We've got enough talent here in the waiting area to form a multi-media company, with people from Fox, CNN, the New York Times, several TV cameras and enough laptops to start a news bureau on the spot.

That's not even including the foreign reporters doing phone interviews across the way in French and Spanish.

It is sort of an odd deal, covering a presidential election.  Some people like me are best described as "lone wolves," because we aren't on the campaign plane or the campaign bus.  Instead we zip around on our own, trying to cover as much as possible.

Then you have the network technicians, who dutifully trek back and forth across the country, weighed down with gear and lots of hilarious stories.

There's a friend of mine from C-SPAN here whom I last saw in College Station, Texas in early March at a Bill Clinton event.  Back in 1992, he was featured in a national newspaper ad trumpeting C-SPAN's coverage and 16 years later, he's still lugging around a camera.

"Where are you going next?" is the most frequent question being lobbed about right now as we wait for our plane to arrive.

"I got assigned to the Libertarian convention," one cameraman said to laughter and groans.

"Five days," he says with a look on his face that indicates he might be ready for a beer or three when it's over.

"Five days with the Libertarians in Denver," he deadpans again to laughter.

"I get next weekend off," said a CNN cameraman with a big smile.  "Maybe I'll get to go to Oregon next."

The conversation quickly goes back to Hillary Clinton and when her White House bid will come to an end.

"Think she can stretch it out all the way until the convention?"

Sometimes I run into media people from Washington, D.C. only on the campaign trail, as our paths simply don't cross during the normal work week.

"They let you out of the Capitol?" said a CNN colleague to me the other night at an Obama event.  "Are you okay?" he joked with a big smile.

Finally, our plane showed up and we all got on board for a quick nap.

"Is there an Ann Compton on board?" asked the flight attendant, unaware that she was looking for the ABC News White House Correspondent.

"Please ring your call attendant button," she said again to chuckles from Those Pesky Media Types on the plane.  "Ann Compton, please."

Finally we arrive and all have a few more laughs in baggage claim, until I read the latest White House Pool report from my blackberry which tells of how a fellow cameraman almost fell off the pool van on the way back to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on Wednesday.

"One end of the safety rail on top of the pool van came out when the cameraman grabbed it during a sharp turn onto Virginia Avenue," read the report.

Suddenly, the campaign trail seems like pretty good work.

Where are you going next?