Our Guests Are In The Air Winging It To The City of New Orleans

Elijah is wearing his new FSU hoodie - Jim is checking out the avionics. Lulu is there to wish them a bon voyage. 

Harry always wanted to be a pilot - money priorities and eye sight - had minds of their own. Jim's little SeaRey set him back about $157, 000. You can buy a lot of buses and motor homes for that kind of bread. This plane can only haul 400 pounds - 2 of me would be too much.

After a fantastic 3 days in Tallahassee - we had to wish Jim and Elijah well and push them off at 11 AM. It was fun watching them going through their routine - each had several tasks - to get ready for liftoff.

Lulu travels a lot. Whenever she travels - she has schedules. She has hotels - taxis - planes - rental cars all lined up. Last night when Jim found out they had to fly through several restricted military areas on the way to New Orleans - he was planning by the seat of his pants. They plan to land on Lake Pontchartrain - but have no plans on how to get into town - no plans where they will stay - no plans on when they will leave.

North to Alaska,
They're goin' North, the rush is on. 

Big Sam left Seattle in the year of '92,
With George Pratt, his partner, and brother, Billy, too.
They crossed the Yukon River and found the bonanza gold.
Below that old white mountain just a little south-east of Nome. 

Sam crossed the majestic mountains to the valleys far below.
He talked to his team of huskies as he mushed on through the snow.
With the northern lights a-running wild in the land of the midnight sun,
Yes, Sam McCord was a mighty man in the year of nineteen-one. 

by Johnny Horton

I just marvel at what a learning situation this is for Elijah. He is 12 and going to 7th grade - the age of most of my students. He will experience so much - very actively. He already has had several hours at the stick of this plane. He was figuring fuel consumption - range - direction - weather - payload - terms that have little meaning to regular kids. But best of all he has the undivided attention of his great grandfather for all this time. This will be a major story in his life. 

Lulu and I loved having them in our guest rooms. It is invigorating seeing an 84 year old man interested in such an exciting adventure. 

One of my neighbors Jack is 95. While I was at the airport waiting for Jim to arrive - I got an email request from Jack's friends asking if they could come to see the landing. They did. Jack and Jim had so much in common - they have both been flying over 50 years and were also married for 60 years. They both recently lost the loves of their life. As we all sat around the table at the Stadium Club - they were on a different wavelength. We were all better for the meeting. We also made friends with neighbors Marge and Tom Jones. 

I will try to follow along on their flight to Alaska. I will post a map of their stops. Lulu wants to go to Alaska some day. We plan to visit Jim and Elijah there.