Rocky Mountain High Calypso

A few weeks ago, my sister showed me a reminder card they had received in the mail about an upcoming Phoenix Symphony concert. This particular show was a tribute to John Denver and even had members of his original band playing songs with the symphony. I agreed to go with her, though I was a little skeptical about another singer trying to portray John Denver's songs.

Saturday evening arrived. I think it was my perfect "first symphony" experience since most people were wearing flannel and cowboy boots instead of the traditional tuxedos. We people-watched for a few minutes and both decided to work on our posture so we wouldn't look as stiff and bent-over as some we saw. We were certainly the youngest attendees of such an event!

We found our seats. The symphony tuned up then began its first rendition of a John Denver montage of his greatest hits. It was simply beautiful and gave me goosebumps. The symphony was led by guest conductor Lee Holdridge, who was the very same composer approached by John Denver decades ago to create symphony accompaniment to his songs. After a gorgeous ten-minute summary of John's songs by the symphony, the band came on stage. As soon as the first words were sung by Jim Curry, T'liese and I looked at each other and smiled. He sounded exactly like John Denver. And you didn't even have to close your eyes to imagine him on stage, since Jim Curry was wearing a typical 1970's John Denver outfit. From our seats, he looked like the real thing. And he sounded absolutely incredible! We kept saying to each other that we felt like we were at a real John Denver concert! It was simply beautiful, and I am so glad I got to experience it.

What a great evening of culture and music. Phoenix Symphony sells packages where one can choose four shows during the season. I am thinking I will do it! If John doesn't want to go, my sister is all over it! It was such a treat to spend an evening with my best friend, listening to music on which we grew up. I have been singing John Denver songs ever since our evening out!

Working the West

Wow, what a whirlwind of a week. Too busy to blog sounds like a lame excuse, but John and I have been swamped with things this past week. I haven't had anything able to capture my camera lens until yesterday when I got called for work. Flying always gives me a good excuse to take lots of pictures!

Another day trip. I promise I fly to more places than just Oakland, California! Bosses have had a lot of projects going on up there and have taken up to seven people each time they visit. It saves lots of money by piling everyone into one airplane as opposed to purchasing airline tickets for each person. In addition, I have the hardest time imagining Big Boss waiting in line for TSA security in a big airport...let's just say he prefers to fly with us when he can. I was up at 5:00 AM to pick up Terry at the gas station at 6:00 before heading to the airport. All was well with the airplane except a broken static wick. I have twelve of these yellow guys on My Baby, and they help dissipate static electricity that builds up on the airplane during normal flight. No one likes to get death-penalty electric shocks after de-boarding a Beechjet! Luckily, it was an easy fix...just unscrew the broken one and replace. The wicks on the far ends of the wings get broken often by accidental line guys who get a little too close. If bent slightly, it breaks. That's why it is so important to do a good walk-around after each flight. If we come back the next morning to find a broken static wick, we know it was accidentally massacred while we were gone. The benefit of this is we don't have to pay for it!

The flight to Oakland was nice. We followed the Instrument Landing System (ILS) to 27R. We didn't break out of the clouds until about three miles from the runway, but I've experienced much worse! After landing, I got all seven people aboard the awaiting rental minivan and waved them on their way. I found a Snooze Room in the Pilot's Lounge and actually fell asleep for a few hours! I woke up around 11:30 AM to find Terry ready for lunch! We borrowed the crew car to drive the few blocks to the Indian buffet we tried last time we were in town. It wasn't nearly as good this time, and I doubt we will go back. Then we went back to the airport to await Big Boss' return. He arrived shortly after 4:00 PM for an hour-long flight to St. George, Utah. This was my first time flying into St. George, which is famous for having its airport on top of a butte near town. It looks really pretty, but it just means the crosswinds are horrendous for landing! I have such fond memories of St. George...every March in high school, my softball team came down for a week-long tournament to start our official season. It was always such a treat to stay in a hotel, eat fast food, and enjoy warmer weather (in the seventies compared to still freezing in Nephi). It was fun to go back, now ten years later, to see how much the town has changed.

We were only in St. George for a few hours before departing for home. We landed shortly after dark and taxied to the ramp. What a great day at "work!"

Phoenix - Oakland - St. George - Phoenix