SXM........HOW LOW CAN THEY GO????

Well, I got to go to my most favorite place in the world (my future retirement home!! ;-) ) St. Maarten (SXM), and had a great time as usual. I'm amazed at how low some of these pilots drag their planes in over the beach in order to give the spectators a thrill. This guy was REAL low........... and fast too. Not quite sure how many times he's done this, but every day he does the same thing, and he seems to be pushing the safety envelope with each and every approach. Hopefully he doesn't ruin the "view" for everyone by clipping a fence one day. Supposedly that's already been done by a B747, and they rebuilt the fence to keep spectators a bit further from the runway. In any case, it's the neatest place in the world to watch airplanes and I can't wait to retire there one day.......! Come on retirement!!!!

MEET BRUTUS!!

The other day we had a cookout at our new home and had a few friends over. My girlfriend's sons coach, Chris, brought his teacup chihuahua for the fun and games. This little guy had a blast. He seemed to be in love with my collection of stuffed animals (Steiff's), and was jumping up and down and carrying on like they were real. This little guys name is Brutus, and boy is he a cute one! At ten months old and a whopping three pounds, Chris and Jimmy (Maria's son), have already taught him to stay, sit, and roll over. His favorite food? Carrots! Go figure. Can't get the humans to eat them, but dogs seem to love them. Here's to you Brutus!!!

WELCOME TO HOLLYWOOD MILAGRO!!!

Maria's aunt Milagro (her dad's sister), came to visit us in Hollywood last night. We had a great time and wonderful dinner with her. Maria was able to catch up on all the latest news in Spain. Thanks for the visit aunt Milagro! We hope you enjoyed your stay!

SNOW EVERYWHERE

While flying from Eagle to Newark (EGE-EWR) a couple of days ago, it amazed me at just how much of our nation is covered with snow. From when we left until we arrived in Newark four hours later, we saw nothing but white. Here's a shot from 39,000 feet showing the view we experienced for our entire flight. How can their not be two snowflakes exactly alike??? :-)

FLYING WITH SCOTT

Well, finally back home for three days before I head out again. Got a call from the training department a couple of days ago and they decided I needed to get qualified to fly to Eagle (EGE), Colorado......otherwise known to the rich and famous crowd as "Vail". I'd flown to Vail back in 1989 with my best friend Pat Mooney, when I worked for US Customs. We flew some "VIP support" in the Blackhawk helicopter for the Department of US Treasury. Anyway, I got the pleasure of flying my qualification ride with a guy I'd known back in 1983, in the US Air Force while stationed at Sembach, Germany, Scott Butcher (he's the one in the photo with just a little less hair than me....LOL). This was the first time we've ever flown together, but it's neat to know that after 27 years you can fly with someone you knew from a "previous life". Scott is a stand up guy, AF Academy graduate, F-16 pilot, and one of best check airmen at our airline. He's always one to help whenever help is needed. He has such a great personality and is so well liked by the station agents that they let him use their car, and set up anything he wants to do like skiing, sightseeing, etc. before he arrives. They even know his schedule of when he's arriving so they can all get together. Pretty neat! We all got together for a "sightseeing" trip in the Vail area, and then went out for a nice Italian dinner, and Scott bought dinner for everyone. Here's a couple of shots of my trip: arrival reflection, Scott and I, view from my hotel room, and Ada, Carol, the EGE station agents with Scott, and I. Thanks for a great trip Scott, it was a pleasure flying with you!