10-23-2008: Milestone-Dollar Ride

Today was Chris's first time flying! I wanted to get some photos up here ASAP. In the photo below Chris is on the right and his instructor is on the left. They are walking out to start preflight checks.

AWESOME! - Chris is front seat! AWESOME! AWESOME! AWESOME!

This is Chris while the," breadbox," van is driving him out to the flightline for his first flight. He hates this picture, but I think its important to post this. It says to me..."I think I'm going to poo poo in my flight suit."

Maegan's flight MOP Levels:

Suit... suit and boots... suit and boots and mask... suit and boots and mask and gloves.... (and g-suit and helmet and earplugs and flight bag and flight pubs)

Next milestone: Solo

Adventure to Pensacola, FL: Naval Air Museum

Jason and Chris were like two kids in a candy shop at the Pensacola Naval Air Museum. (except for the fact that were were looking at the wrong branch of the military) We were offered and decided to participate in a walking tour of the museum as we walked in. We followed around this older, very sweet man who knew more about airplanes than any person should. It was actually fairly interesting to see the progression of technology as time went on...from fixed, to hand-cranked, to automatically retractable landing gear and from the first naval aircraft EVER purchased to the F-18.

Chris with the old T-6 Texan I - thankfully Chris gets to fly the new and improved T-6 Texan II
I am starting to be famous for waking Jaxon up from his naps...this time it wasn't my fault. I just got to play with the super-duper happy kid when he woke up. Life is hard! :-)
I don't know what kind of plane this is...I only remember it is the one Snoopy flies!

Jason and Chris... (Hero Shot!) I love this picture. Just behind where I am standing, there is a huge atrium with a hanging display of four Blue Angel A-4 Skyhawks.

This is Chris and I in the F-14 simulator at the air museum. Chris was so excited to fly in the airplane simulator...whaaaaat??? He had already been in an airplane sim four times that week?? What a goober! I think Meg had it right, the boys had no instructors looking over their shoulder, grading their every move. That makes this super fun for the boys...except for my whining that we were in Florida and it was beautiful outside and we were inside! Sorry guys! I guess I shouldn't complain much, I was in charge of the missiles.

Adventure to Pensacola, FL: Fire Prevention Week Continued...

Last week, the Columbus AFB community participated in Fire Prevention Week. Events included, controlled burn demonstrations, a nice parade and many other educational events. MAYBE we should have paid a little more attention. It would have come in handy at 1:30 am when we had to run down 13 flights of stairs at our hotel.

FIRE DRILL!! On our trip we became a little more familiar with our friendly local Perdito Key fire fighters. I woke up at 1:30 in the morning to the faint sound of a car alarm going off in the parking lot. A few minutes later, it was still going off (and it sounded funny). I went outside and realized that there was a fire alarm going off 7-8 floors down and the fire department had arrived! We went to wake up Meg and Jason, they were on the other side of the building and could not hear a thing. They scooped up poor Jax from his crib and we ran down the 13 flights. We were smelling for smoke or burning, but did not smell anything. Thank goodness, it was not a fire. We think that someone pulled the fire alarm on a lower floor. We stood outside for about 15-20 minutes because the fire fighters could not turn off the alarm and were unable to contact anyone for the code to turn off the alarm.

Mom, I DID think of you running down the smoke-filled stairs of your hotel room in New Orleans, as the hotel burnt down... We were much more lucky!

Adventure to Pensacola, FL: The Beach

This would be our final fling before Chris hits the flightline on October 23rd. We and the Kansas Crew (Jason, Megan and Jaxon) packed up for the long Columbus day weekend and headed down to Perdito Key, Florida. The ride took over five hours from Columbus...but it didnt feel that long as we had some company on the road. Meg and I are driving while Jason and Chris practice radio calls on the two-way radio. Jaxon the VIP is hiding in the backseat! :-)




This is a shot driving into Mobile, Alabama. We drove by a port/museum that keeps the USS Alabama. You can see it right from the highway!

When we made it to the Key, we checked into our two bedroom condo on the thirteenth floor. The photo below is not too great, but you can see the view from our balcony. The beach goes on for miles and miles each way.
Here are a few more shots of the beach! It was beautiful!

Other Stuff

Attention New Englanders! Ever heard of a Super Target? We found this one in Tuscaloosa, MS and had to take a picture. I carry the camera everywhere. We frequently see... notably strange things in Mississippi.

Chris and I enjoying our new Hammock Chairs from Mom and Dad Rodway. We put them right out front so we can sit and read/study in the bright sun. Thank you guys!..told you that engineer son of yours could figure out something good!

This is a rose from the rosebush in our front yard. The bush has been blooming since we moved in and still has new buds.

Goodbye Maine Plates/Hello Mississippi, "Tags" (on the Corolla)

Mom, these are the river stones I was telling you about. You see these all over town. I took this picture in our backyard.

This one I have named, "Giant Laundry Clip Attacks at Dusk."

25th Birthday Celebration...continued.

Well, hello again.



That same evening, Chris and I jumped a bus to Philadelphia, MS with 20 or so of his classmates. This was a casino trip departing right from the base. Seeing as the ride was almost two hours, we needed some way to amuse ourselves. Ever heard of the game, "Edward 40 Hands?"

Yes, you guessed it. This is John from Singapore, Bill and Chad with GIANT beer bottles duck taped to their hands. The rule is, you cannot remove the beer bottles until you have drank all of the beer, even if you have to go to the bathroom. Later in the evening, Bill took a little nap in the woods near the casino. I am sure you can imagine why.

Our destination was the, "Golden Moon Casino." This is a full service casino, unlike the racinos of Maine. Chris was able to play Blackjack and I was able to make a few bucks on the slot machines. We escaped making just enough money to pay for dinner and our other expenses from the evening. Not a bad night! I was able to sit and watch a great Jazz Band named, Michael Anthony and the Groove while Chris played.

Happy Birthday Christopher!

Chris turned 25 last Friday! We had a very fun day. Chris was lucky enough to have most of his scheduled classes canceled due to computer network problems. Check out the T-6 cake I made for him! I brought it into his class and all the guys sang Happy Birthday. I must have embarrassed him a little because his face turned BRIGHT red!