and he was in college. And then we meet up again covering POTUS in rural Virginia! It's a small world after all!!
We repeated the rigmarole and boarded the buses yet again and rode through the darkness of rural Virginia towards Hampton, Virginia. We woke up to Day Three which was more of the same except I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I really don't mean to complain but the novelty of a bus tour was completely gone by this point.The first event of Wednesday was on an Air Force Base where FLOTUS joined POTUS to announce that a big group of corporations were promising to hire veterans and their spouses. It was in a hangar on base and really loud with patriotic music blaring before the festivities began. I am always proud to be an American and it was really patriotic but I'm pretty sure I lost a little of my hearing in that hangar.
After that stop, we quickly loaded up the buses and headed west to the south of Richmond where we went to a fire station to talk more about the Jobs Act.
At this point, he could have been talking about aliens taking over the earth. It was taking every ounce of me to keep focused on work. I was just looking forward to going home. I'll be honest. I was a little bus sick. Not motion sick. Just sick of the bus. Luckily, I don't think it will take long for me to recover and hopefully the next time there's a bus trip, I'll revert back to my attitude from Day One of the trip. Especially if there are sweet potato pancakes involved! 
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