Replies

LOL

Here is another account from someone in Yellowstone Montana. Granted any Presidential Motorcade is $$$$$$$$$$$$ not just Obama’s, but at the same time I don’t recall President Bush moving with such a huge entourage. Big yea, but he wasn’t taking date nights in NYC either...

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thank you for sharing... and please, share back my perspective of the visit that continued from there to here... and into Yellowstone park
we had helicopter fly overs, starting on Wednesday... sometimes 3, 4 or 5, at one point there were 11 (ELEVEN) helicopters here... flying over, mostly low flights, ‘checking things out’ over the park, forest service and surrounding areas
checking around, each one of those cost about $6500-$7500 just to TAKE off the ground! and another $800-$1,000.00 PER Mile to fly... from Bozeman to here is 90 miles... (they did not stay here until Friday - but flew back to ‘whence they came’.. possibly Bozeman again.... ) ONE day;’s take off is $71,500.00 in Tax $$$$$$$
AND they flew each of Wed, Thurs, Friday and then Saturday, started low flying checks at 7 AM
those helicopters were in addition to Air Force One plane... the Marine One Helicopter (for the Family - see below) and escorts, and let’s not forget the transport plane that brought in the ‘First Family’s SUV’ and ‘backup’ and Secret Service bullet proof cars as well....
in addition, flights ‘in the area’ (IE.. from north of Salt Lake to Billings MT, and from Boise ID to Gillette WY) were ‘delayed or rerouted’ for security.. but ‘customers were compensated for the necessary inconvenience’ — friends that were going to be here for a few days, planning to fly into here, were told they could not fly in until late Saturday after the family had left.. but were given flight vouchers and rental car vouchers..to the tune of almost $1,000. in credits!! to use in the next 2 years... how many other travelers were displaced and ‘compensated’???? what cost?????/?/
there were aprox 30 (35 by one count) cars rented for the ‘presidential motorcade’ -— not little ‘economy’ cars mind you.... 30 midsize cars times ‘fleet rate’ of $55/day x 3 days = $4950.00
there was a fishing excursion — including a trip over to Ted Turner’s ranch, in the Madison Valley on the way to Ennis (Hwy 287)... and the family stayed in Big Sky MT - Hwy 191 - at Huntley Lodge (originally put up by Chet Huntley years ago)... the lodge has 300 rooms... reservations are usually 2 years in advance... the gentleman I spoke to had reservations for 2 1/2 years, but was not miffed... said he was ‘WELL Compensated’ for the inconvenience... did not disclose an amount... but gee, rooms there average $170 a night... $170x300 rooms = $51,000.00 IF only that was given.. and sounds like MORE was.. that would not off set the ‘inconvenience’...
there were Forest service employees blocking off and watching roads in the forest, extra law enforcement from the area as well as the State patrol (I saw 8 officers) and Sheriff’s Dept and local as well... and pilot cars to bring us down hwy 191 past all the blocked and closed roads with the helicopters checking over head...
and the family came by motorcade down from Big sky to the airport... they met Airforce One here at the airport... the motorcade went into the park (one person said 42 vehicles) and the family was on Marine One helicopter with escorts ( what appeared to be armed Black hawks) and met the motorcade at a completely blocked off from the public Midway Geyser basin... where they entered the cars.. and were driven to the blocked from the public Old Faithful... some folks got pictures with long range lenses from the 500 or so yards away... and others waited by the sides of the road where they had been stopped.... (for 3 or more hours).. the family left in the motorcade, met the choppers, were flown back to our airport where they boarded Air Force One and flew to Grand Junction CO... (a total of maybe 2 1/2 hours was the ‘first family tour of yellowstone) the motorcade came back and according to pictures in the media, the people waved and waved along the way

we heard Marine one come back, heard Airforce One take off and a couple hours later, the transport plane and more helicopters...

then, they were here on the Park’s Free weekend... had more than one family that had come to see the park on Saturday... there were two sisters here that brought their kids from Idaho Falls to see Old Faithful their only ‘vacation’ of the year - they were detained so long that they had to go back for one of them to get to work as a night shift nurse.. what is the price of that disappointment??? the audacity of HYPE

gee for what was spent on ‘touring Yellowstone’ most of the west could have free medical care for the year!
i am outraged!!