Guess who flew into Albany today? If you are reading this in the UK you probably have no idea, but here's a clue - he has his own plane, and it's BIG.
President Obama came to town! Oh yes! Though not strictly to Albany. He had a speaking engagement across the river in Troy at the Hudson Valley Community College. For some reason he made his speech in a mechanics' garage, but that's by the by.
So anyway, purely for your benefit I took myself off to the airport this morning to see what I could see. First I saw a lot of retired people who had come along for the show. Several had brought their knitting for the wait, which was sensible. Later on we were joined by a woman with a toddler who had just come to plane spot and didn't even know the President was expected.
After about an hour and quarter, a plane landed. But it was an American Airlines one, so that wasn't what we wanted. Some secret service men took up position on top of a cherry-picker. A woman with a pair of binoculars told us one of them was rather cute.
Then Airforce 1 came into view, and as it descended to land there was an intake of breath all round as we saw just how very huge it was. It rumbled past, then turned round and parked. The press corps exited from the tradesmen's entrance, then the steps were wheeled to the front, and we waited some more and then...
That's him in the middle. Yes, I know it's a rubbish photo, but it's entirely representative of what I actually saw, so it stands as a true record. 
As the plane was landing the woman next to me exclaimed, "My spine is tingling! Can you believe it? It's our President!" and I felt touched by her awe and delight. Presidents don't often come to the Capital District. Though in the end it was all a bit of a blur, seeing him arrive today was way cool.
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