Another airport photo

I know, more airplane stuff......

I expected today to be really boring. The weather forecast was for cloudy skies and rain. Usually that makes me the "Lonely Maytag Repair(wo)man".

But, for some reason, it was busy all day! Interesting aircraft today!

Cool, calm morning at the airport!

I went to the airport early this morning because I had a King Air that needed fuel for an early departure.....

When I arrived, there was lots going on!

Neat way to start the day!!!

McCraw Reunion

It's reunion time again! This year, "our" branch of the McCraw family tree was responsible for the setup of the fellowship hall for the reunion.

We were up before sunrise (unusual for me!!) to fly up to Asheville for a very yummy breakfast at Cracker Barrel.

Afterwards, there was a little bit of prep work before we went over to the church.

Always have to include an Obie photo....he's on a strict diet now (I guess he's getting old like the rest of us!!)  No more treats, poor thing!

All the usual suspects attended.  Great to see everyone.  Really great to eat all the yummy stuff....my blackberry pancakes from breakfast failed me.....I was hungry!  The McCraws are good cooks!

We made little "goodie baskets" for the 7 brothers and sisters to take home.

Lots of old photos were discussed - trying to figure out "who was who" in some of them.

Then back to the airport.....getting some fuel alongside all the business jets.  A beautiful pre-fall day!

Siler City Airport on our way home - a beautiful flight.  Fun day!

Happy Birthday to my Daddy!

It's that date again - the forever infamous 9/11.....because it's my Daddy's birthday!  He would have been 72 today - here he is with Mom and the boys - likely in 1992 but the photo is undated - all wearing their "Piper" tee-shirts.     I still have all of them - Mom gave me theirs....I guess if we ever go over to the "dark-side" and buy a Piper, we'll wear them! 

I believe your life still has meaning as long as you are in someone's thoughts!

Fuel Pump Paint Makeover at Siler City Airport

I've been meaning for a while to spruce up the fuel pump at Siler City Airport. It's just gotten a bit rusty over the years. Here's the "before" photo from the back of the pump.

I first used a pressure washer and blew off any loose paint/rust.  Then I painted it with trusty Rust-o-leum "Rusty Metal Primer" - then top-coated with gloss white (also Rust-o-leum).  It's not perfect, but should help protect it for a few more years!

Similar views of the front of the pump "before":

And after....I think it looks a good bit better (as long as you don't look too close!)

Stormy Weather

I took these photos during a particularly heavy downpour at the airport...the photo really doesn't show just how much rain was coming down.

And then a few minutes later, the air was very clear.

And we found a little snappy-turtle.  He wasn't too happy to be toted around!!

Join me for our little mini-Labor Day vacation to Myrtle Beach

Since Ocracoke is still closed to visitors, we had to head south for our Labor Day weekend....Buddy and Sharon joined us in Myrtle Beach.  We got a terrific deal on a very nice condo in the same complex we spent last Thanksgiving with the McCraws.

No real plans, just wandering and relaxing. Wandering on the boardwalk.  Friday almost deserted.  By Saturday evening this same spot was wall-to-wall people!  No recession here!

Since one of us is named Marvin.....we had to enjoy a meal at their namesake!!

Yes, every one loves Marvin. 

How's this for a healthy meal??  It was fresh and yummy and inexpensive!!  No, it's not all mine!!!

We contemplated a few of the "rides"....but opted instead just to watch and keep our $50 in our pockets....the 60 second thrill rides just seemed to cost a tad to much for our tastes.


Enjoyed some of the "caution" statements.....read some of these.....I don't think we would be allowed on the ride anyway!!  (especially the "undiciplined people" notice....and a few more, but we won't say which....)
 

Duane resting a bit.  We took every opportunity to relax!

Many strolls down the beach too!

Probably hard to see, but it was fun watching the guys playing in the sand with their young kids.

Went to Boardwalk on Broadway for some afternoon entertainment.  Always something interesting going on there.

At a restaurant Buddy found a sign that he liked - thought he could trade his wife for his bill!!

Silly stools - I thought the pink pokadots went terrific with the lime green shirt!!

Somehow, the guys convinced Sharon and I to "ride the bulls"....Sharon is about 20 feet away riding a similar bull.  I'm not showing you her photo because I'm only going to embarrass myself here.  Really.  Embarrassing.  And Painful!  We are definitely too old for this!!

If you look close, you can see the ending of the ride.  Ugly.  And I'm sore now.  Guess I should have put that on my bucket list so it could be crossed off now. 

And of course, there had to be oysters.  Lots and Lots and Lots of oysters.  I'm the only one in the group that eats them....but they were kind enough to interrupt all the bull-riding fun and take me to Shucker's for the all-you-can eat oyster roast.   Yum, I enjoyed 2 1/2 buckets worth.  The little waitress seemed truly amazed - said something like

"really, that's the most I think I've ever seen anyone eat - it's always the tiny ones that can eat the most!"

Cool - I like her.  She called me tiny!

More beach walking - beautiful day!!  Looking north from Pier 14....no one was catching much....

Looking south from the pier.  Lots of family fun at Myrtle Beach!

Sharon and Buddy - so sweet!!

The vacation is about over - went to play the silly trivia game at a local pub - you play with these little handsets.  My "name" was RED2.

Just wanted to share - I won a round!!!  Really, we all won a round, but this is the World of Karen, so it's the one I'm showing!!!

And that's all, folks!!!  We left early for a rainy flight back home.  We're pretty good at the relaxing vacation - but I'm always eager to practice....

More hurricane damage

Hop over to Glory Days  for an update!

Glory Days Blog


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Hurricane Irene photo from Pecan Grove

Just thought I'd add another view of the marina. This was taken during the hurricane. Notice that the pilings appear to be just a few feet out of the water. They are normally about 10 feet from the surface of the water. Amazing that the crew of volunteers kept all the boats safe during the storm! They were walking between those boats on the docks that are beneath at least 4 feet of churning water. I'm in awe that anyone would volunteer to do that!

Here is a photo showing the decking and pilings in the marina - this is all hidden by the huge amount of water!

A little torn foresail - thanks Irene

We finally got some info from the marina about Irene damage. Could have been much worse! The marina suffered some damage, don't really know the extent yet. Most of the boats came thru well. Glory Days suffered a torn sail....bummer. Must have come un-wrapped during the high winds.

Here is a photo that someone took in a lull - you can see the torn sail flapping. Also note that there are no docks to be seen - they are under 4' of water!

New home for Axle

Richard and Miranda needed to get a fence installed in their backyard so Axle could stretch his legs.....so they came and picked up the old dog house for him.

Then Robert joined Richard for a little fence-building. I think it looks great!

Gutter Forest

We got back from our little trip to the boat Sunday afternoon.  When we were taxiing to the hangar, I said "we've really got to do something about the forest growing in our gutters".   Notice the pine tree saplings that are extending up from the roof of the building.  I think the hangar was built about 13 years ago....and no one has been up there to clean the gutters in all those years.  The building is 18' tall, so not an easy task.

Luckily, we have wonderful neighbors!!!  One of them, Barney, has a nice little bucket truck!  I called him and he said "sure, come on over"!   My only task was to move the truck forward as Duane got the gutters cleaned out - no easy task!

The little trees were tough little things!  Amazing how much root each one grew - no real dirt, just decayed leaves that had blown into the gutters over the years.

A little hard to see, but an amazing amount of trees/debris was thrown down!  Some of the saplings were 4' tall!

See?  All nice and clean, ready for the next 13 years!!!

We are NOT really that stupid!

I get this wonderful Parmesan cheese at Sam's Club. This is a big 2 lb hunk.

But, I noticed this on the label.....Contains: Milk.  Like, they need to warn us that CHEESE contains MILK.  Geeze. 

News14 Video

I've got 10 more seconds of "fame" to add to my list!!  There was an airplane stolen from Chapel Hill today and it crashed north of Pittsboro......(they're still hunting for the thief!!)

Stolen Airplane News14



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