Chilling with Air Force One

Once upon a time Julie decided to go to Washington D.C. It was February, and she had just visited D.C. at Christmastime. But she couldn't resist another excuse to go to one of her favorite cities.

And so she booked her ticket and packed her bag (sort of). And then, hours before she was scheduled to take off, she learned that someone with a lot more power than her was throwing a wrench in her plans.

His name was President Obama. And he was flying into the Peoria airport on a not-so-little airplane known as Air Force One at the exact moment when she was supposed to fly out of Peoria on a quite little airplane that has no special name.

So the second Julie got home from teaching, she threw whatever she could find into her bag, grabbed the sandwich Conservative Boy so kindly made her, and ran out the door in an attempt to race to Peoria before the roads closed.

Somehow, magically, she made it all the way to the airport exit. And then she drove in the opposite direction of the airport for about 30 seconds because a massive unmarked plane (probably carrying President Obama's armored vehicle) swooped over her head, so low it looked as if it were going to land on the road right in front of her, and she lost all conscious thought about which way she was supposed to be driving. Fortunately, no one was hurt in her confusion.

Apparently, the travel gods were smiling on her, because she made it to the airport without further incident and her plane was on time despite the madness about to descend.

Once it was supposed to be boarding time, Julie learned her plane would be delayed for an unmentionable reason. And so she stood in the tiny Peoria airport by the window and watched as helicopters flew overhead and people paced, hoping for a glimpse of something. Then that something came, in the form of Air Force One, dropping out of the sky seemingly out of nowhere (which is apparently how it always lands). She watched Air Force Once cruise by but it happened so quickly she wasn't able to get a photo. So then she found another window at the other end of the terminal where she could see the plane turning around and tried to take a photo (with her sad little digital camera that apparently doesn't have much of a zoom).

Unfortunately, there were a few obstacles in the way. But that's its tail, really.


When she got back to her gate, where you couldn't see Air Force One anymore, she found an interesting site.

Her fellow passengers were taking photos of the television, which was showing the President getting off the plane right on the other side of the window. And so she did what any sane person would do. She took a photo of the strange people taking photos.


Then, moments later, the caravan o' vehicles began.


Get out the magnifying glass and look really hard. Now guess which vehicle the President is in. No clue? It's OK, Julie didn't know either.

Once the exceptionally long and fast-moving caravan passed, life returned to normal. Shortly thereafter, Julie boarded her plane for Chicago and prayed she'd make her connection in O'Hare in time. And then, as they taxied out to the runway, Julie discovered her side of the plane was facing Air Force One. It was the perfect view. It was right there, right beside her, in all its giant glory, with United States of American emblazoned all along its side.

And the sun was strategically placed so that she couldn't even get a photo of it. Of course.