I haven’t posted anything for a couple of days, we’ve been traveling from Tampa to Charlotte and organizing for the Democratic convention. Most of the talk about the final night at the Republican convention was about the odd performance by Clint Eastwood. 

The final 'balloon drop' Thursday night in Tampa.

As usual it was very late when we finished after Romney’s speech and the balloon drop. It was about 2:00 a.m. Friday morning when we left the arena. Robyn, the AFP Los Angeles photographer and I were to be picked up at 5:00 a.m. for an early flight to Tampa. So it didn’t seem like we would get any sleep. I had to pack 3 cases of equipment to be shipped and with help from Brendan we finished this at the hotel around 3:00.  I finished packing my clothes and the equipment I was to carry on the plane, then realized I was hungry. I ate some food I had in the room then managed to nap for half an hour.  Later at the airport we got a small breakfast. We had 2 flights, stopping in Atlanta on the way to Charlotte, arriving just before noon. Our two editors, Mladen and Eva, had a 10:40 non-stop flight and arrived just after we did. 

Lunch and sleep were the priority for Friday. Then Eva, Robyn and I went shopping for some supplies and snacks for the convention workspace. You can’t bring in outside food or often water to the arenas during the conventions so we try to take in some before the strict security starts. We found a Target and bought what seemed to be every snack food available. 

Saturday was fairly relaxed. Robyn found a list of organic or local food restaurants so at least the meal possibilities sounded much improved over Tampa. Brendan joined us for breakfast at Harvest Moon Grille, a farmer to table restaurant. It was the first civilized meal we had for many days. Our next task was laundry. We found the “Spintastic” Laundromat which was amazing. It was very clean, a giant room of machines and dryers. In the back there were tables or a couch to sit at, a foosball game and a pool table. Very whimsical signs decorated the place- a “Small Dryers” sign made of (maybe) lost socks, “Wash To Win- The More You Wash, The More You Win” advertising some sort of contest. 

We delt with setting up some equipment in the afternoon, including a rushed trip to Home Depot to buy a drill. My spot in the arena involves drilling some holes and screwing down camera supports to a wood platform that we stand at. So we look more like carpenters than photographers while we do this.

We got a look at the inside of the Charlotte arena and the spots where we would all work from. Of course we had to spend some time taking photos of each other in front of the signs.