Update Aug. 16: See video of the Obamas at the Grand Canyon here. Today at 6:30 pm eastern Obama will be in Grand Junction for a town hall but before that, the Obama family is taking in all the West has to offer, including a trip to Yellowstone. Tomorrow, they will visit the the Grand Canyon. At some point, they'll end up at Martha's Vineyard.
Can you imagine this sight? Secret Service agents must be going nuts:
And there they apparently were: FLOTUS, the first daughters and a string of Secret Service agents floating on large rafts down the river.
Obama said during his town hall that the first lady and his daughters were going white water rafting. The first lady's spokeswoman couldn't say specifically if those rafters were FLOTUS and crew, but she did confirm that Michelle Obama went white water rafting. Read more at Politico.
Obama catches lots of fish.
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The Obama family — the president, the first lady, Michelle Obama, and daughters Malia and Sasha — spent Friday night at a wooded lodge here in the mountains of Montana, then slipped off Saturday morning for a helicopter ride into Yellowstone National Park, where they landed in a clearing not far from the famous geyser, Old Faithful.
The White House had billed the trip as a private family visit, but a small pool of reporters and photographers was allowed to accompany the Obama party — including aides, park rangers, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Mr. Obama’s sister and brother-in-law, Maya Soetoro-Ng and Konrad Ng — to watch the geyser erupt.
“That’s pretty cool,” Mr. Obama was overheard saying at Old Faithful on Saturday, as the familiar scene of white steam and water shooting skyward played out before him, almost right on schedule, at 12:16 p.m. Mountain time. NYT
More from Politico:
The commander in chief came up empty handed in a Montana river, while his fly fishing partners — who serve under him in White House — reeled in rainbow trout. Gazing up while standing in the Wyoming swathe of Yellowstone, he quoted neighboring Montana’s saying to a park ranger: “That’s some Big Sky Country.”From Arizona Central:
The president also patiently mediated as his daughters hemmed and hawed over which flavor ice cream they wanted from the general store. And he offered his goofy dad commentary on the scenery.
“Oh!” Obama said, standing with his daughters in Yellowstone as Old Faithful belched into the air. “Look at that. That’s a geyser there.”
Obama mixed some business with his pleasure — holding two town hall meetings and delivering a speech Monday to Veterans of Foreign Wars.
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One of the most picturesque postcards of their vacation will be from the Grand Canyon.
The first family gazed out over Powell Point and Hopi Point along the South Rim of the canyon, overlooking red rock butte and the Colorado River.
Malia and 8-year-old Sasha, who are joined on the trip by their cousins, inquired about wildlife. A park ranger explained there were snakes, scorpions, elk and mountain lions. “Oh, man,” the ranger said the girls replied. “I don't want to see those.”
“The last time I was here is when I was 11 years old,” Obama told his family, who has probably heard the story a million times, as they posed for a photo.
The family peppered park rangers with questions about the canyon. “Malia had a good question, which is, the tops are so perfectly straight,” the president said. “Why is it, when everything was pushed up?” Politico
Authorities shut down the West Rim for the visit, during which the Obamas were expected to take two short hikes before heading back to Phoenix. Some Canyon guests expressed frustration at road closures and other inconveniences, but most didn't mind the imposition of the first family.
Pierre Theze, 46, of Switzerland, was making visit to the canyon, having booked his trip eight months ago. He didn't mind that his planned helicopter tour was canceled Sunday because of security reasons.
“I'm so excited. It's not disturbing — I think it's great,” Theze said. “Quite exciting.”
Joyce Rudofsky, 58, Parks, Ariz., and her husband, Neil, wanted to bicycle to West Rim but ran into a road block.
“I think it's the perfect place for him to take his family,” Joyce Rudofsky said.
Corinne Conley, 21, of Chicago, also had her personal Sunday canyon plans disrupted.
“It's kind of fun, but it is cramping my style,” she said. One tourist, 43-year-old Alexandra Wonderl from the Netherlands, identified herself as a member of “the Dutch Obama fan club.”
