For those who have never seen a White House press pool report (only a few reporters get to tag along, so they share their notes with all others in the press), today's fire tour with President Bush, Governor Schwarzenegger, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and others is worth checking out.

The excerpts that follow are from two different national reporters, and mostly what we call "color"; for real news from today go here.

[Some slang notes: "POTUS" is the Beltway acronym for President of the United States. "DiFi" is Feinstein. "Arnold" is... well, you know.]

"POTUS emerged from the plane, wearing an olive-colored shirt and casual black pants to a high-powered greeting committee. The air was rank with the smell of smoke. Arnold (does he really need a last name?) was there with his two young sons. A friendly greeting; each man clapped the other on the shoulder, then Arnold draped his arm around the president's shoulder. They posed for pictures with the boys. Also on hand --[U.S. Rep Darrell] Issa, [U.S. Rep. Duncan] Hunter, [U.S. Rep. Brian] Bilbray, all waiting on tarmac. DiFi emerged from plane in dark suit and baseball cap..."

"POTUS's motorcade pulled up to a canyon neighborhood of typical California stucco homes at about 10:20 a.m. local. The neighborhood seemed completely intact, until about halfway up the hill into a cul-de-sac. There, the motorcade he stopped at the burned out home of Kendra and Jay Jeffcoat. Theirs was one of four homes, side by side, on a street called Lancashire, that were destroyed... The randomness was striking.

"POTUS, Arnold, Brian Bilbray and DiFi came out of the car to meet with them. They chatted for a while, and Bush patted the dog on the head...

"After they spoke for a bit, Arnold led the delegation further into the rubble. He reached his hand out toward DiFi, who was wearing low-heeled pumps, in, but she demurred, saying, "I think I can get a good view from here." The others went in, for a perfect photograph against the staircase, with a hilltop in the background, topped by a cross."

"[POTUS] said he had come to survey the "terrible devastation." He talked about the Jeffcoats, how tough it was for them after 39 years of marriage to go through this disaster. He praised Arnold. "The thing I like about Gov. Schwarzenegger is he says, you show me a problem, I'll charge it. You show me a hill, I'll go up it..."

"And Arnold had high praise for the president, saying the response was "quick action, quicker than I expected."

Later, this pool report from a different stop...

"After open press remarks, POTUS, governor, DiFi and Bilbray spent 30 minutes shaking hands with rows of dusty fire crews at the Witch Creek Fire command post at Kit Carson city park in Escondido. "I'm proud to be here with the senator, the Terminator, can I call you that?..." POTUS began. "My wife does."