Our last episode left off in Arizona [https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/kaths-north-america-adventure-part-iii.122451/], with one of @Lowflynjack's epic air-to-air photo shoots [https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/air-to-air-az-cessna-172-kath.122662/]...
I spent most of December in Tucson AZ with family. The Hubby (who had to stay behind in Anchorage for this trip) flew commercial down to Tucson to be with us for Christmas Break. I picked him up at TUS: "So, what do you want to do tomorrow, honey?" I asked. "I want to go out to Benson Airport and see the plane," he says immediately. The man has been living without his wife *and* without his plane for five months now, poor guy.
There is a lot to see and do in the desert southwest, especially if you're nerdy. Telescopes, for instance. Through my "in-crowd channels" in physics and astronomy departments at various universities, I got to take a tour of a couple of really neat telescope facilities: the VERITAS gamma-ray telescopes at the Whipple Observatory near Tucson, and the Very Large Array (VLA) radio observatory near Socorro New Mexico.
I also made a day-trip out to meet a guy who is a former Alaska bush pilot. I found out when I got there that he hadn't flown (or even sat in a plane!) for seven years. I thought to myself, "We are fixing that. TODAY." And we did. That was very rewarding!
Hubby and I flew together for the next big leg of the trip: Tucson -> Dallas. After so many months of flying everywhere solo, it was nice to have experienced company along for the ride. He helped me fly some practice instrument approaches, too, which was great.
Here in the DFW area, I've had the pleasure of getting to meet several POA'ers who either live here or were visiting, including:
@Ravioli (whom I still owe a dinner), @AggieMike88, @kayoh190, @JCranford, @Mrs. J Cranford, @Craig, @Salty, @GRG55, @RyanShort1, and probably others I've left out...
The weather is exactly as crazy as all the local Texans warned me about: it goes from tornado to snow to 70 degrees and sunny in the space of 48 hours. I've spent most of the time working, but somehow the weather has cleared up for the weekends and I've gotten to explore a few nearby airports such as Possum Kingdom, North Texas Regional, and Sulphur Springs. Still haven't gone out for barbeque. Still meaning to do that before I leave the state... (Anyone?)
As always, I've been putting most of the pictures and stories on the blog (since it's too much work to duplicate everything here):
beetlejuiceadventure.wordpress.com
Next (probably next weekend), I'll be heading east again, towards Tuscaloosa, Atlanta, and Florida. Then up the coast towards West Virginia. If anyone wants a meetup, just drop me a line.
For a last bit of fun, if anyone wants to play "name that airport", here is a fun one: Of course, knowing the general region of the country I've been in is a big hint. Blog readers may not participate, since the answer is in there.
I spent most of December in Tucson AZ with family. The Hubby (who had to stay behind in Anchorage for this trip) flew commercial down to Tucson to be with us for Christmas Break. I picked him up at TUS: "So, what do you want to do tomorrow, honey?" I asked. "I want to go out to Benson Airport and see the plane," he says immediately. The man has been living without his wife *and* without his plane for five months now, poor guy.
There is a lot to see and do in the desert southwest, especially if you're nerdy. Telescopes, for instance. Through my "in-crowd channels" in physics and astronomy departments at various universities, I got to take a tour of a couple of really neat telescope facilities: the VERITAS gamma-ray telescopes at the Whipple Observatory near Tucson, and the Very Large Array (VLA) radio observatory near Socorro New Mexico.
I also made a day-trip out to meet a guy who is a former Alaska bush pilot. I found out when I got there that he hadn't flown (or even sat in a plane!) for seven years. I thought to myself, "We are fixing that. TODAY." And we did. That was very rewarding!
Hubby and I flew together for the next big leg of the trip: Tucson -> Dallas. After so many months of flying everywhere solo, it was nice to have experienced company along for the ride. He helped me fly some practice instrument approaches, too, which was great.
Here in the DFW area, I've had the pleasure of getting to meet several POA'ers who either live here or were visiting, including:
@Ravioli (whom I still owe a dinner), @AggieMike88, @kayoh190, @JCranford, @Mrs. J Cranford, @Craig, @Salty, @GRG55, @RyanShort1, and probably others I've left out...
The weather is exactly as crazy as all the local Texans warned me about: it goes from tornado to snow to 70 degrees and sunny in the space of 48 hours. I've spent most of the time working, but somehow the weather has cleared up for the weekends and I've gotten to explore a few nearby airports such as Possum Kingdom, North Texas Regional, and Sulphur Springs. Still haven't gone out for barbeque. Still meaning to do that before I leave the state... (Anyone?)
As always, I've been putting most of the pictures and stories on the blog (since it's too much work to duplicate everything here):
beetlejuiceadventure.wordpress.com
Next (probably next weekend), I'll be heading east again, towards Tuscaloosa, Atlanta, and Florida. Then up the coast towards West Virginia. If anyone wants a meetup, just drop me a line.
For a last bit of fun, if anyone wants to play "name that airport", here is a fun one: Of course, knowing the general region of the country I've been in is a big hint. Blog readers may not participate, since the answer is in there.