Meet Me In St. Louis...

I got to spend a little time in the midwest. I went to attend a class at Scott AFB, Illinois.



Not a whole lot to show for it. Enjoying the humidity, and fireflies(but only for one night). Played golf several times. But we did get to go visit the tallest memorial in the nation (650 ft) - the Gateway Arch, in St. Louis, Missouri.

Just a few pictures of that part of my trip.

There is a small park just north of the momument. It was a nice to just walk around.



The Mississippi River to the east. And a picture of St. Louis to the west.



Then, of course, the arch...



Then the ride to the top.



Sheesh, Bobby get out of the way!!...

We took a tram cart all the way to the top.



No, its not a glorified toliet.... The is just to show how close the seats were to each other. ....and the doors....



When you get to the top... this what the inside looks like... notice that you have to lean out to actually get a look out the windows. Kinda nerve racking....



And out to the east - the Mississippi River, and to the west - downtown St. Louis.



I can't complain - the view was spactacular.

And then the plane ride home gave some great views.

I don't know where this is - but it was interesting to look at.

And then there was a break in the clouds to get a great shot of the Grand Canyon.

Fun in the Springs!!

So, I've been in Colorado Springs for about 2 weeks now, and I figured it was time for me to give a little update with some pics!!

First off it was so much fun to be picked up by my sister Jessica and her two boys. I was the only one with a welcoming party!!

I was put up at the Embassy Suites, which is great!!

I've got to spend some time with family. On Saturday, the 13th, I got to go golfing with some cousins, which was fun. I hadn't been golfing for about 6 years. But, I guess I wasn't too bad. Later that evening my sister Rachel hosted a dinner for everyone. It was great fun. After dinner there was a bunch of playing at the Wii. My niece Sydney is amazing, and it is a good challenge. I got a great picture of her. :)

Here is a picture of my nephew Preston and his cast.

Then during the next week I we got out of class a little early, so a few of us went to the Acedemy to play a little golf. It was absolutely beautiful. With the mountains in the background. It was wonderful - makes me NOT want to leave.

Something else I can't believe - I hadn't played golf in 6 years, and here I've played twice in the past week!!
Then, also with our class we get to take a few field trips. One this week was to Denver.

To Buckley AFB. The photo - no I didn't take it... I got it off the internet.

It was lots of fun. I am learning alot. I love being in the Springs. I just a short time left, so I am hoping to make the most of it.

Yeah for Memorial Day!!

Happy Memorial Day to all who are serving and who have served. I am priviladged to come from a family who have been in service to our country for generations.

To celebrate the holiday... besides finally having a day off, and sleeping in until... well 8ish. That night I met up with some friends from church for a bonfire on the beach - in Arroyo Grande, CA.

It was really windy which made it cold. But it was fun to be out with friends.

Now the countdown till I get to go back to The Springs for a little while.... 2 more weeks... yeah!!

My First Launch.

Well, yesterday when I got to work - I was informed that there was a launch, and we could go see it if we wanted to. So, on my lunch break I ran home and grabbed my camera. Then the time finally came. We went out to the gathering place for the launch, and as we pulled up we saw it shoot off - and, well... the video shows what I saw.

A Nice Day For a Hike

We had a three-day weekend, and I've been visiting with Jacob and his family. On Friday, I drove up the highway that runs along the coast. It was a beautiful day.

On Saturday we went for a hike in the Big Basin Redwood State Park. This is the California's oldest state park. We hiked for several hours, covering over 3 miles.

It was fun. We saw a waterfall, hiked up a huge rock, saw many HUGE Redwood trees, and hade a picnic along the way. We were all very tired. Jake was a tropper!!

And then Sunday was the Super Bowl. Jacob threw a great party! I would have to say my favoriate part was - well the food. A close second would be the antenna laying on the ladder... what was that for again?

Trip to California

It was a long 20 hours. I started off on Wednesday, and drove all day to Colorado. When I got to Colorado Springs, I made a quick stop at Jess's place. I was a nice break to get out and stretch. It was nice to see her and my nephews too. Then I was off to Utah. I made it to my mother's house the next morning. This was where I finally got some sleep. Layne and Mom was so nice for putting me up for the day. After I got some sleep, and they got home from work - we went out to dinner @ Golden Corral.

And Becky and Troy joined us.

And a few hours later, I was back on the road. My next destination? Jacob and Camille's place in California. The worst part about this section of the trip was the fog that seemed to spread the whole length of Nevada.

I think the visibility got down to about 50 ft in front of me. I had to slow down to about 35 mph for a few hours.

But I finally made it to Jacob's today. This has been an exhuasting trip.

California here I come....

Today I graduated my course, here at Goodfellow. We had one of the bigger classes - about 30 of us.

I will be off to Vandenberg AFB in California tomorrow.

Also something great thing happened this week. Josh joined the Air Force. I wish him well at Basic Training.