Obama, First Family Are Palm Springs Bound

On January 20, the Obamas depart Washington D.C. and leave for a vacation spot, leaving the country in the tiny hands of Donald Trump. It’s a moment when we all wish we could take a long, enduring holiday.

Sadly, most of us have to simply carry on, work and daydream about our next vacation respite. Perhaps, we should take a page from the outgoing first family’s book and consider California’s gorgeous Palm Springs as a destination. TMZ reports it’s that desert city that will welcome President Barack Obama and his family as they leave the White House this weekend and embark on the next chapter of their lives.

The report linked above offers some interesting tidbits behind the travel plans for the departing family, especially the particulars of their aviation plans.

According to TMZ, Obama will no longer make use of Marine One or Air Force One, being that when he leaves after the Inauguration he is a former president and not the acting one.

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He will indeed take a helicopter to Andrews Air Force Base  -- one under a different name than the one that normally squires the President of the United States on these types of short jaunts.

After that, Obama will board the same plane that we have called Air Force One for eight years.

Its call sign will now simply be Special Air Mission 29000, leaving the moniker Air Force One for the plane that will now fly Donald Trump all over the world.

CNN quotes White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest on the impetus behind picking Palm Springs: “The first family is looking forward to flying to Palm Springs, California, on Friday. He and his family have enjoyed the time they spent there in the past, and they're looking forward to traveling there on Friday.”

According to Earnest, Obama wanted a warm destination for the family’s first post-presidential holiday, and as we have noted in the past, the town has so much to offer in the form of delicious cuisine and engaging attractions.

While we don’t quite know the extent of the first family’s itinerary, we do have an inkling as to where they will stay. CNN reports the family, “will be staying at the Rancho Mirage home of Michael Smith, the decorator responsible for designing the Oval Office and private residence, a location where the Obamas have stayed in the past.”

We can only guess there will be hours of lounging by the pool and ambling up and down the local golf courses after that.

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