Why's My House Shaking?

Yesterday my afternoon nap was suddenly and rudely interrupted by two large bangs that shook our house.  My first thought, of course, centered around some experiment or new scooter jump set off by the kids.  Nope, they were quietly reading books.  A quick check-in at the neighbor's house confirmed the boom and shaking wasn't just my home, but the whole neighborhood. But nobody knew what it happened.

Neither did anyone else at homeschool park day, though several other people in far off neighborhoods had experience it, too.

Today's news revealed that the noise was the result of sonic booms set off by 2 fighter jets sent from Portland to intercept a float plane that violated closed airspace during President Obama's visit. I guess the float plane pilot and passenger were as surprised as the rest of us.

Almost as surprising as the booms, at least to me, was the fact that President Obama came to town.  Maybe I need to add the local newspaper to my RSS feed.