Bob Bolus' plans to squeeze the Capital Beltway like a "boa constrictor" with a massive convoy to protest vaccines and illegal immigrants got tons of media coverage earlier this week and today was supposed to be the big day. But his "convoy" crapped out immediately before his tiny convoy got stuck in traffic and got lost before ever sniffing DC.
Bob started off the day with a cup of Folgers and a pair of flat tires on his 18-wheeler before he even left his hometown of Scranton, PA. That meant there was more time for fellow truckers to join the convoy, but no one showed up.
Bolus wanted to put the same heat on the government like what happened in Canada earlier this month but his plans turned ice cold before Noon on Wednesday.
He was "followed by four or five pick up trucks and SUVs" while all of the other 18-wheelers, even one of his own, passed him on the highway even though he was claiming to have "25 trucks."
"I just watched the one of Bob Bolus’ own work trucks pass him on the highway and continue driving," Reuters reporter, Julio Cesar-Chavez wrote on Twitter.
Daily Beast reporter Zachary Petrizzo picked up the action in the afternoon.
At 5:28 PM, Petrizzo writes, "I’m currently out in Washington, D.C. area traffic attempting to locate Scranton-based trucker Bob Bolus’ tiny convoy and there are three big problems: Bolus has no idea where he is going, is stuck in traffic, and has no idea where he is."
"Things aren't going great. Tons of brake lights out here and Bolus along with his sidekick Betsy don’t know where they’re going but insist 'helicopters' are following them."
At 7:19 PM, it seems the dream had ended. "'You are not going to see a convoy,' Betsy tells me over the phone while saying the day has been 'disappointing.' As for Bob, Betsy says that he 'doesn't know where in the hell he is.'"
"'This is just one battle in the war,' Betsy calls back to say while admitting defeat. Bob and her say they are leaving DC now - which they call 'bedlam' and are heading back home to Pennsylvania."
How do you get lost going from Scranton to DC? And how would he have even stopped traffic during rush hour in the parking lot that is 495?