Blog Entries 2008

Period Ending 12/31/08

After our enjoyable overnighter at the Oxford Hotel in LoDo (compliments of E2PSI ), Scott and I were up early and heading to Front Range Airport  for a breakfast flight to Pueblo, Colorado. In spite of somewhat stiff winds, it was a surprisingly smooth ride. Must've been the superior piloting skills of my flyboy husband, eh?  :-)

The better part of our New Year's Eve was spent in the company of friends at the home of Chuck and Brenda Spaur. The evening began with a delicious pork roast dinner. Although pork roast is one of my absolute favorite things to eat, I gave up cooking it long ago. In spite of my best efforts (including flavor brining), it always seems to come out dry. Brenda's roast was one of the juiciest and most flavorful I've ever eaten! She was gracious enough to share this recipe link with me so I can have a go at it. 

After dinner we played a card game that Chuck has dubbed "the dumb game." Count me among the dummies, because I found it to be great fun! In between hands, we were served a tasty birthday dessert in honor of Chuck's 50th.

While peeps around the globe were ringing in the new year with toasts, singing, and fireworks, Scott and I were already counting sheep by the time midnight rolled around, though our slumber was interrupted by the distant sounds of  the Mile High Holidays New Year's Eve fireworks display.

Uncopyrighted photo by Sara N. found here

Well ... it hardly seems possible, but this closes out our blog entries for the year 2008. What an eventful year it has been for us! Click here for a summary of the places we went and the things we did. 

More next year!

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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 12/27/08

(Sorry for the late post ... I'm playing post-holiday catchup!)

Sunday marked Scott's first time waking up in his own bed on a weekend since leaving for Pittsburgh, PA on Saturday, September 20th! One might expect that he would spend his time lazing around the hacienda, but in typical Scott fashion, he jumped right back into our biggest unfinished home improvement project. When last I blogged about the infamous floor-covering saga, I said,

"... the only noteworthy event that took place last week was the completion of our flooring project on Tuesday night. Well ... We're not exactly finished as we still have to replace and paint the baseboard and install the transition pieces. Scott's work schedule is fixin' to pick up soon, so not sure when we'll get to it." 

Four months later, we're finally getting to it!

Our week was spent in the typical flurry of holiday activity: watching Christmas movies, shopping, wrapping, cooking, church, re-connecting with family members/friends, and, of course, over-eating. Although I had finished my own shopping, I went out with Cass on Tuesday--ya, she's one of those last-minute shoppers. First on our list of stops was the gas station. Cassie's stellar parking job at the pump was funny in and of itself ...

And this was after attempts to straighten herself out!

... but it gets even better. After she had squeezed between the car and pump and set the nozzle for automatic fueling, Cass hopped back into the car where we sat chatting and giggling about the fact the her less-than-perfect parking had caused quite a stir amongst the other patrons. Several minutes passed before a station attendant came scurrying out trying to get Cassie's attention.

There's no way to convey in writing how funny this actually was, but he commenced to saying in his thick middle-eastern accent, "You did not push the button. You are not pumping any gas. You can sit here all day. I don't care. But you are not pumping any gas." He was laughing, we were laughing, and every person within ear/eye shot of Cassie's re-fueling spectacle was laughing. It was one of those things you just know people were chuckling about for the rest of the day.

After the all-important Starbucks run, we were off to shop! Cassie, being the generous person that she is, gets a great deal of satisfaction from giving. With her limited budget in mind, her goal was to put together gifts that would spread a little Christmas cheer yet also be useful to the recipients. I think she pulled it off quite nicely with these cute little mailboxes stuffed with Starbucks gift cards, butane lighters, scratch tickets, hand-made tree ornaments, gum, and candles. Her friends seemed to appreciate them.

For the first six of our twenty-five years together, Scott and I attended the annual Christmas Eve family gathering at his parents' place. The large group included grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and five out of six Mills children with their families.

Following our move to Florida in 1990, the tradition of getting together with the Mills parental units continued on a much smaller scale: Arthur & Elaine and Nana & her husband (all of whom headed south each winter) and Scott, me, Stevie, and Cass. Not long after relocating to Florida, once I had come to a deeper understanding of the true meaning of  Christmas, we added a candlelight service to our Christmas Eve activities.

In 1998, following Stevie's enlistment in the Navy and our move from Florida to Colorado, the family group had dwindled to just three. While holiday gatherings with kith and kin are now but cherished memories, Scott and Cassie and I continue to observe the Christmas Eve traditions of church and a buffet spread of finger foods and hors d'oeuvres. This year we added watching our favorite adaptation of A Christmas Carol to our night-before-Christmas agenda.

The 25th of December was a bit more subdued than the earlier part of the week had been, but we thoroughly enjoyed the day. Cass and Tyler joined us for a late afternoon dinner of Honey Baked ham followed by a game of Clue.

Our friends Gary and Carolyn Zilik stopped by for an impromptu visit on Friday afternoon. We went to Red Robin for a burger and then spent a few hours playing cards. Had a great time with them.

On Saturday afternoon, we headed to the 117-year-old Oxford Hotel in downtown Denver for E2PSI's holiday dinner and overnighter. What a great time we had socializing with Scott's bosses and co-workers and their significant others. The hotel's elaborate decorations really added to the festive mood. (A certain nameless someone forgot to bring her camera, so alas ... no pics.) Many thanks to John and Barry for footing the bill and to all those involved in the planning of this most excellent party--we had a great time!

 More next week.

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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 12/20/08

Not much to report for last week. My focus continued to be on cleaning and decking the halls in preparation for Christmas. Our untrimmed artificial tree, which Cass had helped me put together a few days earlier, loomed large in the basement. The all-important first step of "rigging up the lights" has traditionally been Scott's job, but with him out of town, the task fell to me.

My first attempt ended in disaster when I ran out of lights a third of the way up the tree. A fair bit of fussing and fuming was followed by a renewed resolve not to accept defeat. A little Internet sleuthing turned up some tips for novices. While there is, of course, more than one opinion about the "best" way to approach the dreaded ritual of stringing Christmas tree lights, I did find a few helpful hints.

My second attempt, in my humble opinion, was a complete success!

Aside from the mundane, the only blogworthy event of my week was a fun afternoon of shopping with Cassie on Wednesday. First stop, lunch at Panera Bread. The place was mobbed, as usual, but Cass managed to snag us a cozy fireside table.

Scott made it home from Kingsport on Tuesday morning and headed directly to Front Range Airport to perform maintenance work on 339A. He spent Wednesday and Thursday on his least favorite of office tasks, reports and paperwork. Friday it was back to the hangar for more maintenance--gotta get the aircraft up to snuff in preparation for our group RV trip to the Cayman Islands in April '09!

More next week.

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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 12/13/08

With favorable weather conditions and all but four of our 9.5 hours en route back to Colorado behind us, we had planned a somewhat leisurely departure from KOKM on Sunday morning. Freezing temps in east central Oklahoma meant that a frosty chariot awaited us on the ramp.

Less than two hours after departing the Sooner State , we (and our shadow) were making the first of two landings for the day at KDDC in Dodge City.

Oneand three-quarter hours after our Kansas PP stop (petrol and  potty), we were back in the Mountain Time Zone at Front Range Airport. Following eleven long weeks away from the homestead, the familiar sight of FTG's control tower and runway 26 (with snow-capped Rocky Mountain peaks in the distance) never looked so welcoming.

After landing, gassing up, and stowing/unloading the plane, we relaxed in the hangar over a grilled brat and a cold drink while reminiscing about the trip and reveling in the fact that we were finally home!

Scott's home time was short-lived as he had to turn around and catch a commercial flight right back to Kingsport, Tennessee early Tuesday morning. I happily spent the week cleaning and running errands. While there's certainly nothing glamorous or exciting about these activities, it's the first time in a long while that I've taken such great pleasure in them. I guess that's what three months away from home with no responsibilities whatsoever will do for a person--we'll see how long the afterglow lasts. ;-)

More next week.

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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 12/06/08

Picking up where I left off last week, we spent a rainy Sunday s l o o o o w l y making our way by car from Waycross, Georgia  to Kingsport, Tennessee. When we came up with the plan to fly as far as Waycross on Saturday and  drive the rest of the way on Sunday (as opposed to waiting out the weather in Florida and flying the entire way), we had overlooked one significant detail ... it was the last day of a four-day holiday weekend.

What would've taken about 2.5 hours by plane took ten long and frustrating hours by car. We went off the beaten path a couple of times in an attempt to get around the glut of cars on the major roadways; which, of course, took us out of our way. This was just  one of those situations where driving the long way 'round seemed preferable to sitting in stand-still traffic.

While we would have preferred to be cruising along at a speed of 170 mph high above the whole mess, we were held captive on the ground by bumper-to-bumper traffic doing 0 - 20 on highways where the posted speed limit is 70. This Florida license plate on the truck in front of us could not have been more appropriate to the situation.

Scott and Dan-O worked at the Eastman Chemical site (which, when lit up at night, looks like a small city unto itself) Monday through Friday afternoon while I continued to live "the suite life" at a particularly nice Holiday Inn Express in Kingsport. Our anticipated two-week stay was cut short when the customer began experiencing unexpected problems that resulted in delays. Since it would be a few days before Scott could resume his work, we opted to fly the plane back to Colorado.

Mid Friday afternoon, Scott and I were in the car headed back to Waycross. Thankfully, the return trip took three hours less than getting there had. It was still a long drive and a late night, particularly for hubby who had already put in a full day on the job before spending seven hours behind the wheel. But, in typical Scott fashion, he took it all in stride with a good attitude.

We departed KAYS at 9:30 a.m. EST on Saturday morning and made our first stop about an hour and a half later at KMEI in Meridian Mississippi. In addition to great customer service and a welcoming attitude, the folks at Meridian Aviation  offer up chili dogs, popcorn, coffee, and snacks to fly-in visitors free of charge.

Our second stop, at F24 in Minden Louisiana, was planned for the sole purpose of landing in our 36th state to date. On the recommendation of a most helpful and courteous FBO attendant  named Jeorge Zaldevar (who even assisted me in disembarking), we took the courtesy car into town and ate lunch at J. P. Ranch. Though the service was a bit slow due to thinly-stretched wait staff, the food was very good.

Next landing, and our stop for the night, was at KOKM in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. Our first experience with City of Okmulgee Airport / FBO Manager Jeremy Porter had been on our way to Florida for the Turks and Caicos trip in 2007. As was the case during that first visit, he was courteous and helpful, even giving us his cell number and offering to return to the airport after hours if it looked like rain so we could get the bird inside.

More about our flight home in next week's post.

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Posted by Deb

Week two of our stay in Florida began with an early Thanksgiving dinner at the home of the Spradlins. We thoroughly enjoyed the turkey with all the trimmings and visiting/reminiscing with our friends. Seeing them is the highlight of any Mills trip to the Sunshine State!

Included on the dessert menu was an ice cream cake for two. Scott inched one year closer to the big 50 on Sunday, and on December 5th, our "baby" will forever leave her teenage years behind.

Though the mercury had dropped several degrees a couple days after Cassie's arrival, this didn't deter her from taking a chilly dip in the hotel pool on Monday.  

We ate dinner at the T-Rex Cafe in Downtown Disney on Monday evening. Similar to the Rainforest Cafe (also owned by Landry's), the theme at T-Rex centers around dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. Cass and I had eaten lunch there a couple days earlier and liked it so much that we talked Scott into going back.

Click here for more pics

On Tuesday evening it was Bond. James Bond. While Quantum Of Solace  was an entertaining action film, it didn't have the familiar flavor of a Bond flick. It was missing key elements that hardcore 007 fans like myself have come to expect and even anticipate in each and every Bond installment: the all-important name drop, quirky Q and his gadgets, shaken-not-stirred vodka martinis, and Miss Moneypenny. While the opening song sequence remained pretty true to form, Bond in the gun barrel didn't show til the closing credits, nor did the Bond theme music.

As one on line movie reviewer put it, What is most disappointing about Quantum of Solace is that while it might have James Bond as the lead character, it doesn't feel like a James Bond film. Even the worst films in the 007 series have a style that is unmistakably Bond ... I whole heartedly concur with her assessment. Sigh...I miss Pierce.

On Wednesday it was back to "the perfect place" for a day of park hopping. We've been to WDW so many times, that we've all but perfected the fine art of park hopping. Having spent the previous Saturday at the Magic Kingdom, we skipped that park altogether and hit the highlights at Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot Center. 

One of our two faves at the Animal Kingdom is Expedition Everest.


We spent Thanksgiving day with Shamu and friends at Sea World.


We enjoyed a traditional turkey dinner at the Sharks Underwater Grill.

Cass and I spent a few hours shopping Celebration, Florida on Friday with Jayne, Heather, Ashley, Brittany-Jayne and Nick (who was such a good sport about shopping with the girls). After breakfast-for-dinner at IHOP, Scott and Cass and I tried to see a Christmas movie at Downtown Disney, but the place was so mobbed that there wasn't a parking spot to be had. This was just as well since we had to pack up and get ready to leave next morning.

Our Florida stay at an end, Cass headed back to snowy Colorado early Saturday morning. We needed to get to Kingsport, Tennessee for Scott's next E2PSI project. Inclement weather in our flight path left us with two choices: hang out in Florida until the low pressure system made its way beyond our planned route or fly part way and then rent a car and drive the rest of the way.

Scott really needed to be on site in Kingsport on Monday morning, so we went with option #2. We flew into Waycross Ware-County Airport where Scott had arranged for a rental car and hangar space. After tucking the plane into a T-hangar, we headed toward town for a bite to eat, a movie, and a night's sleep before continuing on to Kingsport by car.

More about that nightmarish drive in next week's post.

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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 11/22/08

Scott had Sunday off, so we made a return visit to the Kennedy Space Center. While most of what we saw there was familiar to us (having been there a handful of times before), it's always an interesting and educational way to spend a day.

During our last visit six years ago, we watched everyone's favorite Hollywood astronaut in an IMAX presentation of Apollo 13. Tom Hanks is the narrator, producer, and co-writer of the current KSC IMAX film,  Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon. While not one of the 12 men to actually walk on the moon, Tom reportedly has a passion for the stories of this elite group of men. The title was inspired by the words of Astronaut Buzz Aldrin who marveled at our moon's "magnificent desolation."

Vehicle Assembly Building

Nothing much to report for Monday through Wednesday other than a dip in the temperature. Scott worked and I hung out at the hotel anxiously awaiting Cassie's arrival. She flew in on Thursday, compliments of Daddy and his frequent-flyer points.

While shopping Downtown Disney on Friday, she and I visited the Once Upon A Toy store where genius marketers have taken something as simplistic as Mr. Potato Head  and turned it into money-making magic. Kids and wannabes alike can't help but have fun transforming their favorite cartoon and movie characters into spuds at Disney's hands-on potato head station.

We spent Saturday at the Magic Kingdom with our Floridian friends the Spradlins. As is always the case during this time of the year, "the perfect place" (as Cass and I like to call it) was decked out in holiday finery. Evening festivities at the kingdom include a spectacular fireworks display over Cinderella's castle. The only thing that may have made our day more magical would've been several thousand fewer people to share the magic with. Oh well ... in the words of Clark W. Griswold, "it's all part of the experience."

AWESOME photo by Heather Spradlin

More next week.
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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 11/15/08

Sunday morning for Scott began with a short hop to Smoketown Airport where Kirk Groves, RV8 pilot of the Dakota Queen, graciously offered up hangar space and supplies for 339A's oil change.

We spent Sunday afternoon at The Museum and Visitor Center at Gettysburg National Military Park. As memory serves, I found our first visit to the battlefield at Gettysburg in 1988 (pre-museum days) to be quite boring. A few hours perusing the artifacts at the museum and I came away with a deeper appreciation for the historical significance and personal sacrifice of the Civil War in general and the Battle of Gettysburg in particular.

Dinner at the Dobbin House Tavern on Monday evening was a fitting finale to our stay in historical Gettysburg. Tuesday was spent packing and preparing for Wednesday's departure.

The temperature on the ground in York, Pennsylvania at 8:15 on Wednesday morning was a chilly 37 degrees. Nine hundred thirty-eight miles south in Kissimmee, Florida, a balmy 79 was much more agreeable. 

This is what Friday's launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour looked like through our windshield  about fifty miles west of the launch site at Cape Kennedy. We would later learn that this was the first of nine final shuttle missions and the last nighttime launch.

Before becoming landlocked in Colorado ten years ago, seeing the ocean was no big deal. Now it's one of the things I always enjoy about going coastal. We found a great deal on some ocean front property at Clearwater Beach.

More next week!
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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 11/08/08

In our quest to add states-landed-in and airports-landed-at to N339A's repertoire, we took to the northeastern skies once again on Sunday morning. Two touch downs in Delaware and one in New Jersey brings our to-date total to 32 states and 95 airports in three years!

Although the fall foliage had peaked in all its splendor, conditions were overcast and hazy that day preventing the vibrant colors from really popping.

The Flight Line Restaurant, on-field at Millville, is housed in a building that was an original Army Air Force WWII guardhouse from 1943-1945. Not much to look at, but the food was pretty good.

On Tuesday, we unloaded our Harrisburg real estate and moved southwest about 35 miles to Gettysburg so the guys could be closer to the site of the fifth and final unit of E2PSI's project in Pennsylvania. As we awoke on Wednesday morning to headlines confirming that Democratic candidate Barack Hussein Obama (yes, I used his middle name) had indeed been elected our 44th president, we (like the rest of the country) understood that this was American history in the making.

How fortuitous that on election eve we would be in the campaign battleground state of Pennsylvania and the next day we would move to the battleground arena of the bloodiest clash of the War Between the States--a war initiated by the South in response to Republican president Abraham Lincoln's desire to prevent the spread of slavery to the western territories. In spite of her flaws, the gold ol' U S of A has come a long way in 147 years.

Friday was an absolutely glorious fall day as I walked the tree-lined streets of "the most famous small town in America." The air was crisp and clean, the temperature was pleasant, and the autumn leaves were absolutely ablaze in the afternoon sunshine.

Downtown Gettysburg--complete with landmarks, 17th century buildings, museums, and quaint little shops peddling Civil War memorabilia--just oozes history.

More about our stay in Gettysburg next week.

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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 11/01/08

Many (if not most) of Scott's site projects for E2PSI involve working 7-day weeks, so it's been nice to have a few Sundays to play during our very extended stay in the Keystone State--six weeks and counting!

A Sunday morning flight to Frederick Municipal Airport in Maryland allowed us to get another look at the changing leaves and add another pin to our airport landings map.

Later that afternoon, it was Pizza Hut and the movie FIREPROOF. This, unlike many so-called Christian movies,  is believable with a positive message, and I wholeheartedly recommend it!

While the rest of our week was nothing to blog about, we did enjoy a nice dinner on Thursday evening at The Firehouse Restaurant in Harrisburg. The Harrisburg Hope Fire Company's Station #2, which now houses the restaurant, was a functioning fire house from 1871-1980.

More next week!

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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 10/25/08

Twenty years ago, Scott and Stevie and I made the 8-hour trek to Hershey, PA in the family station wagon with pop-up camper in tow. The highlight of that summer vacation was, of course, a visit to Hersheypark. Despite the fact that I cannot recall the details of that trip, (except that I was pregnant with Cass and it was oppressively hot in Pennsylvania), I couldn't help but feel a twinge of nostalgia to be retracing those steps with our now-28-year-old son and his family.

(click here for more pics)

Hershey's rating system categorizes rides from  "mild" (children's rides) to "wild" (aggressive thrill rides). While I thought it a bit too chilly for high-speed coasters (particularly after the sun went down), this did not deter Scott, Stevie, and Dan-O (Scott's co-worker) from riding Comet, Great Bear, and Fahrenheit.

Fahrenheit was recently featured on TV as one of America's best coasters.

The cold weather, which prompted us girls to buy sweatshirts and layer up, was appropriate to the park's Halloween festivities. We enjoyed all that Hersheypark in the Dark had to offer: themed decorations/lights, rides, face painting, Animal Encounter, seasonal hot drinks, greasy fries, gooey S'mores, and even a little early Trick-or-treating for Jade at Treatville. Our thanks to Stevie for "treating" Dad, Mom, and Dan to park admission.

Stevie, Mio, and Jade flew up to New Hampshire on Monday morning for a couple weeks of face time with extended family before heading back to D.C. and settling in. They have a lot on their plate with Mio (and Jade) being separated from her family and getting acclimated to life in America and Stevie working toward his E6 rating, obtaining his security clearance, and beginning his intensive 16 to 18-month ACINT training program. On top of all that, they will be shopping for, decorating, and outfitting their first house.

The rest of our week was pretty routine ...

More next week.

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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 10/18/08

Since Scott decided to be a slacker on Sunday and work only half the day, we took the opportunity to go up for another bird's eye view of the changing fall colors. They still hadn't peaked in the area surrounding York Airport, but we managed to find a few vibrant pockets interspersed here and there.

The topography in South Central Pennsylvania is an interesting mix of tree-covered hills and farm-laden valleys. Heavy glider/avian traffic made it obvious that the unique ridge and valley landscape had more to offer soaring enthusiasts than mere visual stimulation. A little Internet sleuthing revealed the fact that "ridge lift makes the uplands of Central Pennsylvania a mecca for serious glider pilots from around the world."

We returned to KTHV about an hour later and gave 339A a quick bird bath before heading back to Harrisburg for pizza and a movie. Appaloosa, the flick I wanted to see, wasn't playing anywhere in the area, so we settled on Body of Lies. While neither of us could be considered fans of Leonardo DiCrapio, we found the film to be entertaining and well acted.

During my dinner preparations on Monday, I inadvertently answered one of life's big questions. If you try to bake a potato without first piercing the skin, will it really explode?

On Thursday afternoon, I made the 45-minute drive to Scott's job site in Tolna so we could eat dinner together and then head directly to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to pick up Stevie, Mio, and Jade. It was dark and we had not the time nor the inclination to do any sightseeing, but I did get a quick glimpse of the lighted dome of the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument from the west side of the Potomac. Now that Stevie and family will be living in DC, I look forward to lots of opportunity to get a good look around our nation's capitol.

Finally getting a chance to meet our granddaughter for the very first time was an event we won't soon forget. Aside from being as cute as can be, Jade is quite the precocious little gal. She's the only soon-to-be six year old I know who speaks two languages quite fluently and, according to her mom, likes to watch the cooking and shopping channels! Babaa and Jijii (Japanese for grandma and grandpa) look forward to doing what all grandparents live for . . . spoiling our grandbaby.

Though their visit was brief, we are thankful for and thoroughly enjoyed the three days Stevie, Mio, and Jade were able to spend with us. It was so nice just to talk, eat, shop, and watch movies together. Details about our Sunday visit to "The Sweetest Place on Earth" in next week's post.
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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 10/11/08

Our impromptu family visit at an end, we left New Hampshire en route to York, Pennsylvania. Trip day began much the way our previous two mornings at Vintage Hill had begun -- with an awesome breakfast compliments of VH staff. Thanks to my sister Linda for putting us up and to all who helped make our stay such a pleasant one.

After dropping my mother-in-law's car back at her place (thanks to Elaine for letting us use it) and catching a ride back to the airport with she and Judy (thanks to Judy for playing chauffeur/dinner host), we said our goodbyes and took to the skies over Concord.

Our send-off party: Samantha, Shawn, Elaine, Judy, Shane

Anxious to add more pins to our airport landings map, we made a quick fuel stop at Dillant-Hopkins Airport. The remainder of our flight to York, PA was smooth and pleasant. We spotted more traffic during this short  2.4-hour flight than we have in all others combined -- understandably so because it was an absolutely gorgeous day to be flying.

Expansive Pennsylvanian farmlands make for lots of visual interest from the air.

Upon landing at York Airport, we firmed up hangar and car arrangements and enjoyed a tasty sandwich at Orville's, KTHV's on-field restaurant, before heading to Harrisburg where the majority of our extended stay in south  central PA will be spent.

The remainder of our week was pretty typical for this type of trip: Scott and company working long days on the job and me doing (or not doing) whatever tickles my fancy. 

We got a call from Stevie on Tuesday morning and were excited to hear that he and Mio and Jade will be making a detour to Harrisburg to see us before heading to NH and then to D.C.

More next week!
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Posted by Deb

After the museum, we headed to The Waterfront Shopping Mall for dinner and the movie Eagle Eye.

Not much to report for Monday and Tuesday. Scott finished up at the Brunot Island job site and we began making preparations for a short interlude in New Hampshire before heading to Harrisburg for the duration of our stay in Pennsylvania. Weather conditions were iffy when we checked out of our Pittsburgh hotel and headed to Beaver County Airport, but we remained optimistic. By 2:00 that afternoon, the only thing that had become clear was the fact that we wouldn't be flying out of Beaver Falls on Wednesday.

By 10:45 on Thursday morning, we were in the air and on our way to the Granite State. Sporadic IFR conditions along our planned flight path dictated that Scott do some weather skirting. While I have certainly witnessed his skillful evasive maneuvering at low altitudes, conditions on this particular day were a bit out of my comfort zone. Aside from that and the BuMpY ride, the three-hour flight was actually uniquely interesting and quite beautiful.

The combination of rain and sun made for lots of rainbows.

The autumn colors, while not at their peak, were nonetheless B-E-A-utiful!

My sister-in-law Judy picked us up from the Concord Municipal Airport and drove us and Scott's mom, Elaine, to her home in Penacook for a visit and a delicious stuffed cabbage dinner, complete with baked potatoes grown in their backyard garden. After dinner and a quick visit with Scott's nephew Shawn and great-nephew Shane at Elaine's place, we drove to my sister Linda's in Pittsfield where we watched the much anticipated Palin / Biden debate before turning in for the night.

My assessment of the debate? I felt that one of the VP candidates came across as a typical pompous, manipulative, dishonest, plastic politician and the other as down-to-earth, genuine, patriotic, and quite likable. Guess it's easy to see which side of the political fence I stand on. I have seriously toyed with the idea of making a bumper sticker or teeshirt that says, White Trash for Palin.

After enjoying a family-style breakfast with Linda and her Vintage Hill folks, we picked up Elaine and set out for what proved to be a very long and busy day of visiting friends and family. When we finally returned to the homestead at 9:00 p.m., we found Linda still hard at work finishing up paperwork. It didn't take any of us long to fall asleep to a movie that night.

Saturday morning began with tasty breakfast sandwiches prepared by Vintage Hill staff. As Scott and Linda and I ate and got ready for the day, we received a much-anticipated call from Stevie letting us know that he would be back in the states on October 16 when we will finally get to meet our beautiful granddaughter Jade who turns six on the 29th of this month. Look for details about Stevie's exciting new job with the Office of Naval Intelligence soon-to-be-posted on our Home & Family page.

After breakfast, Scott, Linda, and I headed to Henniker for a very pleasant day of visiting with my other sister Toni, her husband Kyle, and 7-year-old Brian. My niece Angie and two of her children, Kailee and Logan, also dropped by for a short visit.

It was a particularly exciting day for young Brian who got to ride in 339A.

When the boys returned from the airport, Toni and Kyle prepared a delicious dinner of barbecued ribs. After our pig out, we retired to the living room for a movie and dessert. What a great day of R & R!

While our stay in NH was brief, we packed a lot into it and had a great time!
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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 09/27/08

Our first day in the Keystone State began with a quick breakfast at the hotel, a return trip to Beaver County Airport (BVI) in Beaver Falls  for a much-needed plane de-bugging session, and a Wally World supply run. After returning to the city, we set off on foot for Point State Park--so named because it is quite literally the point where the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers converge to become the Ohio. This past summer I spent a fair amount of time in a Kentucky hotel that overlooked the Ohio, so it was interesting to see where the river actually begins.

  Point State Park as seen from the Fort Duquesne Bridge

The Point as depicted in an 1817 sketch by Mrs. E. C. Gibson

After the park, we headed downtown. I had been struck by the impressive city skyline when we arrived on Saturday night, so I was anxious to get a closer look. The varying styles of architecture, ranging from centuries-old Gothic stone churches to modern glass skyscrapers, makes for an interesting visual contrast.

This six-building PPG complex is known as "the crown jewel of the Pittsburgh skyline," and rightfully so as the distinctive spires on the tallest building are visible from virtually any vantage point around the city.

       The skyline as seen from Station Square

On Monday evening, we took the "T" over to Station Square where we shopped the mall, ate dinner at Houlihan's, and rode the 138-year old Monongahela Incline cable car for a stunning view of the city from on high. We decided to make a return trip to South Side on foot Wednesday night -- 2.5 miles round-trip. The featured entertainment for those dining on the patio at the Hard Rock is a fountain display with colored lights and water choreographed to music.

Station Square fountain as seen from our table at the Hard Rock

Wanting to infuse ourselves with a bit of uptown culture, we enjoyed dinner and a play at The Cabaret at Theater Square on Thursday night. Shear Madness is touted as "America's favorite whodunit comedy." While I can't speak for the rest of America, Scott and I found it to be well acted, entertaining, and funny.

On Saturday afternoon, we headed to the Senator John Heinz History Center. En route to the "largest history museum in the state of Pennsylvania,"  we happened upon an array of street vendors peddling produce, baked goods, artwork, jewelry, clothing, candles, flea items, sports memorabilia, and ethnic foods. After experiencing a Pittsburgh-style Philly cheese steak at Peppi's Sandwich Shop, we continued on to the museum. The multi-level brick structure houses loads of interesting and informative displays depicting the rich ethnic, industrial, historical, and sports heritage of "the city of bridges." 

More next week! :-)
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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 09/20/08

Saturday was by far the most exciting day of our week. In fact, the days leading up to it were largely spent preparing for it.

We departed Front Range Airport at 8:00 a.m. mountain time en route to Pittsburgh, PA for an anticipated 1-2 week stay. Most notable during the first 2.5-hour leg of our journey east was a last-minute change in fuel stops. Scott had planned on landing at York Municipal, for "the cheapest AV gas in Nebraska." About 10 miles from the field, he radioed his location and intentions but was told that the runway was closed due to "an accident situation." Plan B would take us to Crete Municipal Airport, about 34 miles and 13 minutes south of our course. According to the folks at Crete Aviation, the crash took place around 4:00 p.m. the previous afternoon and resulted in two fatalities--the instructor (a friend of theirs) and his student.

Shortly after entering the Cornhusker State, the seemingly endless absolutely flat terrain finally began giving way to topography that was a bit more interesting to look at.  From our vantage point, the effects of water on the land were clearly visible.

In addition to the appearance of slight hills and meandering tree-lined rivers, the landscape below us was suddenly dotted with towns. Living in the densely populated suburbs of the Mile High City, I lose sight of the fact that there is still a vast amount of undeveloped land in America. I find myself feeling more connected to the rest of the country as we traverse large expanses of it from several thousand feet. 

As we began the second and longest leg of our flight (3.25 hours), Stand by Me, the movie adaptation of Stephen King's "The Body," was my choice for in-flight entertainment. As we crossed the Missouri river into Iowa, the hazy blue skies that we had been flying in all morning gave way to columns of billowing white.

A QTA (quick turn around) at Logansport/Cass County Airport for petrol, potty, and Pepsi before beginning our shortest and final leg--just shy of two hours. While we would be staying in downtown Pittsburgh, 339A would once again be hangared by Prospect Aviation at Beaver County Airport in Beaver Falls. Upon landing at BVI at 6:23 EST, we transferred our luggage from the plane to the rental and ate dinner at Sal's Ristorante & Bar a short distance from the airport before driving the 45 minutes to our hotel.

Coming in for a landing at BVI

My travels with Scott have taken me to a variety of locales, but this is my first time in the big city. While I was certainly expecting some activity on a Saturday night, I was surprised to find the 'Burgh absolutely abuzz with home-game excitement as the Pirates and Astros faced off at PNC Park across the street from our  hotel.  

    The stadium at PNC Park as seen from the south shore of the Allegheny.  


More next week!
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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 09/13/08

As friend Carolyn and I made our way from my townhome in Littleton to Denver International Airport late Sunday morning, we couldn't help but be excited; we had been anticipating this day since last November when we made tentative plans to join gal pal Victoria Rosales on a "quilting cruise" sponsored by her friend/boss-owner of Bolts in the Bathtub. Under the watchful eye of our mascot Dale the Dall sheep, our two-hour flight from DIA to Los Angeles International  was smooth and uneventful. Unfortunately, adorable little Hector the sea otter didn't do as well by us on the return flight. 

The Monarch of the Seas as seen from Catalina Island
click here for more pics

Although our ship wouldn't be underway until late Monday afternoon, we agreed that arriving the day before would eliminate stress due to potential unexpected flight delays. Upon our arrival at LAX, we met up with Carolyn's youngest sister Laura who had flown in from Washington State. Following a short wait at the luggage carousel, we were on a shuttle headed for the Crown Plaza Hotel--our digs for the night compliments of hubby and his frequent-guest points. We enjoyed a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant before returning to the room to fall asleep to a movie.

Following a good night's rest and a Starbucks coffee, we were in front of the hotel awaiting the shuttle that would take us back to LAX to meet Carolyn's other sister Marilyn flying in from Vegas. Carolyn and her two sisters have a great tradition of taking a trip together once a year, and this cruise opportunity just happened to coincide with their typical travel time.

Our foursome became a group of nine as we hopped yet another a shuttle from LAX to the pier with five ladies from Dawn's quilting group. (I guess I should mention that while we four are not quilters, we were graciously permitted to be part of the quilting group on this cruise.) The 45-minute ride took longer than the process of offloading our bags, clearing ship security, and heading to the holding area where we awaited our turn to board the Monarch of the Seas. Our four-day eating frenzy commenced as we stepped aboard and headed to the Windjammer Cafe on deck 11 for a buffet spread that would leave even the heartiest of eaters wanting for nothing.

After settling into our "Oceanview" stateroom and stowing our stuff, Carolyn and I decided to explore the ship in search of the Meet & Mingle Expo for a sampling of shipboard services and amenities. As I contemplate the best way to explain the amusing event that transpired next, I'm reminded of a phrase New England Mainiacs are fond of using: "You can't get theyah [there] from heyah [here]." In our case, this was quite literally the truth. It would have been comical to anyone observing as we descended an aft staircase from deck 7 and were visibly perplexed to find ourselves not on deck 6 but on deck 5. After a couple trips up and down the stairs to make sure we hadn't somehow missed deck 6, we decided to try the elevator. Hmmmm . . . no button for deck six. It was only after a ship employee explained that 'tween deck 6 could only be accessed from the front of the ship that we understood what was going on. As someone who's known to be directionally challenged, it's not surprising that it took me 'til day three to get the hang of which stairs would get me to where.

Our cruise began in San Pedro with stops in San Diego, Catalina, and Ensenada, Mexico. I thoroughly enjoyed the buffet-style eating on demand, the relaxed formal dining experience with the quilters and our engaging waiter Raj each evening, kicking back poolside to read/snooze/visit, taking a Pilates class, indulging in a warm stone massage, taking an early-morning walk topside, and sightseeing.

Beautiful San Diego skyline as seen from the ship

Thanks to Scott for such a great birthday gift--he'll be hard pressed to top it next year when I turn 39! ;-) Thanks also to those involved in planning and logistics: Victoria, Patricia Liefeld of America's Vacation Center Travel Agency, Cathy, and my most excellent roomie Carolyn who made our trip reservations, drove us to/from the airport, brought me my morning coffee with a smile on her face, and was just an exceptional traveling companion!

Disembarking and clearing Customs was a tad more involved than boarding had been. Were it as difficult for illegals to cross our boarders as it is for citizens to get back in, we wouldn't have an illegal immigration problem. But that's a rant for another day.

A shuttle ride back to LAX, a few quick goodbyes, and we were checking baggage and getting boarding passes for our return  flight to Denver. I was excited when Frontier offered to put Carolyn and me on a flight that left 2.5 hours earlier than the mid-afternooner we were originally ticketed for. My excitement began to fade with the captain's first announcement that three  missing screws from a maintenance panel would have to be replaced before we could depart the gate. Our anticipated 15-minute delay stretched into 30 ... and then 45 before we were de-planed to await the arrival/insertion of said screws. Suffice to say that we probably would have gotten home at the same time, if not sooner, on the original flight. Oh well ... such is the life of a traveler.

On Saturday, Scott flew me to Salida for breakfast at one of my fave places. It was an absolutely gorgeous day to fly over the rockpile. I appreciated the birthday texts, phone calls, and emails that I received from well wishers throughout the day. Later that afternoon, Cassie and Tyler joined us as I opened gifts/cards and, of course, enjoyed that all-important slice of chocolate cake. Life is good!

Scott had his own traveling experience in 339A as he made his way back from Texas. The coastal facility where he was working opted to evacuate and sent him packing on Thursday. The flight to Seadrift took five hours. The flight home, which involved maneuvering around a huge low pressure system across the middle of the country, took three times that long. 

More next week! 
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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 09/05/08

About 50 friends and family members joined us at a Labor Day BBQ we co-hosted with friends Gary & Carolyn Zilik at their Front Range hangar on Sunday. In addition to a lunch of burgers, brats, beans, watermelon, cookies, and assorted chips and drinks, Scott and Gary shared their love of flying with 14 guests giving plane rides in their RVs.

Click here for more pics

Scott and 339A headed for Seadrift, Texas on Tuesday for an anticipated 1-2 week stay. My week was uneventful as I made final preparations for my very first cruise. More about that next week!
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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 08/30/08

Aside from an enjoyable  Sunday morning breakfast flight to Pueblo Memorial Airport, the only noteworthy event that took place last week was the completion of our flooring project on Tuesday night (for more on that, read the previous two posts). Well ... We're not exactly finished as we still have to replace and paint the baseboard and install the transition pieces. Scott's work schedule is fixin' to pick up soon, so not sure when we'll get to it. Just getting the flooring down was a big check mark in the done column of our home improvement project list. 

More next week. :-)
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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 08/23/08

Our floor-covering saga began last September with our DIY hardwood flooring installation (see previous post). The rant continues ...

After completing the project Labor Day weekend of '07, we joked about how we wouldn't want to be the ones having to rip it up one day since we had been quite liberal with the nails. Well, in an ironic twist of fate, the joke was on us and we were the ones having to deal with a jillion nails. Surprisingly, though, it came up quite easily. The adage about many hands making light work proved itself as Scott, Tyler, and I made short work of the nail extractions. Thanks to Tyler for giving up part of his Saturday to help us out!

Our attention quickly turned to the very substantial window leak that we discovered upon removal of the flooring. The installer of the home security system had compromised the integrity of the window by drilling through the metal frame--not once, not twice, but three times--to run wiring inside the wall (perfect example of someone having just enough knowledge to be dangerous). Consequently, the rain water that should have been caught and channeled out through the exterior drainage holes was running through the window frame, down into the wall, and onto the sub floor.

After putting a call in to the company whose name was on the system control panel, we learned that although they had provided security services to both the original  and subsequent owners, they had not done the installation and could not, therefore, be held accountable.

It was actually quite fortuitous that Saturday's deluge brought the leak to our attention before we had laid the new flooring. Otherwise, a second re-do may have been in our not-so-distant future. I was surprised by how well the moisture barrier, the one Mr. inspector had deemed inadequate, did its job in keeping the hardwood itself dry underneath.

After church on Sunday, we began laying the Armstrong laminate. While we had anticipated the "angle, angle, lock system" to be easier than nailing had been, this didn't initially seem to be the case. The surface laminate may be tough stuff, but the locking system underneath--not so much. At the end of a very frustrating afternoon, Scott had figured out the correct angle for ease of locking, and we completed up to the area where the window had been leaking.

Before heading off on an impromptu business trip to Delaware on Thursday, Scott completed the window repairs. Upon his return on Saturday, we picked up where we had left off.

More next week. :-)
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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 08/16/08

Church; a nice drive into the mountains to help out some friends; continued cleanup, organization, and hanging of window treatments in our basement; and playing with Google Maps is how we spent our Sunday. Scott also started a honey-do project installing under-the-counter lighting in our kitchen, which made the cook very happy.

Aside from lunch at Panera Bread with friend Carolyn and seeing Cass off on her first day back at college on Monday, not much to report through Thursday.

We had some chilly, soggy weather move in on Friday and hang in for much of the weekend. While I would've preferred to be curled up in front of the fireplace with a good book and a hot cuppa of Joe on Friday, I had errands to run. I enjoyed the rain anyway. Scott, who had been watching the weather and knew what was headed our way, got his flying fix on Thursday afternoon.

As an aside, whenever I hear or use the expression "cuppa Joe," I think of the time I was about to drink a cup of coffee and Cass asked if I was having a cuppa Job. Anyone familiar with the hardships of this poor man would certainly agree that a cuppa Job isn't something one would enjoy or have by choice. (Cass told me after reading this blog entry that she heard the expression cuppa Job on the Rugrats. For better or worse, you just never know who or what is influencing your kids.)

On Saturday morning, we ripped up the hardwood floor that we had installed in our living/dining room area over Labor Day weekend just last year. This is a real point of contention for Scott and me, so fair warning that you are about to enter ... The Rant Zone.

When we bought our townhome last February, the living and dining rooms were carpeted with this ugly green color similar to the one we just painted over in the basement.

Realizing that carpet in such a high-traffic area wasn't a good idea, we decided on hardwood. Based on our research of the various types, we opted for engineered as it is supposed to weather foot traffic better than actual hardwood ... mistake #1. We were in the process of shopping around when someone recommended that we try iFLOOR. They had a good selection and their prices were lower than some of the larger chains, so we decided to buy from them ... mistake #2.

Regarding mistake #1, engineered hardwood is not as tough as it's touted to be. While the origin of numerous scratches and dents that appeared in our absence is shrouded in as much mystery as an episode of The X-Files, it eventually became obvious to us that even normal use easily caused scratching and denting. As disheartening as this was, it was not what prompted us to chuck $2,000 worth of hardwood into the dumpster and start all over again.

    $2,000 worth of hardwood flooring after installation (09/07)

        $2,000 worth of hardwood flooring on its way to the dumpster (08/08)

Regarding mistake #2, within a couple months of installation we began noticing curling and lifting of the edges and corners on a handful of planks.  

There was no particular pattern or location, it just happened randomly here and there. As time went on, this phenom worsened to the point that we decided to contact iFLOOR. A local store rep advised me to send him an explanatory email with digital pics which he would forward on to the appropriate corporate folks. I complied and was eventually contacted by a Claims Division rep. After a few emails back and forth, he reluctantly agreed to send an inspector at their expense. Yes, he actually had the audacity to suggest that we pay for the inspection.
 
Scott accurately predicted even before the inspection took place how this was gonna shake out: The inspector would find some installation faux paus to which iFLOOR would attribute the curling and lifting. Mr. Inspector (a person whom we were assured had no affiliation whatsoever with iFLOOR) generated his report and determined that the problem was indeed installation related (floor not acclimated long enough; use of an improper moisture barrier--one, I might add, that is sold by Home Depot for use under  hardwood flooring; and nails being "overdriven" through the tongue with a pneumatic nailer).

This reasoning falls short, however, in light of the facts: 1) the curling and separation of the laminate from the wood happened on less than a dozen boards interspersed over the surface of the floor, which, were it truly related to insufficient acclimation and/or an improper moisture barrier, would surely have happened to many or all planks and not just a few, and 2) the curling occurred on the non-nailed edge, which would not be the case if the problem were truly related to the nails being incorrectly inserted into the tongue.

Bottom line, iFLOOR accepted no responsibility whatsoever for the defective flooring they sold us. And not only that, after informing us that we were at fault with no hope of financial recourse, the rep then asked that we reimburse them for the inspection that had been done! I, of course, did not dignify his request with a response. Moral of the story: iFLOOR does not stand behind their products, so if you purchase from them, you take your chances.

The floor-covering saga continues next week. . . .
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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 08/09/08

Our new week began much as the previous one ended ... painting. If you've been following our blog, you know that in order to call the top-to-bottom re-painting of our recently purchased town home done, we had to finish the basement (which comprises the movie room, the laundry room, a small bath, and my soon-to-be craft room).

On Monday, I was happy to accompany Cass to the Denver-Metro campus (aka Metropolitan State College of Denver) to talk with an adviser and arrange her fall schedule. She had been toying with several different options but finally decided that she wanted to resume her studies at DM with journalism as her major rather than general business studies as before. We are quite pleased with her decision and willing to do whatever we can to get her off on the right foot. Since classes begin on the 11^th, we were cutting it kinda close in terms of scheduling, but it all worked out in her favor.

A couple months ago, while shopping for a day planner at FranklinCovey, I promised to get Cass one when she started back at school. Not surprisingly, she hadn't forgotten about it and wanted to pick one up before classes began the following Monday. On Tuesday a.m., it was back to the FranklinCovey store in the Park Meadows Mall. Shopping for school supplies has always been one of the highlights of each new school year for Cass, and picking out her planner for college was no exception.

We officially finished painting on Friday and started the process of cleaning-up and putting things back in order. WOO freakin' HOO!

We flew to Greeley-Weld County Airport on Saturday, as we have done more than a dozen times before; but on this particular morning, we had the added pleasure of meeting up with RV-9A builder Mel Bickling and his wife Sue who treated us to breakfast.

A quick stop at Platte Valley Airpark for "cheap" gas ($4.60 per gal--0.57 cents less than FR), and we were headed back to Front Range. We enjoyed some quality time in the company of a few fellow Front Rangers before heading back to Littleton. The afternoon was spent doing one of Scott's favorite things--shopping (for basement window treatments). He was a good sport about it, though. The work of the past few weeks was well worth it that evening as we enjoyed watching 633 Squadron in our freshly-painted, neatly-organized movie room.

Cheap really is a relative term since this pic taken in April of last year shows AV fuel at just $2.97 a gallon in GA!

More next week! :-)
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Posted by Deb

07/20/08 - 08/02/08

07/20-07/25 were spent plugging away on our basement painting project and making preparations for Oshkosh AirVenture (see slideshow)--chores, planning, shopping, packing and so on--nothing exciting.

Saturday the 26th we departed Front Range Airport at around 1:00 pm with Gary & Carolyn Zilik. Our destination was the home of friends Jim and Vicki Baker in Goodland, Kansas. As we finished loading up the RVs before beginning our 60-minute jaunt to KGLD, we received a text message announcing that the Baker Hotel was now equipped with Wi-Fi, brownies were in the oven and beer was on ice. Sounded great to us! Shortly after landing, our hosts arrived with coolers chock-full of icy cold beer, water, and soft drinks.

Upon our arrival at the homestead, we enjoyed an array of assorted goodies, some of which were prepared with ingredients picked fresh from Jim & Vicki's impressive back-yard vegetable garden. Good stuff! Later that night, after a Pizza Hut pigout, we enjoyed the brownies that had been baked that afternoon topped with ice cream and JimmyB's made-from-scratch hot fudge sauce. In my humble opinion, there's no dessert on the planet that is tastier or more gratifying than brownies with ice cream and hot fudge. As our engaging conversation wound down and we turned in for the night, I pondered how blessed we are to be friends with such good people.

On Sunday morning, we ate our fill of a breakfast spread that included a delicious egg casserole `a la Vicki before heading off to the hangar to ready ourselves and our airplanes for the next leg of our trip. At 7:40 a.m., the skies above Goodland were already a  steamy 81 degrees. We climbed in search of cooler air to an altitude of 9,500 feet. The mid-sixties temp range, coupled with the toe-tappin' tunes of Glenn Miller, made for a pleasant 3-hour flight to Richland Center Municipal Airport in Richland Center, Wisconsin.

A quick 30 minutes after departing Richland, we were in the conga line over RIPON headed toward FISKE. This year's entrance and landing were much less harrowing for me personally than 2007's had been. This was no doubt due at least in part to having experienced it once already, but another contributing factor was that this year we didn't arrive during heavy incoming traffic. My garbled memories of our first flight into Osh conjure images of planes from virtually every direction making the big squeeze into one line, looking up in shock to see another aircraft uncomfortably close above and to our right, and having a large warbird practically run us over on final, prompting Scott to get out of line and head back to RIPON to try it again. But, I am happy to report, this year it was smooth sailing toward that big purple dot as we came in behind the Ziliks under the concise verbal instructions of the controller.
 
After landing on runway 36L and a short taxi to homebuilt camping (unlike last year when an inexperienced volunteer sent us  a  l  l     t  h  e     w  a  y    a  r  o  u  n  d  through the grass instead of allowing us to make the immediate turn that would have taken us right where we needed to be), we were parked and setting up just a few rows from where we had camped last year. As someone whose teensy-weensy bladder oft demands middle-of-the-night potty runs, I'm always happy to be in close proximity to a bathroom.

While Gary, Carolyn, and I made a supply run to the Red Barn, Scott finished setting up. In my absence, a couple stopped by and talked with him about our Turks & Caicos travel story. They had read it (both online and in Sport Aviation) and wanted to let us know that we had "inspired" them. After reading about  our RV adventure, he had a renewed motivation to press on with the building of their RV-6 and she began anticipating the trips they would take in their own homebuilt airplane with a bit more enthusiasm. I was sorry to have missed them and wish I knew their names so I could make contact. Mostly, though, I was honored and humbled to learn that we had been an inspiration to someone else.

Aside from the high humidity, which this Colorado girl of ten years is no longer accustomed to, the weather was good with only one evening sprinkle. We thoroughly enjoyed: time spent in the company of friends, reconnecting  with friends we don't often see, and continuing to expand that circle of friends in making new acquaintances; investigating the exhibit hangars and the Fly Market; attending forums; watching an aviation flick at the Fly-In Theater; hearing multi-generational astronauts speak about the U.S. space program and laughing at the comedic genious of ventriloquist Jeff Dunham (WARNING: language/adult humor/off-color jokes) and his wooden sidekicks (not to mention The Guitar Guy) at the Theater in the Woods; visiting the EAA AirVenture Museum; watching the air shows; and stealing a lazy hour here and there relaxing in the shade of 339A's wing.

We were also happy to have met Sport Aviation Senior Editor Mary Jones who was instrumental in getting us published. While we would like to have seen Gary Senise and his Lt. Dan band and John Travolta, whose appearances took place after departure day, my only real regret is that taking in Jeff Dunham's show meant missing one of my all-time faves at the Fly-In Theater, complete with introduction by Indiana Jones himself. Whose idea was it to schedule two events like this on the same night, anyway?!

We turned in early on Thursday night and fell asleep to the distant sounds of a band playing somewhere on the grounds. Friday morning it was wheels up at 8:30. The temps during the first leg of our return trip were hot but not unbearably so; I can't say the same about the second leg. While the York Municipal Airport / FBO service and lunch at the Chances R Restaurant were top notch, the flight from York to Denver was oppressively hot with outside air temps reaching 98 degrees by our virtual mercury (even hotter on the ground). For a visual of how excruciatingly hot it was inside the cockpit, click here. A safe landing back in Denver and our Oshkosh adventure was at an end.

Saturday back in Littleton was spent doing what else ... painting. Thankfully, though, the project is almost finished. On a more pleasant note, we enjoyed time spent with daughter Cassie and a phone conversation with son Stevie.

More next week! :-)
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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 07/19/08

Picking up where I left off in last week’s entry, we and the Ziliks had breakfast at the Country Bounty, my favorite place to eat in Salida, before making the 1.5-hour drive back to Pine. What a great weekend we had playing on the river, spending the night in Salida, eating out, and going to the movies.

As we made our way from the mountains to the suburbs, our thoughts turned from weekend fun to the monster in our basement … the unfinished painting project. You can guess what we spent the rest of the day doing. 

The rest of the week was pretty unremarkable. Scott and 339A were in Lamar, Colorado on business Monday through Thursday. Cass came over for dinner, a movie, and a sleepover on Thursday night. The weekend, beginning on Friday evening, was spent working in the dungeon, I mean the basement. We made good progress, though, getting both the movie room and my craft room painted and applying two of the three coats of white it took to cover the hideous color in the laundry tomb. In fact, the entire basement was painted in this dark and depressing gray-green color that we are soooooo happy to be covering up. Look for before and after decorating pics that we'll be posting later on.

More next week! :-)

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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 07/12/08

After attending a 9:00 church service on Sunday morning and stalling as long as we could, we reluctantly headed to the basement to paint. Since buying the townhome last February, we've re-painted all upstairs and main-level walls and ceilings. The basement portion of our project has been looming over our heads for months, but we've been away from home so much that we haven't been able to work on it. We managed to get all surfaces in the largest room prepped for painting before Cass came over to join us for pizza and a movie. We knew even before our little Star Wars fanatic arrived which movie she'd pick for us to watch, we just didn't know it would be Attack of the Clones ... again.

Not much to report for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. While Scott was at the office,  I did the usual household chores and errands. We continued plugging away at the painting in the evenings. During Cassie's Wednesday night sleepover, Mrs. Doubtfire was abruptly interrupted by a power outage.  After about 15 minutes by candlelight, we decided that turning in a little earlier than planned wasn't a bad idea.

Thursday, a memorable day for me, began with Cass and I spending some quality time together at the Aspen Grove open-air mall--one of our fave places to shop in Littleton. It was a particularly hot day, so our light summertime lunch at the Panera Bread Company was enjoyed under a tree on the patio. My great day didn't end as we headed home, though; Cassie had given me a certificate for a spa pedicure at Salon Foushee for Mother's Day and my appointment was for 3:00 that afternoon. Thanks to her thoughtfulness and generosity, not only did my tootsies look and feel great after my delightful pedi, but I felt pampered and loved. A gift that can accomplish this is the perfect Mother's Day gift indeed!

On Saturday morning, we headed to the mountains to meet up with Gary & Carolyn Zilik for a weekend play date. Destination: Buffalo Joe's for some whitewater rafting (be sure to check out their videos). Upon our arrival in Buena Vista, we located BJ's and then headed to the Evergreen Cafe for a spot of breakfast.

Our rafting excursion began as we donned our gear, took a short bus ride to our input point on the river, and received additional instruction from Jacobi, our rafting guide. Long serene stretches were interspersed with short bursts of excitement.

Scott & Deb: back row / Gary & Carolyn: 2nd & 3rd from front
(click here for pics)

Carolyn, a first-time rafter, is such a daredevil that after experiencing the Brown's Canyon run, she's already jazzed about trying the more challenging Numbers run.

A bit of freshening up at our hotel in Salida and then dinner for four at the Twisted Cork Cafe, followed by soft-serve ice cream downtown and taking in the movie Hancock. The Storyville Cinema's "vintage" seating, pervasive cinemuck (made up word or sniglet referring to the sticky goo on theater floors), and less-than-perfect film quality made for a unique, yet fun, movie-going experience.

More about the Zilik/Mills weekend next week! :-)
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Posted by Deb 

Week Ending 06/28/08

We’re settling back into a routine and getting caught-up on household chores after a looooong three weeks in Kentucky.  

I’ve been battling a headache all week. I suspect that returning to the altitude and dry climate of Colorado is behind it. I just hope I don’t end up with a sinus infection like the one I had when we first moved here--it took three months to clear up.  

Scott spent Thursday preparing for his “butt bore scope” (as he calls it) on Friday. The procedure, complete with frameable color glossies of his innards, confirmed what the doctor had already told us—Scott has diverticulosis. It also turned up a few polyps, which they removed. Click here for columnist Dave Barry’s hilarious account of his own colonoscopy experience. 

We were out of town on Father’s Day, so Cass promised to treat Dad to a fly-in breakfast when we got back. They had planned to eat in Greeley on Saturday, where many area pilots go for breakfast/lunch, but the place was closed for employee vacations. They and two other planes instead flew to Boulder to pick-up a business associate of one of the pilots and then headed to the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport for breakfast. 

More next week.J
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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 06/21/08

Scott surprised me on Sunday by finishing his work and returning “home” to the Ashland Plaza at around 1:00. Our impromptu afternoon together began with a quick bite and a couple hours of plane de-bugging at Ashland Regional Airport. The hose hookup was located just inside the hangar where fellow RVer Allan Stern keeps his 6A, so we were able to spend time talking with him as we worked. Meeting other general aviation pilots is always a pleasure, particularly owners/builders within the Van’s community.

Our first stop after finishing up at the airport was Southeastern Ohio’s Wayne National Forest. The picture below, snapped from a scenic overlook of Lake Vesuvius, gives a good sense of how pretty the area is. I’d sure love to see it in the fall.

 (click here for more pics)

We then drove to Greenup Locks and Dam where I got a firsthand look at the job site responsible for keeping hubby so busy. While the kiosk on the KY side of the river provided a wealth of information on the history and inner workings of lock and dam systems, my appreciation for their significance came from observing the heavy river traffic from our hotel room window.  I guess I just never realized that such a huge amount of cargo is transported via America’s water highways. (Click here for Greenup stats). While I’m quite sure I learned about this stuff in school, this is where life experience is a far better teacher than reading and classroom study could ever hope to be.

I ventured out on foot Wednesday in search of Ashland’s Central Park and the payoff was a grassy oasis with loads of trees, assorted playgrounds and sports fields, a pond w/fountain, and park benches throughout. The homes and yards in the surrounding neighborhood were equally as beautiful. And, I’m happy to report, no litter! It was such a pretty place that I returned the next day w/coffee and Harry Potter book in hand. Wish I had known about the park earlier—I would have spent far less time in the hotel room. It reminded me that I need to be more adventuresome in scouting out the areas we visit.

When Scott got back from work on Wednesday, he announced that the project was close to completion and we’d probably be leaving on Friday. WOOHOO!!  He finished up early the next day and we spent a few more hours enjoying the beauty of Kentucky at Greenbo State Park.

We did indeed leave Ashland on Friday and made it all the way back to Littleton. We toyed with the idea of staying overnight somewhere, but the prospect of sleeping and waking up in our own bed prodded us on. Fortunate as I am to have a pilot who considers my comfort and enjoyment, Scott made three stops along the way (KRSV, KIRK, KHSI) rather than putting pedal to the metal, so to speak—which is, I'm sure, what he'd have preferred to do. This made for an especially pleasant day of flying for Riley. ;-)

Though sometimes the reality of a thing is not quite as sweet as imagining it, sleeping and waking up in our own comfy bed after three long weeks in a hotel bed did not disappoint!!! Friday's seven hours of flying didn't discourage Scott from going up again on Saturday. He and three pilot friends headed out over “the rock pile” (aka the Rocky Mountains) for breakfast, then on to Leadville to land at the highest elevation airport in North America. Having landed at the lowest airport in North America last November (See Thanksgiving at Rosamond '07), this was on Scott's bucket list of pilot things to do.

While my pilot had his head in the clouds on Saturday, this proud Navy mom enjoyed a long phone conversation with Stevie. If all goes as planned, he’ll have some exciting career news to share with everyone soon. We finished off the day with a Mexican-style dinner enjoyed in the company of friends Gary & Carolyn. As gal pal Vicki Baker is fond of saying, life is good!

More next week!
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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 06/07/08

While Scott settled up with the Jefferson City Flying Service on Sunday morning, I talked with an elderly gent who was awaiting the arrival of his Angel Flight passenger. As he shared a bit of Jefferson City Memorial Airport history with me, he guided me outside to show me two white lines painted on the JCFS building. The lines, he explained, represented high-water marks of the ’93 and ’95 Missouri river floods. Although I regretfully didn’t ask the man’s name at the time, a little Internet sleuthing led me here, where I discovered the extent of Bob Morgan’s involvement with Angel Flight (be sure to watch the video).

Mount Vernon, Illinois was our planned stop between Jefferson City, Missouri and Ashland, Kentucky. Upon landing at Mount Vernon Outland Airport, the folks at SRT Aviation were quick to greet and top off our tanks. A man named Bernie, who also came out to welcome us, struck up a conversation with me. During our short interaction, I was amazed to learn that the 81-year-old electrical engineer still runs his own electrical business and apparently keeps quite busy. I can only hopeto be as sharp and energetic when (if) I reach the age of 81!

When Bernie came into the Apple Dumplin’ and made his way to our table, we were just about finished with lunch. We felt like celebs as he complimented our plane, checked to see if the information he had copied from 339A’s data plate was current, and even took our picture. Having noted the name and web address decals we recently added, he wasn’t at all surprised to hear that the “it’s all about us now stuff” did indeed have something to do with being empty nesters. Just before making his exit, Bernie treated each of us to a delicious apple dumpling dessert.

We enjoyed the remainder of our flight to Ashland in the cool, smooth air at 12,000' while listening to our Zune. Our view from the cockpit was picturesque as we came in over the Ohio river for a landing on runway 28 at Ashland Regional.

(click here for more pics)

After spending Sunday night at a Fairfield Inn, logistics prompted us to move our temporary housing to the Ashland Plaza Hotel. Although the so-called "Jewel in the Crown of Ashland" is an older facility that could use some updating, it's more than adequately serving its purpose as our home away from home. From my 7th floor perch, I observed a rise in the water level of the Ohio and even a change in water color when three days of intermittent downpours appear to have churned it up.

A few Ashland constants that I have noted: the periodic whistle of freight trains (aka rattlers) making their way back and forth on the tracks running parallel to the river, barges carrying their cargo up and down the Ohio, and the incessant din of cicada bugs.

More next week! :-)
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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 05/31/08

Picking-up where I left off in last week’s entry, we come to the final day/night of our Memorial holiday weekend in Wichita. The second of three wee-hour thunderstorms on Sunday knocked out the electricity in Sid & Shelly’s neighborhood from 3:00 a.m.(ish) ’til around noon. This didn’t dampen our spirits, however, as we continued our engaging conversation over coffee throughout the morning and then over lunch. Did I mention the great food?! 

Being somewhat of an Indy fanatic, one of the activities that I had personally been looking forward to was seeing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. While I readily admit that the latest exploit of my favorite action hero isn't akin to the original three, wild horses couldn't have kept me from seeing it. The experience was that much better in the company of six friends. The theater itself wasn’t your garden variety, either—we sat in the balcony of the Warren Theater enjoying the food and beverage service throughout the show in cushy over-sized chairs complete with in-seat heating. 

Our Gracious Hosts Sid & Shelly
   (click here for more pics)

Being awakened on departure day to the sound of yet another early-morning thunderstorm made me feel like I was living the life of Bill Murray’s character Phil Connors in Groundhog Day. The low (cloud) ceiling and tenuous VFR conditions meant another low-altitude flight. While JimmyB is IFR rated and could have climbed up through it, he and Vicki opted to stick it out with us and the Ziliks.  

The flight to Goodland was surprisingly smooth. While it was hot and sticky when we closed the canopy in Wichita, we were amazed by how much cooler it was in Goodland. After lunch, Scott & Gary monitored the online weather information for a while before deciding we’d give it a go. If, as we made our way back to Denver, what we saw in front of us or via the Garmin weather service looked questionable, we’d turn back to Goodland and bunk with the Bakers for the night. As it turned out, all went well and we made it home with no worries.

After a bit of freshening up, we were off to the annual Memorial Day cookout at the home of Scott’s boss, John, and his wife, Jeri. We were happy that Cassie and her boyfriend could join us—it was nice to finally meet Tyler.  

Other than dinner at our place with Cassie and Tyler on Thursday and a long-awaited phone conversation with Stevie on Friday, the rest of our week was unremarkable. In anticipation of Saturday’s departure, we played another round of catch-up at home and office.  

It was a quick breakfast in Goodland on Saturday morning before heading  to Jefferson City, Missouri—our planned overnight stop en route to Ashland, Kentucky. It was cool and smooth flying at altitude; but once we began our decent, we found out just how muggy it actually was. I snapped a picture of the state capitol building as we made our turn toward the runway, and the steamy haze was so thick you can actually see it in the photo below. 

(click here for more pics)

A nice young man named Dustin at the Jefferson City Flying Service FBO set us up with a hangar and rental car for the night. After checking in, we made the 30-minute drive to Osage Beach and had us some good “Southern-style Bar-B-Q” at Bandana’s. 

We then did a little scouting around at the Lake of the Ozarks State Park and were surprised to find the Lee C. Fine Memorial Airport located in the park. Hmmmmm … My keen instincts tell me that a combination flying and camping trip to the Show-Me State is in our future. Who's in?  

More next week! :-)
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Posted by Deb 

Overlooking Honor Heights Park at Sunset

On Tuesday morning, it was back in the air headed west. Once again, cloud cover dictated that we fly at a lower-than-typical altitude. Just as we headed into a light mist and noted the rain showers here and there in the distance around us, Jim Morrison’s Rider’s on the Storm began playing. While the lyrics have nothing at all to do with weather, the rain and thunder sound effects coupled with the chorus seemed appropriate to the situation. The ride was smooth and enjoyable until we hit the Colorado border where it started getting rough.  

Wednesday and Thursday were spent playing catch-up and preparing for the Memorial Day weekend in Kansas. We and the Ziliks had planned on flying to Greeley, CO for breakfast before heading to Wichita on Friday. Foiled by unsuitable VFR landing conditions in Greeley, plan B was breakfast in Goodland, KS. After learning that the weather conditions in Goodland weren’t favorable either, we headed for Limon, CO to top off our tanks and eat at the truck stop located a short distance from the airfield. Plan C didn’t pan out either as we soon discovered that the truck stop had moved to a new location. Snacks from the convenience store was the closest we would get to breakfast on this particular morning.

While the beginning and end of our two-hour flight was BuMpY and rather warm, it was smooth and cool when flying at higher altitudes. Aside from the comfort aspect, flying amongst the billowing white clouds is always humbling and absolutely spectacular!

Upon landing in Wichita, we met up with friends Jim & Vicki from Goodland and Sid & Shelly--our gracious hosts for the weekend. A great time was had by all as we ate, talked, ate, laughed, ate, watched movies, and ate together.The only thing that surpassed the awesome Cajun-style shrimp boil, steaks on the barby, pork wraps, and assorted delicious side dishes and desserts that we enjoyed throughout the weekend was the camaraderie! Our thanks to Sid & Shelly for making us feel so comfortable and at home in their beautiful home.

More about our third and final day/night of the Memorial Day weekend in Kansas and our trip home in next week’s entry.

More next week!
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Posted by Riley

Week Ending 05/10/08

We left Pennsylvania on Tuesday afternoon en route to our planned overnighter in Kirksville, Missouri. While Scott finished up on the job site in Ohio, I got everything packed and ready to go. By the time we made the 45-minute drive back to the airport, got the plane loaded, settled accounts with the FBO, and finally took off, it was about 2:00 p.m. (EST).

Scott had been closely monitoring a weather system that was making its way east; and we, of course, would be traveling westward back to Colorado. If we were to avoid being grounded somewhere for a day or two because of weather, we would have to maneuver our way around the system. Even though our inability to follow a direct route home meant the trip would take a bit longer, skirting the weather would still get us home sooner than if we got stuck somewhere.

While I can't say that we had a smooth ride in the sunshine on that particular day, I have come to appreciate each flight in all of its uniqueness. The ceiling dictated that we fly no higher than 4,500 feet. In spite of the BuMpY ride, skimming beneath the clouds gave us a close-up view of the layer from underneath, and flying at an altitude 3,000' lower than usual gave us a good look at the landscape below. A few blue spots visible through the cloud cover overhead, the sun's rays peeping through the layer and shining here and there below, and the occasional mist made for a distinctly memorable flight.

As we neared Kirksville, updated GPS weather information prompted us to change our overnight destination to Council Bluffs, Iowa, as it appeared that staying there would give us a better chance of being able to head out late morning or early afternoon on Wednesday. We had already made a fuel/potty stop in Illinois and had actually gained an hour of daylight upon entering the Central Time Zone, so flying the additional 50 minutes wasn't a problem. Just over five hours after leaving PA, we landed in IA, hangared the plane, borrowed the courtesy van, and headed for a hotel. A restful night's sleep in one of the nicest hotel rooms we've stayed in (Springhill Suites by Marriott ) was preceded by a tasty dinner for two at Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que .

Low morning visibility in Pottawattamie County (one of 99 counties in Iowa including one named Cass and one named Mills) kept us from taking off until 1:30ish. After a short visit to the huge Horseshoe casino located amongst the hotels, where I promptly lost my $10 gambling allotment to a poker machine in about 15 minutes, and eating a leisurely breakfast at Cracker Barrel, we had run out of ways to keep ourselves entertained as we waited out the weather.

Check-out time being 11:00, we were without a room to hang in. Not wanting to venture far from the airport in order to be ready when the vis improved, we didn't have a lot of options. Desperate for something to stave off boredom, we resorted to lurking outside a hotel so we could use their wireless. It was actually quite comical: here we were in the parking lot of a hotel we weren't staying at, hunkered down in a dilapidated van that wasn't ours, using a wireless connection that we weren't paying for. While online, I went into our USPS account to adjust the resume-mail-delivery date and it said no such address existed, confirming that we were indeed homeless. We got a good laugh out of this.

As of this entry, the folks at the Horseshoe apparently hadn't gotten the memo that ...

... It's All About US!

The low ceiling on Wednesday forced us to fly the first 100 miles or so at 2,200 feet. The vistas at that altitude were even prettier and more interesting than those of the previous day, and the ride was smoooooooth.

Back in Denver, we spent Thursday through Saturday playing catch-up at home and office and getting ready to leave for Oklahoma on Sunday. The highlight of our three days at home was spending time with Cass on Thursday!

More next week! :-)
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Posted by Riley

Week Ending 05/03/08

We left Fishers, Indiana headed for Beaver County Airport on Sunday at around 9:00ish. It was a bit nippy, but still a B-E-A-utiful day for flying! It's always interesting to see the regional topographical changes--in this case, the flatness of Indiana giving way to the gently rolling hills of Pennsylvania. A short 1.5-hour jaunt and we had reached Beaver County where our plane was to be hangared, though our temporary home was located about 45 minutes north in Poland, Ohio, near Youngstown. 

As was the case in Indiana, spring had sprung in both Pennsylvania and Ohio with lush green landscapes generously interspersed with colorful blooming trees, flowers, and shrubs. 

Scott spent the week working hard while I spent the week … well, not working hard. During the work-related trips that I’ve joined him on, I've come to a whole new appreciation of just how hard he works. We tried to normalize things a bit during this trip by cooking and eating most of our meals in rather that dining out every night, which, believe it or not, does get old. 

We managed to squeeze in a few non-work activities such as taking in a couple of movies (88 Minutes and Leatherheads) and driving the scenic tour of Poland Village—the historical town center where code dictates that all buildings must be colonial style. Several older structures proudly display placards dating them back to the 1800s. 

Among the newer buildings is the most beautiful public library I've ever seen. I found the following uncopyrighted pic online and decided that nothing I could snap would do the building more justice than it does.

Front View

More next week! :-)
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Posted by Deb (aka Riley)

Week Ending 04/19/08

We headed back to Colorado last Sunday evening. I was sad to leave my Floridian friends but looking forward to spending some time at home. Although traveling is great fun, it's always nice to get back to your own bed and pillow.

As anticipated, returning to the dry climate of Colorado after the high humidity of Florida began wreaking havoc with our skin and sinuses after just a couple of days. The weather has been finicky with Monday's temps in Denver warmer than those in Tampa or Orlando and then snow on Wednesday. Such is spring in the Centennial State.

We have spent the week trying to get back into a routine. It took me a few days to realize that the maid wasn't coming to make our bed and tidy things up! ;-) Some friends have taken to calling me Riley, as in "living the life of." You betcha--I'm lovin' it and will ride the wave as long as I can. (Click here to learn about this Riley person whose life I'm livin'.)

We had a nice lunch with Cass on Thursday at the restaurant where she waitresses, and then she and I saw Fool's Gold together on Friday.

We enjoyed a flight to Kansas with friend Gary Zilik on Saturday morning. Our plans to visit with friends Jim and Vicki Baker in Goodland a few weeks back were stymied by weather, so we thought we'd go and eat breakfast with 'em. With Vicki hard at work, we didn't get much time with her--fortunately for the general population, emergency responders don't get weekends off. Scott, Gary, Jim, and I did manage to solve many a worldly problem during that one extended meal, though!

More next week! :-)
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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 04/05/08

Not much to report this week. Scott's been hard at it in Orlando, working long days and weekends. If all goes well, we may be able to play together on Tuesday before I head back to Brooksville to be with friends and he to Lakeland for S 'N F.

Livin' the hotel life continues to be a treat for me. I did manage a couple of simple meals for Scott--just so I don't forget how to cook altogether. Other than that and a few loads of laundry, I've had no responsibilities whatsoever. Wanting to take advantage of the super-high-speed Internet, I've spent a fair amount of time working on this website.

      (click here for more pics)

The weather has been unseasonably humid w/several torrential downpours. According to local weather (and as memory serves), the moisture levels and temps are closer to what the Sunshine State usually experiences in July and August. This makes for bad hair days, but my Colorado-parched skin is absolutely loving it.

More next week! :-)

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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 03/29/08

We were able to celebrate Easter together, attending church and enjoying a holiday meal before, Scott headed back to SoCal for the startup of the units he had worked on during his 5-week stay. He got back to Denver late Tuesday night.  

Another week of catch-up and pre-trip preparation before heading off to sunny Florida. We had planned on flying 339A to Goodland on Thursday afternoon to spend the night with friends, the Bakers, and then continue on to Florida early Friday morning. A slow-moving weather system that was headed east and extending south would ultimately dictate when (and if) we could fly the RV. 

It became clear that our only chance of getting ahead of the system would be to leave for Florida early Thursday morning, with no overnighter in Kansas. By about 7:15 a.m., we had arrived at Front Range Airport and were packing up the plane. Shortly before 10:00 a.m., we had the plane unpacked and were heading back to Littleton--the weather just wasn't going to cooperate this time around. Friday morning it was off to DIA to catch a commercial flight.  

Friday and Saturday nights were spent in Bartow so we could be within visiting distance of our Brooksville friends who were camping in Lake Wales. Scott was a good sport, patiently enduring about 15 hours (over the course of the weekend) in the company of four chattering females!

The upcoming week will be spent at the Holiday Inn Staybridge Suites in Orlando. If all goes well, we'll play Mr. & Mrs. tourist for a couple of days before heading to Brooksville where I'll spend more time with the Spradlins & Coni, and Scott will be one of cuatros amigos heading to the Sun 'N Fun fly-in.

More next week!

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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 03/22/08

During our fourth visit to Grace Community Church , we were able to meet John MacArthur and have him sign copies of one of his books for myself and my two sisters. Visiting this church and meeting John had been on my "bucket list" for many years, so it was a great treat for me.

(click here for more pics)

It was a blustery Monday afternoon when we left SoCal headed for Santa Fe, New Mexico where we over-nighted at a nice southwestern-style Courtyard Marriott. Dinner at popular Mexican restaurant Tomasita's topped off our evening. While the food was good, we're not sure it was worth the one-hour wait. Tuesday morning in Santa Fe was downright cold with continued strong winds as we made our way back to Denver. 

The rest of our week was spent on the mundane as we played catch up at home and office in preparation for an upcoming trip to Florida. I must admit that it was a bit of an adjustment having to actually cook and clean for myself after a month of eating out and having my room cleaned every day. Can you say s-p-o-i-l-e-d?! On the other hand . . . I have spent lots of time home alone patiently awaiting these opportunities.

Weather permitting, we will fly to the home of Goodland, KS friends Jim & Vicki Baker on Thursday and then head to the Sunshine State early Friday morning where we will land at  KBKV and spend the weekend with Floridian friends.

More next week! :-)
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Posted by Deb

Week Ending 03/15/08

We and 339A participated in our first Poker Run on Sunday, following an overnight stay with Paul & Victoria Rosales. It was great spending time with them. We appreciate and thank them for their hospitality! 

Monday through Friday went much the same as reported in my previous post—me “living the life of Riley” while Scott earned the paycheck! Having worked out the bugs on the first of two units that E2PSI was upgrading for Reliant Energy, the second was less stressful and not as labor intensive.

After five weeks in Ontario, Scott is anxious to get home. Our plan is to head out tomorrow and see how far toward Denver we can make it—hopefully Santa Fe, New Mexico. Snowy weather predicted for Denver will prevent us from making it all the way home, but we’ll get a good head start. 

Having finished up on the job site Friday afternoon, Saturday was a play day at Knott’s Berry Farm in Anaheim, CA. The park’s claim to fame is that it is “America’s 1^st Theme Park.” While the park is split into four themed areas, I really see it as more of an amusement park than a theme park. At any rate, we had a good time. 

The weather was sunny yet cool, windy, and damp with temps never getting out of the 50s. Highlights of the day include riding the Xcelerator—a rollercoaster that goes from 0-82 mph in 2.3 seconds; the Boomerang—a rollercoaster so named because it flings you forward at a high rate of speed through six loops and rolls before flinging you backward to where you started; and the Supreme Scream—a 254’ vertical drop reaching speeds up to 50 mph. By the time you reach the top, you're definately asking yourself, "What the heck am I doing on this thing?" 

 
(click here for more pics)

We couldn’t end a day a KBF without sampling their famous fried chicken. The line for a sit-down dinner at Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant was way too long, so we got a couple of “Snack Boxes” at Chicken To Go. While the side dishes were nothing exceptional, the chicken was mm-mm good.

More next week! :-)
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Posted by Deb

Wednesday, March 12, 2008
           (02/11/08-03/08/08)

On Monday, 02/11/08, Scott headed to Ontario, CA in N339A for an anticipated 4-week stay. Knowing that a separation of this length would be stressful on both of us, he encouraged me to join him. Not wanting to be home alone for a month I agreed, and Scott arranged for me to fly commercially on Sunday the 17^th of February (compliments of E2PSI). Leaving behind the Colorado snow flurries of that morning in anticipation of Southern California temps later that afternoon was exciting! It was my first time using an airport shuttle service from home to Denver International Airport, and I highly recommend it.

Day one of my impromptu vacation began with a quick dinner out and the second of three visits (to date) to Grace Community Church in Sun Valley—about an hour drive from our Residence Inn, Marriott in Ontario. Our first visit to GCC had taken place two weeks earlier at the tail end of a stay in Phoenix, AZ. Scott had a pre-project meeting in Ontario early on Monday the 4^th, so we drove from Phoenix to California on the 2^nd. After an overnight stay with our good friends Paul & Victoria Rosales in Rosamond, we drove to GCC for the 10:30 a.m. service.

I had wanted to visit this church for many years. John MacArthur, their senior pastor/Bible teacher of 39 years, holds a very special place in my heart as it was through his faithful Bible teaching on Grace to You radio that I came to belief in God and faith in Christ—more about that here.

As I write this entry, I am in my fourth week in SoCal. While Scott has worked long days much of the time (including some weekends), for me it’s been an enjoyable time of breakfast at the hotel buffet, eating out at 17 different restaurants to date, and having our condo-like suite cleaned every day—haven’t even had to make my own bed!  

Activity highlights include two more overnight visits to Rosamond Skypark, a day park hopping between Disney’s California Adventure & Disneyland, and taking in a couple of movies (Jumpers, Vantage Point). Otherwise, it’s been leisurely days spent reading, doing an inductive Bible study, getting the It’s All About Us Now! website up and running, watching TV and movies, sitting by the pool, surfing the net, and even napping!  

      (click here for more pics)

In August of this year, Scott will have been at E2PSI for 10 years. His job involves lots of traveling, which we have toughed out in anticipation of the time when I would be able to join him in his travels. As mentioned in last year's family Christmas letter, I was able to tag along on a few trips in 2007, including one to Hawaii. Although this perk has been a long ten years in coming, from my perspective, it's been well worth the wait!

More next week! :-)
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Posted by Deb