Hi Steve
I live near the Boeing Everett Plant in Everett WA. The entire Puget Sound area has had it's freeway systems shutdown several times to have the communist President of China visiting the area. It really feels like a test to me. First yesterday he landed at Paine Field, next to the Boeing Plant about 25 miles from the Westin Hotel where he stayed for two nights in downtown Seattle. The mayor of Seattle told everyone to take three days off, it would be very hard to get into the city. As the president traveled in his 12 to 15 car procession on I-5 from Everett to Seattle, they shutdown the interstate, usually 30 minutes before he even left where he was. So today he went from Seattle back to the Boeing Everett plant where he flew in to sign new deals for lots of planes. Again the interstate was shut down. Then he left and went back to his hotel in downtown just to have lunch, about 25 miles. Then he went to Redmond to see Microsoft, another freeway shutdown, I-405, about twenty miles from downtown Seattle. Then he went to a high school in Tacoma south of Seattle about 50 miles again shutting down the freeway I-5 and shutting it again as he leaves Tacoma to go the Medina and have dinner with Bill Gates and undisclosed people, maybe 65 miles. And then I am sure the freeways are shutdown again tonight to get him back to the Westin. He leaves tomorrow morning but he again has to get from Seattle to Everett. Its a nightmare. We got warned over the weekend about the shutdowns, only two or three day warning. I didn't have to deal with the traffic, but this was a test, had to be. The zig zagging was ridiculous. But the most interesting thing of it all, the national news media has not said a word about him being in the US and not one story about shutting down our federal highway systems four or five times in a two day period. I've been watching for them. With all I know, I know none of it is an accident.

Sep 24, 2015