For Bush, a Special Time for Goodbys : Transition: Welcoming crowd of 1,000 friends and political allies greets ex-President at Houston airport--at the end of a presidential journey.

This is where the real Bush Administration came to an end. Not in a formal farewell at the White House or in the splendor of ceremony on the Capitol steps but on the rain-soaked apron of a nearly empty airport 1,189 miles from Washington.

His thank-yous to a welcoming throng of 1,000 Houstonians who greeted him at Ellington Field finished, George Bush looked around the milling crowd that had spilled off the Air Force jumbo jet--Air Force One when a sitting President is aboard--that had carried them all from the nation’s capital.

Now it was really time to say goodby.

They were the people from “the asterisk club,” the gang of professional pols, wannabes and just good friends who were with George Bush 14 years ago when few others thought he had a political future. Over the years, they became part of Bush’s extended family as they labored on his behalf. Some names were known to the republic, others worked in anonymity. They were here at the end, bidding final farewells under skies that had just turned sunny at Ellington Field.

“See ya, Brent, be good,” Bush said, as he spied Brent Scowcroft, who that morning had given the then-President his final national security briefing.

“Nick, thanks for everything. Great ride,” the former President said as he gave a hug to his Treasury secretary, Nicholas F. Brady.

“Come on, we got to get out of here,” Bush, a smudge of red lipstick on his left cheek from more than one admirer, was heard to say several times to no one in particular. Then, another old friend deserving of a hug or handshake would cross his field of vision and he would start in all over again.

They had all come to Houston to witness the end of a presidential journey that had begun four years ago on a day that, like Wednesday, had dawned with the same sunny optimism that the inauguration of President Clinton had brought once again to the capital.

Four years ago, Bush had drawn up a handwritten list of his plans for the morning on which he would become the 41st President of the United States:

“6 a.m.--catch 3 news shows. Drink coffee--Play with grand kids--Pray--Go to WHouse--Go to Cap Hill--Get sworn in.”

At Ellington Field, the Bushes climbed into a gray Cadillac sedan. Gone were the stretch limousines, the counter-assault team, the communications van and the ambulance that routinely accompanied him in 10- or 15-car presidential motorcades. They headed away in a four-car parade that made its way onto the Houston freeways, a police escort of a dozen motorcycles clearing his way one last time.

Home for the former President and his wife will be a rented white wood Colonial in the well-manicured Tanglewood neighborhood of west Houston. On Wednesday, an American flag was flying from the second story of the home and neighbors had tied yellow ribbons around the live oaks. Eventually, the Bushes plan to move into a home that they are having built on the same quiet lane on a lot they have owned for years that has been made larger by a new purchase.

“I had a chance to wish our new President well. And now it’s back to the real world for the Bushes,” he said to the crowd that greeted him here.

Before Bush’s official duties began Wednesday, he and his wife, Barbara, strolled the wintry White House grounds. Former White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said that an early riser spied them from beyond the tall wrought-iron fence that encircles the lawns and called out: “We love you, Mr. President. You did a great job.”

Later, Bush took Ranger, one of his two English springer spaniels, for a final trek across the South Lawn. And he left a private note for his successor, just as Ronald Reagan had scribbled him a note four years ago, in the Oval Office.

At 10:28 a.m., he strode out the White House front door with Mrs. Bush and their other spaniel, Millie, and greeted the new tenants: “Welcome to your new home,” he said to Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton.