On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Good Morning All,
This weekday feature is for Juicers who are are on the road, traveling, or just want to share a little bit of their world via stories and pictures. So many of us rise each morning, eager for something beautiful, inspiring, amazing, subtle, of note, and our community delivers – a view into their world, whether they’re far away or close to home – pictures with a story, with context, with meaning, sometimes just beauty. By concentrating travel updates and tips here, it’s easier for all of us to keep up or find them later.
So please, speak up and share some of your adventures and travel news here, and submit your pictures using our speedy, secure form. You can submit up to 7 pictures at a time, with an overall description and one for each picture.
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For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.
Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!
Today, pictures from valued commenter Luthe.
As y’all know, there was a Hillary book signing at my local Costco today. I rousted myself out of bed ungodly early to there before the line got too long and arrived around 6:45am. The line was already stretched along the front of the store and had about 80-90 people in it. I heard there were a few hardcore people who camped out overnight, but don’t know if that’s true.
I came prepared with a camp chair, snacks, my phone, an extra battery pack, and crochet supplies so I could make a pussy hat. Oh, and most importantly of all, an envelope with four pages of supportive messages from Juicers and my Tumblr peeps.
Hanging out in line was great. I chatted with the girl behind me about our cats and bonded with the nice Portuguese ladies behind her. There was a guy in a shirt covered in pictures of Hillary who was a hit with everyone. I saw a lot of campaign gear, “nasty women” shirts, and people reading their copies of the book while waiting. At one point the Costco employees went around offering free water to the crowd.
As it got closer to noon, the managers came by to tell us the rules. Nothing but our phones, our keys, and our wallets while in the venue. Be prepared to go through the metal detector. No selfies, personalization, or gifts allowed. I was glad I had my parents come pick up my bag and chair before the line really started to move. A lot of people had to leave their stuff outside (under the watchful eye of the town police and the Secret Service).
Noon rolled around and things really started to move. As you finally got close to the doors, everything metal had to come out of your pockets (meaning the envelope of messages could stay safely hidden). Once you got through the metal detector, everything had to go back in your pockets because they didn’t want people holding up the line taking pictures or anything. Nothing in your hands, either.
I finally got up to the table. They had the whole thing running like an assembly line: a minion slid her a book, she signed it while talking to you for a moment, and the handlers hurried you off before things got backed up. She was signing on autopilot, paying much more attention to the person in front of her than to the pen and paper.
When it was my turn, she asked the same questions she asked everyone: what’s your name, where are you from. Halfway through my answer, though, she noticed my Bryn Mawr shirt (Seven Sisters solidarity!) and asked if was going there. I replied I had, and she asked what I was doing now. I said I was an urban planner working for an affordable housing nonprofit. She said, “That’s great, we need more of that.” And then her minion pushed the next book at her and I was shunted off.
I still had the envelope of messages burning a hole in my pocket, so I ducked off to the side and asked to be directed to a staffer. One came over and I explained I had messages to pass on. He had me write my name and mailing address on the envelope and said he would take care of things. Mission accomplished, I headed out the door.
Once out of the signing area, there was yet another line you had to stand in to get an actual copy of the book. They were bringing them out in dribs and drabs as they were signed, so things were moving kinda slow. At one point they apparently stopped the line of people waiting to meet her so she could concentrate on signing and get more books out.
While the signing area was blocked off from the rest of the store, the line for the book was not. There were some very confused shoppers just trying to get their two gallons of apple juice from behind the line of book buyers and then there were the deplorables. Yup, a few people showed up in Trump shirts and MAGA hats and stood right where all us Hillbots could see them. It was petty, annoying trolling.
I got my book, I grabbed a few groceries (it’s Costco), and I left, seven hours after I arrived. There were more Trump trolls across the street from the store, waving signs and trying to get people to honk. It was tempting to argue with them, but the desire to go home won. I went home and had a well-deserved nap instead.
(note to Alain: feel free to edit this or omit any pictures you want. most of them aren’t very interesting)
The line when I got there at 6:45
My wristband. The numbers weren’t totally accurate (the woman behind me was also 93) but it gives you an idea of where I was.
The guy in the Hillary shirt was a big hit with the crowd. He was interviewed by at least three reporters. He later said Hillary laughed out loud when she saw it.
The crowd around 11am. The line wrapped around itself three times by then.
The line once you got inside (after the security checkpoint, before the signing area). The signing area was up where the black drapes are.
Trump supporters protesting across the street on the way out.
Thank you so much Luthe, do send us more when you can.
Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.
One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email
?BillinGlendaleCA
Nice pics Luthe, Sec. Clinton’s book is a good read.
?BillinGlendaleCA
Yeah, my copy of Dionne, Ornstein, & Mann’s book was in my Kindle library!
Baud
American heroes.
MomSense
I’m still with her.
Thanks, Luthe!
Quinerly
??❤
debbie
Glad they kept the Trumpies separate and that they didn’t get anywhere near Hillary. I was worried about that.
Mary G
Those are wonderful and so heartening. I am sorry for missing the opportunity to send a message, but I have my book purchases and that’s another message. Brilliant idea of yours and warming to think of a competent operation she has that will probably get you a nice thank you, as opposed to the chaos currently in the White House, and the pictures are awesome to see so much support that’s not bots, but flesh and blood humans.
rikyrah
Thanks so much for the pictures. They are fortification in these dark days.
Lapassionara
Someone on Twitter said there were about the same number of people at this book signing as at the MOAR in DC. ?
Woodrowfan
thanks Luthe
O. Felix Culpa
Thank you for the signing update. It makes me simultaneously happy and weepy – glad for the outpouring of love and support for Hillary, sad for what could, nay should, have been.
Kathleen
Thx so much Luthe. I’m loving the book.
satby
Thanks Luthe, for the pictures and for passing along our messages!
J R in WV
So glad you could go and meet the lady. She won the election, which was immorally stolen by corrupt members of the Electoral College.
I bet she sells more books than Trump had come to his despicable inauguration.
O. Felix Culpa
@J R in WV: I continue to like the way you think.
eclare
Wow! Thank you Luthe!
Miss Bianca
Yea, thanks for the update, Luthe!
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
Bryn Mawr represent! And I’m also an urban planner. Huh.
Thanks for the post – glad you got the chance to interact with her.
– Colette ’82