Smack Down at the Airport

When Steve's boss flies into town, he likes to stick around the airport and look at all his stuff. Sometimes we go out to dinner, but that generally means getting home late, usually because there's no restaurant around here that can serve a decent meal in a short amount of time. So we have a grill at the hangar, and I bring food out there at dinner time. We cook it right out front, set up a table and chairs, and eat in front of the Cobra attack helicopter.
Shay was with me last night as I prepared the steak, potatoes, and cowboy beans. He brought his Razor scooter so he'd have something to do. Mike took a ride on his motorcycle while I cooked, and as he was leaving I photographed Shay and Mike having a little drag race:

Lining up for the start....


Giving the "snake eyes" for intimidation...


Racing action!


And of course a celebratory Budweiser:

The Governator, Part II

Some of you may remember my ramblings about the Governator 7 months ago, when I fantasized about meeting up with Arnold and becoming fast friends.
After I posted that, some people asked me, "What is your obsession with Arnold?' There's no obsession, he's just high on my list of people to meet. He was the Frikkin Terminator, for God's sake!
Steve's boss, the one who makes awesome plans for us and then cancels them.....well he's a developer in Southern California. He is being considered by the State to receive some of the Economic Stimulus money for a very big construction project that he has been planning for over a decade. So he had to meet with California's Governor, Arnold.
And he gave him a pair of awesome sunglasses, the ones that he has his logo imprinted on. Oh, by the way RJ and Brandy, these are the sunglasses I have set aside for you. Arnold was more than thrilled to be getting an awesome pair of shades, so he posed for a picture with Steve's boss. Oh my God it's one of the best pictures ever.....



Do you know what this picture means to me? I am a true observer of the "6 degrees of seperation" thing. This picture is evidence that I am now 2 degrees away from meeting with Arnold. 2 degrees!!!!

Oh, what will I wear?????

2009 Camaro

We've been waiting for this day for several years: the day we would finally get to check out the new Camaro in person. Seriously. It's been several years of emailing each other the links to online stories, pictures, and of course the Transformers movie didn't help. But finally. The day is here.
Steve's friend (who is always trying to sell him a car) called to let him know a new Camaro had just been delivered.
And when we saw it, our jaws just DROPPED.
She's a beauty.


That mirror finish nearly brings a tear to my eye....


The interior is kind of basic, yet very comfortable. I couldn't believe how huge it was inside, I could barely see out the windows. Can you see me?


I think Steve was impressed. He took it for a spin and was very surprised at what kind of power the 6 cylinder had. Maybe when he sees this picture, he will acknowledge that he would be a very cool daddio if he got himself a new Camaro...



And of course since these guys are car salesmen, they parked this black beauty next to something equally as impressive:



Aaah, Camaro. You had me at hello.

Fun Things to Do When All Other Plans Fall Apart

We had a multitude of plans for this past weekend.

1. We were going to stay at a bed and breakfast in Northern California for a truck show. We had to leave on Thursday in order to make the journey and get checked into our very quaint accommodations. We really looked forward to getting out of the 100-degree heat, and we have been overdue for a road trip.

When Steve's boss said he suddenly didn't feel like going to the truck show (it was more than a ten hour drive from here) Steve had to cancel the room reservations. He'd made them about six months ago.

2. Steve's boss invited us to go fly in the lear jet to Vegas to sit in the V.I.P. area at a Bon Jovi concert. This was Friday. He said his charter jet that gets leased by celebrities was going to be taking Paris Hilton to the same concert.
But then after several hours Steve's boss changed his mind.

3. The biggest boat race in the southwest was taking place on the lake here in Havasu, and the best seat in the house was in Steve's boss's helicopter. Flying over those huge colorful boats is such a thrill. They go about 160 miles per hour.
Steve's boss decided he didn't feel like doing that, though.

So what did we do? We climbed in Steve's little plane and went to a pancake breakfast in the middle of nowhere. It took us about 90 minutes to fly there, thru mountains, and the landing strip was a gravel road. There were other little planes there, from different areas of the state. I guess these guys are sort of organized and they do a "fly in" breakfast once in a while.
Here's the view from the gravel landing strip:


We only stayed long enough to have some breakfast and of course use the porta-potty. Steve dropped his very nice sunglasses into the toilet. They stayed there.
We took off and went south to Phoenix, where we have a couple of great friends who invited us to stay with them. Check out this mountain that's in between Fountain Valley (where Stevie Nicks lives) and Phoenix:

I think it's called Red Mountain.

Martin (you may recall previous entries about his escapades) and Mitzi are wonderful people who always have the Welcome mat out for us.
They cooked pork roast all day at their beautiful home so we could enjoy some shredded pork burritos for dinner.

Oh and the lovely, lovely cowboy beans!!!!


Mitzi demonstrated the little hand-held aerator that she uses for her wine:


It was a kick-back, nice evening out on the back patio with nothing but the desert and mountains and stars--and the little fire pit to keep the chill away.
The next morning, Mitzi and I got ambitious and decided to climb the little mountain that's in their neighborhood. I love that about Phoenix; there's hiking paths everywhere. Neighborhoods are nestled in between the mountains:


The little mountain in front of Martin and Mitzi's was a pretty good walk. We took photos while we climbed. This is Steve and Martin playing on the front porch:


The flight home was bumpy and rough because of the wind, so we stopped about halfway on a very remote landing strip that was situated in a cow pasture.
I had to let my stomach stop flipping. What a neat place to rest, though. The Yucca tree nearby NEEDED to be photographed:


We passed over a dam, not sure which one this is. I would have tried to identify it on the map but I'd gotten so dizzy and sick from the flight I was lucky to get this shot before I had to close my eyes again.


It was of course nice to get home, to our own pillows. We had a fire in the fireplace out back, and sat in the jacuzzi while my stomach mended itself. Gonna have to investigate some supplements that will help with the air sickness, huh?