Spouse Flight!

So, yesterday one of the flying squadrons here sponsored a C-17 flight for the spouses and it was so much fun! Here was our agenda for the day:

0845: Spouses arrive at 15AS for continental breakfast
0900: Spouses in seats in 15AS Auditorium
0905 - 0915: Flight Brief / Pilot
0930 - 1030: Depart for flightline / Group photo next to aircraft
1030 - 1100: Engine start and taxi
1100 :2 ship depart Charleston for low altitude VFR flight to AR216
1200: ARCT with KC-135 on AR216
1330: Refueling complete
1400: Arrive at North, box lunch on the grounds with 2 ship
demonstration
1515: Depart North
1545: Arrive Charleston
1600: Arrive 15AS Auditorium for presentation of momentos

It was very neat. During the refueling process they took us up into the cockpit to witness them practice their refueling. It was crazy to see a big KC-135 so close at 27,000 feet going about 400 mph. Crazy! The whole day gave me such an appreciation for Kyle and what he does every day. It was exhausting and I wasn't the one flying the plane! One of the cool things was Kyle was on the other plane helping out the spouses and explaining things to them. For whatever reason, he couldn't be on my plane :( But I had friends that were on the other jet say he did a very good job and was very entertaining. He makes me proud :) Ok, here are some pictures, which is probably really what you want to see anyway ;)

Headed out to the plane

The inside of the jet, well half of it anyway (For a while the other plane was having issues and they thought they were going to have to put all of the spouses on one plane, turns out it fixed itself and they didn't have to. But the loadmasters worked so hard to get those chairs set up and we didn't use them. I appreciate them too, they have a hard job!)

The pilot's view during refueling (our pilot actually took this picture)

Me in the cockpit

For lunch we went out the back door, so this is a view of the other plane from out of the back

The other plane again, with spouses walking in front of it

Our view at lunch, pretty neat huh?

They put on a little show for us while we were eating, this is (obviously) formation

After lunch getting back on the plane. I also now appreciate why Kyle comes home sweaty after all his flights; those flight suits are HOT!

Me and my guy in our flight suits :) Actually, they are both HIS fight suits and I looked like a little kid in it. But it was a must-have photo

I am proud to be an Aggie

This is why I love Texas A&M. Its long, but worth watching.

Secretary of Defense Dr. Robert Gates' Aggie Muster Address
Uploaded by dougkeegan

I don't have any pictures from our Lowcountry Muster (I was running late and forgot my camera), but it was great. It was very casual, but it was so nice to meet with Aggies in the area and meet new people. I do miss Aggieland though.


"We stood a little taller,

and a little prouder then

When we heard the call of Muster

and the Roll Call just begin.

We stood there all together

and wiped away the tears

When our names were called out softly

and answered with a “Here!”

... and so we’ve joined together

with our brothers of the past

To make our final resting place at

Aggieland our last.

We take a toast to our brotherhood

wherever they may roam,

For us the trek is over

Aggieland we’re coming home."


by Lt. Col. David Harrigan ‘68

Take care of your ankles people!

That's good advice too.

And this is coming from someone who has some experience with bad ankles... lets see, I started playing basketball when I was about 8, played some soccer and eventually volleyball. All that to say that I have rolled both of my ankles more than a few times. Its to the point now where if I'm walking and I step wrong, they'll roll. And it doesn't hurt. Oh, and I can basically stand on the sides of my feet. Not a good thing. "Why is she telling me this?" you may be wondering. Well, I have decided to get myself back into shape and I have been running a bit more. I have been having some knee issues (in that it starts hurting about when I hit the 2 mile marker) that I finally broke down and got it checked out. The doctor said it could be one of 2 things: a bursa sack issue (under the knee cap, its sort of the same thing that Peyton Manning had to have surgery for last summer) or runners knee. He thinks its the latter, but isn't sure as it requires xrays and possibly an mri to see the bursa sack. So, we went with the runners knee diagnosis for now. Why do I have said runners knee? Because I overpronate (my feet roll inward as I take a step) and this is caused by my bad ankles. I now wear a knee brace when I run, have to do some extra streches and ice my knee when it gets bad. So, all that to say, take care of your ankles, they impact your whole leg.

I know that was random, but it was all I could think about on my run today.

What else have we been up to? Clearly, we had an interesting weekend last weekend (see below if you don't know what I am talking about...), Kyle has been flying and is leaving again Saturday, and when he has been home, we have been doing some landscaping to our front yard. We have plans for the back too but it is going to be some intense stuff (read: possibly extending our patio, making a few new flower beds and planting a tree or two) so that is going to wait a little. I am also going to paint our foyer and hallways while Kyle is on his next trip.

My family also visited while my brothers were on spring break. That was good, we had a lot of fun!

Stay tuned for some fun things: On April 18th, we are having a Low Country Aggie Muster, April 25th I am going on a C-17 spouses ride, and lastly... I am heading back to Texas in a little over a month, with Kyle following behind me a week after that! I am beyond excited! I miss the Republic!

I will leave you with some pictures that I have failed to post in the past, mostly random ones.

Kyle at the beach (a year ago, but we went to the beach with my family and I didn't get any pictures, so here is the beach):

Mugsy opening his Christmas present (I just saw this and thought it was cute):

And the Angel Oak here in Charleston, said to be the biggest tree east of the Mississippi:

Preface to the next post:

Read it like someone is telling you a really exciting story/reading a book. Then, see the comments section.

Royal 60, Go Around!

Yes, these are the famous words uttered by my wife in the last moments of desperation to save her husbands life. It all started on Sunday night when I was tasked to travel to the C-17 auxiliary airfield and man the control tower into the early morning. Knowing that I would endure this hardship alone, my dearest love decided to accompany me on this long drive northward. It was an eerie night with a cool breeze that would scare the devil himself. We traversed the twisted backcountry roads where the moonlight cast creepy shadows off the barren and craggy trees. On this very night, the pilots would be conducting operations with night vision goggles to an entirely blacked-out runway.

We arrived at the control tower mere moments before the first aircraft entered the airfield. Looking out in the distance I detected his aircraft lights steadily closing in on our location. I scarcely had time to turn out all the runway lights yet alone set up the infrared lighting. In the frenzy of the moment I left my wife upstairs, scurried down five stories of stairs and bolted out the door. Fumbling for the keys, I finally started the car and fled toward the runway. The giant C-17 screamed overhead and began a turn away from the field. In the panic of tardiness my heart raced at the task of setting up nearly a dozen infrared lights all along the runway. I started at the end and made my way to the front. Topping out at a 130 mph, I brought the vehicle to a screeching halt and readied myself to install the last few lights.

Ring … ring ... the heat of the moment was interrupted with a familiar sound, but what was it? A moment later I realized the cell phone in my pocket was beckoning me. “No time,” I said to myself, “must hurry … must finish.” What brought me to answer that phone in those very moments I will never know.

On the other end was my wife, as frantic as I have ever heard, proclaiming in a great uproar something about a plane and landing. Peering back over my shoulder, I finally caught a glimpse of the impending doom that awaited me. This beast of aircraft was gear down on short final and I found myself standing unprotected in the middle of the landing zone. I shouted back some instructions and my wife dutifully complied by grasping the radio and firmly stating, “Royal 60, go around!” Years of piloting experience kicked in and the pilots instinctively pushed in the power and began to climb. My wife saved the day (which was actually night) and was a true hero … or is it hero-ess.

I finished my task and returned to the control tower and as the fear of death subsided we took these sweet videos…

Foggy Luxembourg Town

Actually there is nothing foggy about it. But here are some pictures from my latest world travels as I continue my search for Carmen Sandiego.

On this day...

... 26 years ago my husbad was born! Happy birthday Kyle! :)