From one of the Obama news pool reports today:

President-elect Barack Obama deviated from his usual vacation workout routine today.

Rather than starting off the day with a workout at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, as he has every morning since he's been in Hawaii except Christmas Day, Obama instead traveled across the island to his alma mater to play basketball.

Obama's motorcade left his rented Kailua residence at 9:39 a.m. to begin the trip over the Pali Highway to Honolulu.

As his motorcade left the Kailua compound, a small throng of demonstrators had grown to about 10, waving signs that read, among other things: "No U.S. support for Israel," Free Palestine" and "Gazans need food, medicine, not war."

Obama was sitting in the rear on the passenger side of his black sport-utility vehicle, and was not visible to the protesters, who were on the left side of the vehicle as it exited. Obama was wearing a baseball cap (the insignia wasn't clear), sipped from a bottle of water and looked straight ahead as the vehicle passed the demonstrators. He did not acknowledge them.

On the opposite side of the street from the demonstrators were a handful of onlookers, with one group of four sporting Punahou attire and holding a sign reading: "We love you Obama Ohana." (Ohana is the Hawaiian word for family.)

The motorcade arrived at Punahou School at 10:19 a.m. The vehicles were met by a few hundred students, parents and administrators at the private school, which is on its winter break. ...

The Obama family is expected to move to Washington this weekend.

Obama is coming to Washington a couple of weeks early to accommodate his two young daughters, who are to start school at the private Sidwell Friends in Washington next week.

The 44th president likely will be staying in a Washington hotel at least until Jan. 15 , when he moves into Blair House, the official residence for visiting dignitaries located across the street from the White House.

Obama had wanted to move up his stay at Blair House, but was told by the Bush White House that pre-scheduled receptions prevented him from moving in early.

"Tells you what a tony place it is - you can't get in!'' said David Axelrod, the president-elect's chief strategist.

Posted by Laura at December 30, 2008 07:42 PM