My month of practice retirement.

My last blog ended with the new year flight to Nassau for a dinner which was disappointing to all.
The passengers were disappointed with the meal. I was disappointed with the whole plan. As you know, I had an 8AM flight out of Philly which started with a 5 AM wake up at home. Southwest Airlines to Fort Lauderdale, rental car to Opa Locka to get the airplane, which I had flown to Opa Locka, Florida on Dec 27th, ready for a 5pm flight to Nassau. Passengers went to Graycliffs, a 5 star restaurant. My co-pilot and I went to Twin Brothers restaurant at "the fish fry" section of Nassau, where the locals eat.

I had Grouper, my copilot had Conch. Our dinner cost was only 5% of the cost of the limo that took our passengers to their disappointing meal. Left Nassau at Midnight and had to fly into Miami-only Customs office open at that hour. 30 min to clear customs and relocate to Opa Locka for next day flight. Got to hotel at 0230, almost 23 hours after wake up for the day. Plenty of opportunity for cat naps during the day. Home on the 3rd with airplane and principal. No more flights til the 6th.

Took the time to visit the Jersey shore and see if the Marina was as ready for me as I am for it. How many days til summer? TOO MANY!
Next time you see a picture of this dock, my boat and I will be in it.

The beaches took a toll from the many noreaster's that hit the Jersey shore. This is the Avon beach with snow fences and mounded sand, trying to keep what's left.

Here's the place I start my mornings when I'm not flying. Tiernan's giving his brother a hug before he leaves for school. I try to get to E's in time to drive Tiernan to school. After I drop T at school I stop at Meg's for a cup of tea and some time with Cate.

Cate has a tent/tunnel (a Christmas present) set up in the dining room and it's her get away spot. I can't fit into the tunnel. She enjoys it.

I had a day trip to Lawrence, MA on the 6th and not another flight scheduled until the 18th. So, I was at Cate's 2nd birthday party. Cate loves parties! In fact, Cate loves any event. She sings and dances and thoroughly enjoys herself.

Cate and her mom and dad. Princess for a day.

The week following Cate's party, I just enjoyed doing very little other than enjoying Tiernan, Patrick, Finn and Cate. But all good things eventually come to an end, and I had a week of flying scheduled 18-22 January. The trip actually ended on the 21st and resulted in 7 days of work for the month, and a title for this month's blog.

The scheduled week in Vegas was miserable. I've been flying to Vegas for about 10 years, during all times of the year and I have never encountered a more miserable week of weather. There was more rain in the week of 18-22 Jan, than there was during the whole of 2009, and temps were only in the 40s.

Somehow I got involved in a travel bear project for the Antheil Elementary School in Ewing. The bear gets handed off to people and the kids track how far, and where it travels from Jan-May. I thought I'd just let him travel with me on the airplane and send postcards from the various destinations. Had a day trip to Reno during its week in Vegas and it gave me an opportunity to take the bear on a tour of the west. The business meeting in Reno was a good one and the boss told us they had just locked in a new energy project in California. Looks like trips to Imperial Valley California will be in my future.

The bear, Reno hangout for the day, and a somewhat humorous sign in the men's room at the airport in Reno.

Here's my Hawker anxious to get airborne.

Now, I failed to mention that on the flight to Vegas on the 18th, I was reading a novel and laid it on the pilot's side panel during a call from Air Traffic Control. Well, when I picked my book up to continue reading, I accidentally activated the passenger oxygen mask deployment. I didn't realize it until the noise from the passenger compartment exceeded my ability to focus on my book.

This trip was slow westbound and rather quick coming home. The following picture is the pilot's multifunction display and it shows 158 knots (175mph) tail wind with 20 min to go for the 200 miles remaining to Trenton. The trip from Vegas was only 3:50 min. (a personal best).

It was nice to leave Vegas. It's my least favorite place when the weather's nice and with the weather this week it was miserable. Even the long time Vegas residents were surprised with the weather. I took this picture from the restaurant at Henderson Airport.

The following photo is a picture of the fog hanging in the valley where Vegas is situated. The airport folks at Henderson said they have never before experienced fog.

I got home and celebrated my birthday early( it was the 28th) on the weekend of the 23. This is a shot of me with my favorite gifts.(l-r Patrick, Cate, Finn, Tiernan)

I followed this celebration with a trip to Albuquerque, NM with Ronnie, Meghan and Cate, Erinn and Finn. My mom who is going to celebrate her 97th birthday on the 25 of Feb hadn't yet met the newest grandchildren. We were going to surprise her.

Cate and Finn doing a little video viewing prior to bed.

It was a fun dinner at Sadie's in Albuquerque, with my NM family.

We were introduced to some of the best margarita's(Sadie's Presidential Margarita), and a quick game of margarita pong.

Brian(my niece's husband), me, Ronnie, Erinn and Finn, my nephew Andrew and his mom(my niece),Jamie, my sister Dorothy, Meg and Cate

My mom and Finn.

We had a minor emergency on our second day in Albuquerque- Cate ran a fever of 102 and we made a trip to the emergency room of the Presbyterian Hospital.

It was a very positive experience-great care provided. Cate had a viral infection but didn't let it stop her from enjoying the trip.

Here is mom, with E and me and Finn.

Had a birthday dinner celebrating 5 birthdays: mine- Jan 28, Tiernan-Feb 5th (he wasn't there, but we celebrated for him), Erinn-Feb 12th, Jamie-Feb 20th, Nanny-Feb 25th. That represents 244 years of birthdays. You can try to figure out how many for each person.

Meghan and Cate with Brian, Jamie and Andrew.

Erinn, Nanny, MeghanTwo great shoppers leaving Jackalope's in Bernalillo, NM

Andrew and Cate resting after dinner at Sadie's.

Dinner was followed by a stop at the local Dairy Queen. My sister Dorothy, who always enjoys a good laugh had plenty of opportunities during our visit. It was too short and much fun.

Before closing, I'd be remiss if I didn't say what a miserable flight-provided by Continental Airlines out of Newark-was had by all. Having made the trip on Southwest out of Philly on several previous occasions, we were lulled into thinking it would be the same on any airline. It isn't. Never again-Newark or Continental. I'm not sure there are any employees associated with Continental Airlines who know anything about customer service. I do know none of the Continental employees I encountered on the 4 legs of this flight, had a clue.

And finally Happy Birthday Tiernan.

Tiernan on his last day as a 7 year old.