On a rain-swept Monday unfit for even the most avid golfer, President Barack Obama whiled his third day of vacation taking to the lanes rather than the links.
Obama started the day by signing a disaster declaration for upstate New York, clearing the way for federal funds to be used to help the area recover from a major storm that deposited more than 7 feet of snow.
The storm damaged or destroyed hundreds of structures and contributed to the deaths of 14 people in counties including Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Jefferson, Lewis, Orleans, St. Lawrence and Wyoming.
Obama left the luxury beachside rental where he and the rest of the first family is staying at about 8:15 a.m. for a brief gym workout at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
He returned shortly before 10 a.m.
After spending most of the day inside, the president returned to the Marine base at about 4:10 p.m.
According to a press pool report, Obama spent the late afternoon bowling with friends Bobby Titcomb, Greg and Abigail Orme, Pete Souza, Joe Paulsen and Greg Heard.
There was no sign of the small group of demonstrators who had been waiting along the road between the Obamas’ rental and the Kaneohe Bay Marine base during the first couple of days of the president’s stay.
In the absence of their usual signs calling on Obama to close the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention center and end the use of drone strikes, there was only a single unattended sign — "Aloha Obama Ohana" — left just outside the Secret Service barricades guarding the vacation home.
This is the seventh consecutive year that the first family has spent the Christmas break in Hawaii.
There are no public appearances scheduled for the Obamas.
So far this vacation, Obama has golfed twice at the Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course, spent time with family and friends at Bellows Beach, and dined at Morimoto Waikiki.
On Sunday, Obama called New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton to offer condolences over the killing of two police officers in Brooklyn on Saturday.
The president also called Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, a co-chairman of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, asking him to explore ways to engage law enforcement officials across the nation, the White House said.
