USS Yorktown Charleston South Carolina

So what is there to see in here?


Me on the flight deck

Charleston sunset

F-18 Hornet and beautiful Charleston sunset

Another sunset pic

Sunset pic from the bridge

On the hanger deck with an F4U Corsair

Boeing Stearman and a Wright Flyer

Shane

F-14 Tomcat - This bald headed guy keeps getting in the way!

I love the elegant lines on the Tomcat

Marine F4 Phantom

Vought F8 Crusader with a Prowler in the background

A4d Skyhawk

Pilot Briefing Room

Yorktown Bridge

USS Yorktown at Patriot Point

Charleston South Carolina

Shane

Colonial Mansion on the Battery

I took a trip to Charleston South Carolina to see my good friend Shane Windham along with his wife Kelley and thier two kids Lauren and Patrick. It was great to see them and they were excellent hosts and tour guides! I've never been to the Carolinas. But I think it's nice down there. I took a lot of pictures but forgot to take one on the Spanish Moss hanging from the trees.

A $5 Deal? Really? (yes, really)

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the ad on craigslist. "Rock Skis $5". I drove to the persons house, handed them a $5 dollar bill and I was off with a pair of skis. There is a pair just like these on eBay for $255. Cosmetically they are in good condition. However there is not much camber (spring) left in them. But hey, the price was right!!! I must admit that they are going to need the edges sharpened and a good coat of wax. And if someone skis over these babies or heaven forbid they are stolen, at least I won't be out a lot of money.

Bike Stuff

In the summer of 2000, my daughter Jennifer was planning her wedding. I was going nuts with all of this planning. I was talking to my brother about all of the stress. He told me that I needed to do something to relieve that stress. He asked "Do you have a bicycle?" I said, sure I do but I haven't ridden it in years. So I went and bought new tubes and tires and a helmet and I started riding. At first I just went around the block. That was all I could do because I was really out of shape. But as time progressed I rode more and more and my rides became longer and longer.

By the fall of 2000, I realized that my old Motobecane didn't have enough gears for the mountains. It had a six speed cassette where the new bikes had a 9 speed cassette. I started visiting bike shops around town and learned a great deal. In January of 2001, I brought home a new Lemond Zurich. It had a Reynolds 853 steel frame, Shimano Ultegra 9 speed with a triple crank set and Rolf Wheels. It was also setup with clipless pedals which took me a while to get used too. This bike was 6 pounds lighter than the Motobecane. So the Lemond was a lot more nimble and racy feeling than the old bike. So I started calling it "the Ferrari". The day that I brought it home it was cold. Kathy and the kids were leaving to go shopping and I told them that I was going out for a short ride to check out my new wheels. A couple of hours later Kathy returned and found me in the kitchen with a cup of hot chocolate. I really didn't for for a short ride. It wound up being more like 20 miles! From that point on, I was addicted to this new sport.

In June of 2001 I got to be part of Ride the Rockies. It was 432 miles and it went from Crested Butte to Boulder. What a ride! I'm thankful that my wife was there to support me.

I've since ridden in the 2002 Elephant Rock and Triple Bypass and LOTOJA (Logan Utah to Jackson Wyoming). In 2003 I rode in the Ride the Rockies from Cortez to Copper Mountain and the Triple Bypass. I also ridden to the top of Mount Evans (14,126 feet).

There have been so many training rides that I've forgotten where I've gone. But it wasn't unusual for me to ride from my house south of Parker and go up to Conifer. I would actually ride a few miles past Conifer to get an even 50 miles and then I ride home and make it a 100 miles or what we call a century ride. It would take me about 8 hours and I'd be exhausted. But it was all worth it as my stamina increased and I was able to stay in really good shape.

For the last 6 years or so, I have not ridden at all due to my weird schedule at work. I even had to sell my bike. But I'm looking forward to getting a new bike and hitting the roads again!

Colorful Phrasing

I got thinking about a song by John Denver. It's off his 1972 album Rocky Mountain High and it's part of the Season Suite called Fall. I just love the colorful phrasing that he uses.

Reflections in the water like shadows in my mind
Speak to me of passing days and nights and passing time
The falling leaves are whispering, winter's on its way
I close my eyes remembering the warmth of yesterday

It seems a shame to see September swallowed by the wind
And more than that it's oh so sad to see the summer end
And though the changing colors are a lovely thing to see
If it were mine to make the change I think I'd let it be

But I don't remember hearing anybody asking me

United's new 787 Dreamliner

I'm really excited about this new airplane. It's revolutionary in many ways. An all carbon fiber structure requires a whole new mindset in how to build airplanes. It'll be 20% more fuel efficient than a 767, has larger windows, the cabin will have more humidity and be pressurized to an atmosphere equal to about 4000 feet making it a lot more comfortable to fly in.

Another reason I'm so excited is that my good friend and brother-from-another-mother, Shane Windham is working for Boeing in Charleston, South Carolina and will be building these airplanes. VERY COOL!!!

Close to Tragedy

There have been some interesting coincidences in my life that have made me wonder. I've been close to national tragedies, but have not been directly affected by them.

April 1993 a tornado ripped through northeast Tulsa and Catoosa Oklahoma. We were living in Broken Arrow which is about 6 miles south of Catoosa. We could see a huge black cloud over the town. But we couldn't actually see the funnel as it was raining. A truck stop was leveled and about 100 homes were damaged or destroyed. Six people lost their lives.

April 19, 1995 my wife and I were driving from Tulsa to Oklahoma City to attend a restaurant show. We were not listening to the radio and paying attention what was going on in the outside world. As we were driving, we had people pass us like we were standing still. We even had emergency vehicles from various communities passing us. I couldn't understand why this was happening. Then I finally turned on the radio and heard that the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City had been bombed. The DJ on the radio said that volunteers were needed. We scraped our plans for the restaurant show and decided to go to a Wal-Mart and buy some work clothes. By the tome we made it to the outskirts of OKC, they were saying on the radio that they had plenty of volunteers and they were turning people away. Intrestingly enough, the convention center where we were going was less than a mile from the Murrah Building.

Three years later we moved from Tulsa to Denver. On a house hunting trip, we looked at a home that was within a mile from a Columbine High School. But for some reason we chose to live elsewhere. On April 20, 1999 with the massacre at Columbine, I marveled that we could have been there and my kids might have been involved. But they were not.

I worked for American Airlines in Tulsa from '86-'98. I then moved to Denver and worked for Galileo, a former company of United Airlines. All the work I did for them was for United. And since 2003 I have for for United Airlines. So I have 25 years of working for the airlines. The airlines are fierce competitiors. But they are also a close-knit family. I know many people who have worked for more than one airline.

When the terrorists attacked our country on September 11, 2001, I once again marveled that the two airlines that I worked for had lost airplanes. I'm not trying to make a big deal out of all of this. But it is ironic how close I've been to some national tragedies, but have not been personally affected by them.

Yesterday was the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. I was on my way to work and listening to the radio and they started talking about how the planes hit the World Trade Center. My eyes teared up. I couldn't believe that those emotions were still within me. I thought they were buried so deep that they would never re-surface. I was wrong. But I had to shake these of and go do my job.

I believe that God only gives us challenges that He knows we can handle. We are shaped by our challenges and how we respond to them. All of the challenges we face are like going through the refiner's fire to remove impurities. Will we melt in the face of adversity or rise to the occasion?