Tales from the Trail

We know that President Barack Obama and wife Michelle went for an early Christmas morning gym workout at a Marine base near their Hawaiian holiday home in Kailua. But we didn’t actually see them.

The press van was in a motorcade of about a dozen black vans that left near sunrise to make the short trip to the gym. So there’s the evidence that the First Couple did in fact go work out. But none of us in the traveling press actually saw them. (The last sighting was when they landed in Hawaii yesterday)

While they worked out (we imagine weights, treadmill, bicycle, and any other equipment on hand), the press went to the McDonald’s on base (quite the opposite of a workout) where the trash receptacles were labeled  “Mahalo” instead of “Thank you.”

We’ve been wondering what present Obama gave his wife for their first Christmas as president and first lady. Well THIS JUST IN: the First Couple is NOT exchanging gifts with each other this year, but will exchange gifts with their daughters, the White House said.

And Christmas dinner for the first family will include roast beef and potatoes.

It’s a cloudy, drizzly morning in Kailua. The egrets are out, the palm trees are swaying, and we’re waiting for a glimpse…

President Barack Obama’s “winter White House” has a few perks that even the one at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue can’t claim. Purple taro chips, for one. A breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean, for another.

The Obama family is renting a $4,000-a-night Hawaiian home in Kailua, on the windward side of the island of Oahu. Centered on a lagoon-like pool, it’s got plenty of open space and privacy for Malia and Sasha. ABC’s Good Morning America offered a video tour of the place, which is on the market for $8.9 million.

Kailua beach is one of the most gorgeous in the Hawaiian Islands, though less reliably sunny than Waikiki. It’s also familiar to the first family: they stayed here last year after the 2008 elections. They also are renting two neighboring houses for family and friends.