Tic Tac Toe

Winter is here

Tic Tac Toe at 40,000 ft

Well it is the end of October and already we are looking at winter.  Snow this morning on the airplanes and across the ground on the way to New York.  The second picture is what we pilots do when we get bored.  Tic tac toe at 40,000 feet.  It is difficult but amusing.  On to Sacramento.  I will get some good pictures.  See ya soon.

October Road

The sunrise flying home for my Anniversary.

Spending time with Mom in Orlando and her new sporty car!

The beautiful mountains in Denver

Another sunset in New York

This was a good trip, but I am glad to be home. It started out at 6 am in Minneapolis with a check ride. As a pilot we have to take many tests each year. We have a 4 day checkride in the simulator each year and then once a year we receive a line evaluation. The line evaluation is not announced and you never know when it will be. The check pilot will just show up and go through all of your manuals to make sure everything is up to date and then ride in the cockpit for a round trip. This time it was to Denver and back. It is about 2 hours each way and they test all of your skills. They ask you questions about the airplane and all of the procedures. They then watch you fly and grade your performance. Luckily I passed and get to keep my job for a while longer. If you fail it is unpaid leave and up to a board if you get to keep your job. (No pressure). We always joke about training and call it - bet your career. The flight to Denver was very bumpy but I did get a beautiful shot of the mountains. It is usually very bumpy going into Denver as the air flows over the mountains it creates turbulence. We call that mountain wave. It can be very dangerous.

Then it was off to Orlando where I was able to have diner with my mom. A short night but it was so cool to see nana. She was sporting a new car. Very cool! The next day taxing in you could see the sunset over downtown New York city. Very beautiful. Flying home on the last day I snapped this picture of the sunrise. It was amazing with the vivid colors of red and blue. The camera does not due it justice. Well it is home for our 22nd Anniversary. I can't wait to see you all and go out to dinner tonight.

Go West young man!

The Fall colors over Minneapolis

Great Sand Dunes National Monument

Portion of the Grand Canyon

The Moon!

The only grass in Arizona

We flew out West to Phoenix, Arizona.  I love flying out West.  It is such a different part of the United States.  The changes are dramatic the further you fly West.  The start of the trip flew over Minneapolis and as you can see the fall colors are beautiful.  As we flew over Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico we flew over this unusual site.  It is the Great Sand Dunes National Monument in Colorado.  It looks like a giant sand box shaped like the United States.  It is located at the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Range and some of the dunes are over 700 feet tall.  This is in the Southern portion of Colorado.  The further West we travel the more desolate and terrain becomes.  We fly over the Southern portion of the Grand Canyon.  It is over 800 feet deep cut into the earth.  As we get closer to Phoenix we fly over the Moon?  No this is actually called Monument Valley.  They filmed many mars and moon movies here as well as many westerns.  It is hard to believe it is real.  An approach into Phoenix we fly over the only green thing you see.  It is a golf course.  It really stands out with everything looking so dead.  Well back to Earth soon.  See ya.

Sunsets

The top two pictures are another great example of the most beautiful sunsets.  The colors are so vivid.  The last picture is in New York and is a picture of the new Airbus 380.  The largest jetliner in the world.  There was a 747 next to it and it dwarfed it.  It can hold up to 850 people and weighs over one million pounds.   It has 20 wheels on the main landing gear and can be yours for only 320 million dollars.  What a bargain!

Fall Flying

The Fall color is beautiful

Minneapolis National Guard prepare for deployment

The stunning skyline of Bismarck

Downtown Calgary set next to the snow covered mts.

The season is changing and it is starting to get cold and the trees are starting to get their beautiful fall color.  It is very beautiful as you fly over and see the vibrant color.  The first picture is taking off from Minneapolis and seeing the color along the river.  In line for takeoff I saw the Minneapolis Guard practicing for their deployment to Iraq.  They fly in a line as they land to protect each other.  The first aircraft lands and the second does a low flyby looking for bad guys in case the aircraft landing takes fire.  The most vulnerable position for an aircraft is in the landing phase just prior to touch down.  Kind of like a sitting duck.  The aircraft behind the one landing protects the aircraft in case they get attacked.  They immediately fly by and come around for their landing and the aircraft on the ground swings around to protect the one  landing.  Very cool to see.

We flew into Bismarck and then back to Minny and on to Calgary.  Long day (13 hours).  We got into Calgary at 130 am.  I was tired but was fortunate to see the amazing skyline of Bismarck.  You can see the metropolis by the single skyscraper.  

On to Calgary which is actually a very pretty city.  You can see the skyline set next to the snow covered mountains.  It was 31 degrees.  COLD!  Oh well it is getting that time of year.  Today back to Minny and on to New York.  See ya soon.

Riding into the sunset

We were getting ready to takeoff for New York when I looked up just before takeoff and saw the owner of the Minnesota Vikings taking off.  The game had just finished and he was heading home.  What a way to commute!

The next picture was a beautiful sunset.  It was one of the most vivid reds I have every seen.  It is hard to capture on a camera, especially bouncing along at 600 mph.  The sunset was sandwiched between a layer of clouds.  It was cool.  Well off the Raleigh Durham and them Edmonton Canada.  See ya soon!