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By the way, here’s a complete article on George W. and Laura Bush’s trip to the Adirondack mountains I first mentioned about on Monday (please see post 357)

By Jessica Collier and Chris Knight, Enterprise Staff writers

SARANAC LAKE - Former President George W. Bush and Former First Lady Laura Bush were in Adirondacks over the weekend for a little rest and relaxation.

The couple spent several days at Camp Topridge on the Upper St. Regis Lake, according to Harlan Crow, the Texas real estate mogul who owns the camp. He described it as a “private visit.”

“President and Mrs. Bush, along with other friends, did visit my wife and family and me for a few days at Camp Topridge over the course of the past few days,” Crow told the Enterprise from the Dallas, Texas office of his Crow Holdings on Tuesday. “Our families are longtime friends, and we were just glad to be able to welcome him to the Adirondacks.”

Kendra Ormerod, a naturalist with The Wild Center who was leading a bird walk Saturday morning on Bloomingdale Bog Trail, was one of several locals who spotted the former president out and about on his visit.

Ormerod said that when she and her group of about nine met up at the south end of the trail, north of Saranac Lake off state Route 86, there were a number of large, black sport-utility vehicles parked there. Security personnel told them they may meet a few bikers coming along the path, “so were thinking, ‘Hm, somebody famous is coming,’” Ormerod said.

“George W. was the first one, and he said, ‘Good morning,’ and smiled at us,” Ormerod said.

Ormerod said she didn’t have a question about who it was.

“He’s very recognizable, and he was the first one, so we didn’t have am obstructed view of him,” Ormerod said. “it was very clear that it was him.”

Once they recognized Bush, Ormerod said they looked through the rest of the men, who were all about Bush’s age or younger, for other people in the group who they might recognize, but there were none.

The bikers rode by, then must have done a U-turn at the end of the trail, Ormerod said, because they came back after a bit. As he rode by again, Bush gave one man who joins the walks regularly, Vinnie Rinella, a high five.

“People were very excited,” Ormerod said.

She said Bush was wearing a spandex bicycling suit and looked like he was working up a sweat.

“They were all biking seriously, so they were obviously doing a workout,” Ormerod said. “It was nice to see him being physically active. I was pleased he wasn’t surrounded by security detail.”

She also said appreciated seeing the former president enjoying a trail she enjoys herself.

Ormerod leads the trail biweekly, and she usually starts from the north end of the 6.5-mile trail in Bloomingdale, so she said it was lucky she decided to change it up this past weekend so the group could spot different species of birds.

Everyone in the group was excited to see the former president because he is so famous, even some of them may not agree with his politics.

“We all did a good job of staying neutral,” Ormerod said.

Crow said Bush went mountain biking more than once during his stay in the Adirondacks.

“President Bush is an avid mountain biker, and he did mountain bike a couple of times,” he said. “Other than that, we just relaxed, read, went boating, and one day we went canoeing.”

Crow declined to provide any more information on the Bush family’s visit, other than saying they enjoyed their time here.

“They were amazed by the beauty of the wonderful place you live,” he said.

Bush spokesman David Sherzer confirmed that Bush was in the Adirondacks but would not comment on the trip, other than to note that this was Bush’s first time in the North Country
since his visit here during his presidency. He celebrated Earth Day in Wilmington in 2002.

The U.S. Secret Service was in the area in advance of the Bush family’s visit.

Adirondack Medical Center spokesman Joe Riccio said a pair of Secret Service agents visited the Saranac Lake Hospital last week.

“They were here last week to review the facilities and check for security,” he said.

State police and state Department of Environmental Conservation staff reportedly provided security and assistance to the Secret Service during the Bush family’s visit.

Under legislation passed in 1997, the Secret Service is authorized to provide protection to a former president and his or her spouse for 10 years after leaving office. Previously, the Secret Service provided protection to a former president and his or her spouse for their lifetime.

The Bush family’s visit to the Aidrondacks comes almost a year after Bush’s vice-president , Dick Cheney, made a brief visit to the area. Cheney traveled to Camp Topridge in September 2009 for a retreat held by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank.

http://adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/514643.html?nav=5008