Obama Arrives in Riverside County, Plays Golf in 85 Degree Weather

PHOTO: Air Force One sits at Palm Springs International Airport on Feb. 14, 2015. CREDIT: Renee Schiavone.

President Barack Obama arrived for a weekend stay in the Coachella Valley Saturday, ready for a weekend of recreation in the 85- degree sun.

A few streets were closed near Palm Springs International Airport, where Air Force One is parked for the weekend. And the presidential golf game teed off late in the morning with three old friends.

But Saturday was not all fun and games in the desert sun, as the president conferred with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko about the cease fire that was supposed to go into effect in the Ukraine-Russia borderlands at 2 p.m. Pacific time.

Earlier in the day, an uneventful flight from San Francisco International Airport went over the Sierra Nevada, and ended with Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet greeting the president at the PSP tarmac. The president jogged off the airplane wearing a blue button-down shirt, sleeves rolled up, and greeted a handful of well-wishers admitted to plane-side.

The local temperature had already reached 82. In Washington it was 34.

“He said ‘hello, Steve,’ “ Pougnet told the Riverside Press- Enterprise. “He’s in a relaxed, wonderful mood right now,” the mayor said after the presidential greeting.

The mayor told the Press-Enterprise that he had urged Obama to buy a retirement house in the valley, but got no commitment.

Crowds were sparse along the motorcade to the Sunnylands estate in Rancho Mirage. One woman with two dogs, one white, one black, waved and took pictures of the motorcade from her parked golf cart.

Another well-wisher wore a polka dot blue dress with what one reporter described as a perfectly-matched cellphone case.

By late morning, it was 86 degrees as the presidential golf foursome teed off. Accompanying the president were longtime chums Marty Nesbitt, Greg Orme and Bobby Titcomb.

Back in Palm Springs, road closures included Kirk Douglas Way, between Ramon and El Cielo roads, and Airport Center Drive between Avenue Evelita and El Placer Road. They will extend through late Monday afternoon.

No details of the president’s visit to the Coachella Valley were released.

The president was most recently in the Coachella Valley last June, when the Obamas stayed at the home of White House decorator Michael Smith and his partner James Costos in Thunderbird Heights. He also played golf at the Sunnylands estate in Rancho Mirage.

In June 2013, Obama met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Sunnylands and in February 2014, he had talks there with King Abdullah II of Jordan.

The frequency of Obama’s visits triggered rumors that the president was considering buying a house in the area, possibly a $4.2 million estate in Rancho Mirage, but White House officials have denied it.

— By City News Service.