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ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Barack Obama is seen through the tinted window of his motorcade vehicle as he is driven through the Kailua, Hawaii, neighborhood where he is spending his annual holiday vacation with his family, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2013, en route to Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe, Hawaii, to play golf. The first family is in Hawaii for their annual holiday vacation. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
President Obama and the first family took a walk on the popular Manoa Falls Trail Thursday morning. Following the hike, the family split up with the president opting for another afternoon round of golf.
The president spent about 6 hours at the tough Ko’olau Golf Club. The president golfed with Hawaii friends Bobby Titcomb and Mike Ramos, aide and frequent golf partner Marvin Nicholson, White House chef Sam Kass and Chicago friend Dr. Eric Whitaker.
The Obama family arrived at the Manoa Falls trail head at the back of Manoa Valley just after 11 a.m. The president, his wife Michelle, and daughters Sasha and Malia, spent about an hour on the trail.
Reporters traveling with the president said it began to rain shortly after the first family arrived.
Security kept many hikers from entering the trail as the family started their hike.
Paul and Kathy Besser of Sunnyvale, Calif., said they were excited at the prospect of hiking near the Obamas. Kathy Besser said she hoped the first family would see the kids in her group of 10 hikers.
Besser said she was OK with security restricting access to the trail because she thinks the Obamas deserve privacy on their vacation.
“The girls live in a fishbowl and they should have some private moments,” she said.
Hiking is another Obama vacation tradition.
Last year, the president and daughters Sasha and Malia hiked the Maunawili Trail on Dec. 23 and in 2011, they went to see the Lanikai Pillboxes above Kailua Beach on the day after Christmas.
The president started off his day with his usual morning workout at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, arriving just before 8 a.m. and leaving about an hour later.
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The Associated Press contributed to this story.
