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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, December 25, 2009

First family travels to MCBH on Christmas morning


Advertiser Staff

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

The Presidential motorcade takes President Obama to a morning workout at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

NORMAN SHAPIRO | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

NORMAN SHAPIRO | The Honolulu Advertiser

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On the first morning of their 10-day Christmas vacation in Hawaii, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama traveled less than three miles from their rented Kailua Beach residence to Marine Corps Base Hawaii for a 30-minute workout.

The president concluded his workout, which was not open to the news media, departed his residence at 6:45 a.m. and retuned home before 8 a.m.
Here is the report from the news pool reporter, who today is Alana Semuels of the Los Angeles Times:
There was no rest for the Obamas on the first day of vacation. The motorcade containing the President and First Lady left Kailua in the dark at 6:40 a.m., passing through quiet and wet streets as a light drizzle stopped and started.
Five minutes later, the motorcade arrived at Marine Corps Base Hawaii and the Obamas entered the gym to work out at about 6:50. The press did not see the Obamas exiting or entering the gym. The base has schools, barracks and a McDonalds that was open Christmas morning.
The motorcade left the base at 7:34 am to gray skies and some drizzle. It passed over a canal where four Secret Service agents sat in a boat in the rain, and returned to the quiet Kailua neighborhood, where the house at the end of the street is decorated with some very bright and extensive holiday lights.
Here is a second report from Semuels:
Some details from the White House about the First Family's Christmas Day: the Obamas will eat roast beef, potatoes and other traditional dishes for Christmas. The President and the First Lady didn't exchange gifts with each other this year but are exchanging gifts with daughters Sasha and Malia, as well as Obama's sister Maya Soetero-Ng and her husband Konrad Ng and their children. Before their visit to Hawaii, Sasha and Malia revealed they had gotten their father a sports-related gift.
The annual family talent show won't happen until later in the trip.
It's still gray in Kailua, but the sun looks like it's trying to push through this Christmas morning.