Off to San Fran but: I'll leave my heart in NJ...

Well April was a nice month: Lot's of family time, and some flying.

There was a time when I would have been begging for flight time. That was about 12 or 13 thousand hours ago. Now I look at my time off as treasured time. With 2 daughters and 4 grandchildren within a 5 min walk of my home I find down time as enjoyable as air time, and grandchildren as enjoyable as airplanes.

There were several flights originally scheduled for the month but things change and flights got cancelled.

I have a lot of projects going on and the April schedule gave me time to see to them.

My yard was overgrown with weeds and littered with the debris from last fall and winter. It was so bad I was overwhelmed by the thought of doing it myself. (Enter Aparicio Landscaping )

Backyard ready for a chair and a beer!

Then there are the Belmar projects: 508 13th Av was our someday beach house and it has a rear cottage.

It's For Sale.

Our listing real estate agent planned an open house on the 26th and Ronnie and I spent several days getting the place in tip top shape for any possible buyers who would stop by during the open house.

The 26th turned out to be the warmest, sunniest day of the new year. The beach was filled with sunbathers and no one wanted to waste their time looking at houses for sale. Our open house was a BUST.

The rear cottage was occupied for the past 3 plus years by a couple who were as nice as could be and never complained about anything. They moved out in January. Apparently, the shower tile had been leaking and the plumbing wasn't working as well as it should have. When I started to get the place ready for new tenants I realized how bad the bathroom floor had deteriorated. Although it was tiled the floor was spongy and had to be replaced down to and including the floor joists.

Here is the before and after picture.

So, I'm off to San Francisco(SFO), for four days. Leaving Trenton at 10AM with a stop in Burlington, VT (BVT) for a passenger. Noon departure from BVT to SFO. Headwind are going to prevent the flight from going nonstop. I've planned a refuel stop in Rapid City, SD (RAP), with an ETA of 1430 local time in SFO. Booked rooms in the Knob Hill Marriott Renaissance. Ronnie and I stayed there several years ago. It is on a trolley stop and convenient to shopping, Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, and most must see spots in the city. My copilot has never been to SFO and is exciting to be going there. The weather is calling for sunny with temps in the mid 60's.

Can't wait to come back to this:

Later!