Candy Gram for Mongo

Mongo for Mongolian, that is. We went to a Mongolian restaurant in Flint, Michigan on Wednesday. It was my first time to the lovely town, and we celebrated with a fun place to eat! When I walked through the door, my head was looking down. As I looked up, I was surprised to see a huge blow-up Attila the Hun doll names Mongo. I had it all under control until HE MOVED! It completely freaked me out since I wasn't expecting him to be alive! So I got my camera from the car to have photo proof. Me and Creepy Mongo, as I like to refer to him now. We go way back.

Later that evening, we arrived very "early" for a Big Boss Week...8:30 PM. Joe asked if we wanted to go check out the waterfront, so we all piled into the FBO's PT Cruiser and headed to the water. We stopped everywhere that sounded yummy to us and ended up getting homemade ice cream and fresh clam chowder (corn chicken chowder for me, thank you very much). It was fun wandering around watching people and seeing the boats.  Our passengers are both a hoot, and it was fun seeing the town with temperatures above zero, like when we are normally there with Ron.

In addition to the beautiful boat docks, we also found old diving equipment and a portion of the original Berlin Wall. Portland, Maine is exaclty where I would put a portion of the Berlin Wall, so it made perfect sense to us! After flying from 7:00 AM that morning, I crawled into bed around 11:00 PM. Joe Weeks always mean long days and lots of flying, but it really can't get any better.

Canada is America's Hat

Hello from Canada! It was a surprise to end up here, but most things during Joe Weeks ARE a surprise! We went to Winnipeg and then on to Toronto late on the 24th. I didn't crawl into bed until 2:15 AM after flying four legs as Captain, from Milwaukee to Oshkosh to Winnipeg to Toronto. Oshkosh sure looks different without 1,000 airplanes on the field! We will be heading up there for the week of the Airventure in a month, and I am looking forward to it! This will be my fifth year at Oshkosh. It really is like no place on earth! http://www.airventure.org/

I am writing now from Flint, Michigan. This week has been my first international flights as Captain, so it has been fun learning how to do Customs and arrange Canadian flight plans. I learn something every day, which is one of the million things I love about my job.

John and I have started reading scriptures together every day, and so far, so good. It feels wonderful having goals set up together. And I love working together to make ourselves better. He is sweet. Sedona is going to be a blast when the rest of the family gets to meet him! They already love him, as do I.

Ft. Lauderdale Executive KFXE

A beautiful day in Ft. Lauderdale, which is just north of Miami. We dodged thunderstorms from Orlando, and they took us way east of the city over the ocean to get in because of all the traffic. I like when they tell me "maintain maximum forward speed" for as long as we can. The FBO is nice...Banyan just remodeled everything last year and present a tropical feel inside the lobby. A huge aquarium greets passengers as they enter from the sweltering temperatures outside. When we arrived it wasn't terribly hot. But being from Arizona, we always melt because of the humidity! Ron again had a U-Haul vehicle arranged for us, and I used my Garmin Nuvi to find an awesome, authentic Mexican/Spanish restuarant not too far from our hotel. I have roasted chicken with black beans, white rice, and fired plantains. Pretty yummy, and I am proud of myself for trying something new instead of just settling for Mexican. The Spanish dish I tried was yummy! We stayed at the Hampton Inn through a cheap FBO rate. That evening, I walked about a mile down Cypress Creek road to grab a bite at Moonlite Diner. After I paid the bill, a huge thunderstorm hit and poured some rain down! I waited for it to die down then ran about halfway to an overpass on the freeway. I stayed there for a few minutes again, because the rain was really coming down! At least it got rid of all the gnats I had discovered on my walk TO the diner. It was a wet evening, and I was glad to get back into my hotel room and take a nice, hot shower. Friday's schedule: KFXE-KPBF-KAPA-KPHX. We are stopping in Pine Blugg, Arkansas for fuel on our way to drop off Ron in Denver, Centennial. He became a grandpa again on Monday and will be dropped off there to enjoy the weekend with his new granddaughter. Terry and I will fly the airplane home empty from Denver to Phoenix. I will get about seven hours of flying left seat! Yippee!