When Al Gore went to Iowa City to kick off his presidential campaign, a bus brigade rode east to join him.

Six buses traveled to see the vice president Wednesday from cities all over Iowa, including Ames.

The Ames bus set out at 10:30 a.m. and returned at 9:00 p.m.

Ames residents traveling to the event covered their bus with Gore campaign posters, wore Gore ribbons and passed out campaign buttons.

During the trip, which took three hours each way, they discussed Gore and politics and watched movies.

Dolores Betts, member of Story County Democrats, wore a red, white and blue outfit to show support for the candidate.

She said the bus began in Ames, then stopped to pick up people in Colo, Marshalltown and Tama.

They then traveled to the Cedar Rapids Airport, where they dined in an airplane hangar while waiting for Gore’s plane to land.

Once he arrived, the vice president and his wife, Tipper Gore, greeted the crowd.

“He shook hands with everyone and spoke with everyone,” Betts said.

“It took him quite a while, but he did it — he and Tipper, too,” she said.

From there, the group traveled in a motorcade to Iowa City, where Gore spoke at the University of Iowa Memorial Union, which Betts said was “just packed.”

“Some people we knew from working for the party, and we got to meet and get to know some of the other people, too,” she said.

Stacy Walshire, president of ISU Democrats and member of Story County Democrats, said she skipped class to see the vice president.

“I think Gore is a really good presidential candidate, so I kind of wanted to see more of him,” said Walshire, senior in political science and speech communication.

She said hearing Gore was worth the long trip.

“He was a really, really good speaker, and he made me want to believe in him,” she said.

Curt and Malinda Bauer, members of the Story County Democrats, rode the bus to see Gore with their daughter.

“I just think he’s by far the best candidate we’ve got, and we just went to support him,” Curt Bauer said.

Malinda Bauer said she and her husband are “life-time Democrats,” but they especially like Gore.

“We like his policies, what he stands for — education, women’s rights — and he’s just an honest, good person,” she said.