Bush Legacy Tour

Day 3 Tuesday-Our day today began at 4am. We managed to snag an amazing parking spot inside the security perimeter right in front of the Pepsi center. Paul, a friend of the bus both sold his soul to the devil and a kidney to get us the spot.  The catch was that we needed to get to the security check point by 5am. We headed into the gated area where we were all individually x-rayed and the entire bus went under a giant x-ray machine. It felt clandestine like we were exchanging stolen goods in the early morning. We stood and watched every single inch of the bus get inspected. They were incredibly thorough. They even opened every single door in our environment exhibit. We had several of the secret service and bomb squad agents come over to us and say discreetly, “I really like your bus.” We then were escorted by following a truck into the Pepsi center. We had to stay within the security “bubble” the whole time, if we had gotten lost following the truck we would’ve had to do the entire process all over again! I took photos of the entire process but one of the secret service politely came over towards the end and asked me if I had taken pictures. I sheepishly said, “Yes” and he asked me to erase all of them.

Two hours later we were in place in front of the Pepsi center. Little did we know going in we would have a famous neighbor in the parking lot. The Daily Show had their Indecision 2008 bus parked right next to ours. We had the pleasure of watching correspondents Rob Riggle and Jason Jones go in and out all day.  Anderson Copper even came over to do a skit with the crew. We chatted with the producers and camera guys and tried to talk them into featuring the bus in a skit. It   was to no avail as they had a very tight schedule. One cameraman did say that when we pulled into the parking spot we were very close to a huge line of port-a-potties and he got a shot of “The Bush Legacy” part of the bus appearing to back into the toilets. He felt that this was a fairly appropriate image considering how much his legacy really is in the toilet.  He submitted it to the producers and we hope to have at least made it in a background shot.

We spent most of the day showing the press and convention attendees the bus and taking turns going in and out of the convention center.  The occasional celebrity would walk by but they were so heavily escorted in and out of the Pepsi Center that our pleas to “Come check out the Bush Legacy Bus” were typically met with annoyed glances from bodyguards and secret service agents. Suffice to say, Charles Barkley was unable to come out and see the Bush Legacy Bus.

The reaction to the bus was extremely positive. Everyone thought it was a great idea and wanted to know when it was coming to their town.  The excitement of what was happening inside the Pepsi center was palpable and everyone was riled up.