<div>Saturday was a day in the Upper Geyser Basin where the only thing that was not weird were the geysers. I don't have any times, and I didn't use my notebook at all. I recorded no times, I just watched, observed, and took some pictures.</div> <div> </div> <div>I wanted to get out into the Basin around 8 or so, but I unfortunately didn't get much sleep, so I waited until 930. At that point, I hopped on my bike, and tried to find where I could actually go in the Basin. My first view of the day was seeing probably 200+ people on the end of the boardwalk nearest to the Inn, all trying to find a place to see "the show". All access routes to Geyser Hill, the Inn, and the Lower General Store were all closed. I was told by a ranger that I could go to Three Sisters Road, and then use the gravel path toward Castle to get downbasin.</div> <div> </div> <div>I got to Three Sisters Road by using the highway, and there was a Law Enforcement car along with someone from Secret Service barricading the road. Secret Service didn't seem to keen on me going past the barricade with my bike, so he checked my bag, found nothing incriminating, and let me go. I biked down to Fan and Mortar, then walked from Grotto to Sawmill where I talked to one of the rangers. While there, I took a picture of the security helicopter, which then circled me. I talked to the ranger and explained a Deep Drain in the Sawmill Complex.</div> <div> </div> <div>After standing around the Sawmill Complex for awhile, I suddenly heard a sound that had a repetitive booming sound that reverberated through the geyser basni. Sure enough, 3 helicopters, two Sea Stallions and one Apache, came into the area and landed at Black Sand. Marine One had arrived. From what I heard, the President was in one helicopter while his family was in another. I was going to wait for a few minutes to see the Motorcade, but then "splashing in Main Vent" came over the radio. I went down there and got to see Fan and Mortar start at 1240 for a beautiful eruption. I had to work at 1:45pm, so I left F&M just after 1245. I got stopped at Castle by an interp from Lamar Valley/Roosevelt and another gentleman from Secret Service. I got to have a very nice talk with the Secret Service and the interp. The Secret Service agent kept on giving a verbal play of what was happening, which was nice. I had advanced warning then, that the Presidential Motorcade was coming towards the Lower Store. I was not able to see the President, but I did count over 30 cars in the Motorcade. In my time at Castle, I also took a picture of the Inn, and after zooming in, it looks like there were some snipers up on the top. There were also snipers on Observation Point.</div> <div> </div> <div>I got through the traffic at about 1:30, and got to work 5 minutes early! Apparently, when at the Lower Store, the President bought ice cream. My store manager was in there. She said that Secret Service checked every person in there as if they were going on an airplane, and that around 11am, the doors of the store were locked, and everyone was locked in there. When he came in the second time, just after 1pm to buy ice cream, he took pictures with people, shook hands, and said thank you and that everyone was very kind.</div> <div> </div> <div>What a day in the Upper Geyser Basin.</div> <div>-Ben Hoppe<br clear="all"><br>-- <br>I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. - Galatians 2:20 </div>