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This entire week has been pretty crazy; once the funeral plans were announced, schools, businesses, and government offices announced early closings for yesterday, and it seemed like just about everybody was making plans to be there as the train came through town. Unfortunately Jeff's work didn't close early, so he wasn't able to view the train, but Diane and I made plans to see it in the south part of town. Once she was free from her job, I picked her up and we drove to the parking lot where the company who did our house renovation was located - I'd remembered getting stuck there a couple of times as we waited for a train to cross by, so that seemed like a good viewing area. A lot of other people had a similar idea, but I found a parking spot so we were set. It was raining and we stayed in the car until 3:00 pm before venturing out - the train was supposed to come through around 3:25 and we wanted to get as close to the tracks as we could.
(Click on these pictures to see them better)
Yep, pretty close! By the way, the rocky part leading to the tracks is much steeper than it looks here. It's almost like the railroad doesn't want you to walk on the tracks.
We ended up walking over the tracks to the other side, which turned out to be a very good decision as you'll see later:
People and vehicles everywhere. If you play I Spy you might find my Mini.
Karen and Jimmymeow had watched the train go by in Navasota, which is about 30 minutes south of College Station. She texted me that once we see a helicopter, the train was not far behind. Sure enough, a helicopter flew overhead and circled around us several times.
We waved to the Secret Service.
A policeman drove by, telling us via his loudspeaker that the train was about to arrive and that we had to stay off of the rocky area. So now I'm two for two in having a police officer tell me to move for Bush funeral processions. We moved down to the slope and I stood on a railroad tie for a better view:
Diane's shoes are on the ground - she was weirded out by having me at her eye level for a change!
Then we heard the train's horn, and it slowly came into view. I held my camera so I could just push the button repeatedly and hopefully capture some pictures, but I wanted to see the train with my own eyes, not through the screen. I ended up with some decent shots, all things considered.
President Bush was a huge train enthusiast, and in 2005 Union Pacific painted an engine in the Air Force One colors from his era, and gave it the number 4141.
I had to include this picture because the angle that I shot it makes it look incredibly long.
This is the car carrying his casket.
Seeing the flag-draped casket with a Navy serviceman standing guard - I couldn't breathe for a moment. I still can't put into words what it was like to watch this car go by.
The very next car had people waving, but it was hard to identify anyone as the train was moving just fast enough to make it difficult. It wasn't until I got home and looked at the pictures on my desktop that I realized I'd gotten a shot of former president George W. Bush, his wife Laura, and daughter Jenna. We wouldn't have seen them if we hadn't crossed the track to the other side - it was a very fortuitous decision, indeed. In the funeral motorcade earlier this year for his mother, Barbara Bush, I saw him waving at us as they drove by so it felt only right to see his face in this picture, in this funeral procession.
Another thing I noticed afterward - they were on the Lone Star car.
More people waving - I love that they made a sign saying THANK YOU to everyone lining the tracks. My hand accidentally got in this picture - I was holding some small American flags and waving them back at the passengers in the train.
The caboose.
There it goes, continuing the journey into College Station.
We knew that there would be a 21-plane flyover of Navy fighter jets coming around 4:15, so we waited for that. President Bush was a navy aviator in WWII and this would be the largest flyover ever. It wasn't long before the first jet - an F/A 18 Hornet - came screaming over us. Then, in formations of four, twenty more flew by. We turned and watched the last group and saw one plane veer off, going almost straight upward, toward the heavens, by itself. This was the missing man formation and it was a powerfully emotional thing to witness. And because we'd had rain earlier and the skies were still cloudy, seeing it disappear into the clouds made it even more touching.
Diane got this shot - it's hard to get a clear picture of fighter jets with an iPhone, but it's nice to have as a remembrance of what we witnessed on that day.
from My Journey to Fit https://ift.tt/2zOzGSf
