The "Fly Me" Tour

Well, hey there, friends and neighbors. Just wanted to let you know I made it to Grand Prairie safe and sound. I don't have a lot of time right now to get long-winded (WHAT?!?!), but here's a rundown of current events:


This was my view out the back window of the apartment as I was furiously trying to get the apartment cleaned and Pepe packed up. Time was a-wastin' at this point. I didn't get as early a start as I'd hoped, but I still managed to get off in good time.


And here's Pepe all loaded up and ready to roll once again. As always, he takes his load in good stride and doesn't even seem to notice that it's there. Thank goodness.


Once at home (top photo), I dashed over to Addison Airport to the Cavanaugh Flight Museum, the first of my aviation-oriented stops on this cross-country jaunt. I was extremely excited to find this little guy here, a Grumman US-2B -- or "Stoof" as it was known when it was designated as S-2F -- an anti-submarine plane I used to take care of when I was in the Navy. I've always loved these guys.


Another plane I was excited to find here was this Lockheed F-104A Starfighter, one of the most beautiful jets of all time in my opinion. I'd seen one of these on our squadron's ramp one day and just circled it in awe. This is the only other one I've seen since. It'll be a great addition to my airplane photo gallery.


Shooting the museum's aircraft from inside the hangars was a bit problematic, especially since there were so many crammed in so little space. I still took photos of them, but longed to get them outside where I could really do them justice. Still, a picture of a Supermarine Mk.VIII Spitfire is a picture of a Supermarine Mk.VIII Spitfire any day.


The next day, I took Pepe to get his oil changed, so I thought I'd poke around my old airport and see what kinds of planes might be sitting out there on the ramp. I ran across this quirky-looking little bird, a Flight Design CTSW. It looks like an egg whose bird just couldn't wait to hatch, doesn't it?


Then, last night all hell broke loose. A monster thunderstorm roared through the area, bringing howling winds, baseball-sized hail and rain, rain, rain. I took a quick shot out onto the patio, but the camera decided to focus on the raindrops instead. Luckily for us, the hail never made it to this area, splitting up and going to either the north or south of us. Whew!!! I've been looking at the weather all night and this morning and have decided to lay over another day here and let it move it on to the east a bit more, otherwise I'll be in it for the rest of the trip. No sense in that.

So, I guess that'll catch you up on events for now. Be sure to stay tuned to this station for further updates from the road.