I Found My Thrill...

I'm sure the folks at "Blueberry Hill" have never heard that one before. ;)

So, as expected, the alarm went off at a time that had a "5" as the first number, which is better than "4", but still pretty early as far as I'm concerned. I pulled up the weather and forecast, and everything looked good, and as I stepped outside I saw stars. Good deal. As I got closer to the airport, I noticed my stars gone, and then it started spitting snow. By the time I got the plane out, there was a thin layer of snow on the ground and it was coming down pretty good for a little cell. Bugger. :) It didn't take very long at all and we were through it, out on top, and enjoying a sunrise, albeit from the wrong direction. It smoothed out up above and made for a very pleasant morning flight.

Today I was in St. Louis longer than normal, and I was over at the Jet Center instead of the Piston Palace, because our usual FBO is being gutted and redone/redecorated top to bottom, literally. For once, our airplane was the nicest one sitting at the jet center though, considering there weren't any jets there and the other piston arrivals were seeking refuge there too. :) Of course, the ramp fee was $40 there vs $15 at the other place, too... The jet center does have a courtesy car, unlike the piston place, so upon advice from Justin, I went into town to "The Loop" and hit up "Blueberry Hill", a restaurant that's won a lot of awards for various things, has a lot of memorabilia on the walls, etc. Good food, nice atmosphere, enjoyed the place. :)

I'd printed off directions from home, and they led me to a housing edition. Doggone Mapquest. So I pulled out my phone, turned on my hotspot, pulled out my iPad because I can see it better, looked up the restaurant, plugged the address into the google maps thing, and I was only about 2 miles away from the right spot. It was a nice drive there-fairly quiet traffic, and I walked around the stores for awhile before going in to eat. Such a beautiful, sunny day there. A little exercise, a little view, a little food, a little sun. The drive home I ended up getting stuck in a long line of traffic all stopped by a train, and I ended up a mile from the airport for about an hour. Then I got a text that my guy was headed back early and on his way to the airport, but was stuck in this terrible line of traffic. Imagine that. ;)

No snow showers on the way home, just wind. Seventy knot crosswinds up at 15,000'. Shoooo...

A fellow came out to the hangar while I was there, said he lived off the end of the runway. He said that he always knew when the "fighter" was up, even if you couldn't see it, you could hear it. Then he said that "that little trainer is fun to watch too." I pointed to the Six and said "that one?" He said yes and asked if I flew in that one, so I said yes, and he said "You scare my mom." Pause. "How do I scare your mom?" He flipped his hand around and said "You know, when you stall it out and fall over and stuff." His mom must have good eyesight, as high as I am when I "fall over" and such. Well, depending on what she means by that, I guess. Most likely Nathan's lower than I am and HE'S the one scaring the mom. Yeah. ;)

Another trip tomorrow, same departure time as this morning (aka 'dark and early'). :)