Rhinelander, WI the home of the Hodag

The Hodag is the town mascot of Rhinelander, a small town in northern Wisconsin. It's a mythical creature that was created to bring tourists into town. It's really pretty up here with lots of lakes and rivers. Yesterday we were able to take 32 aerial photos up near the northernmost part of Michigan. Today we had bad weather for picture taking so we did a little bit of exploring in town. The highlight of our day was in the local museum that features old logging equipment and a single room school house staffed with one of the last three remaining single room school teachers in Wisconsin. Lulu taught 1st through 8th grades all in the same classroom at the same time for 9 years. She had lots of stories to tell and really gave us some insight on the challenges of teaching multiple grades at the same time.

Fremont, Ohio

Fremont was where both my grandmother and grandfather were born and raised. My grandma always had stories about "ol' Fremont." We were lucky enough to turn it into a gas stop and an overnight since there were some severe thunderstorms lingering over our destination. The airport (14G) was very nice. The owners of the airfield let us borrow their car for the night so that we could make it to a hotel and back early in the morning. The hospitality there was beyond what was expected. While in Fremont we found my grandma's ol house which was in excellent condition.

Exploring NYC

After walking over 20 miles, I am sure we have made some sort of whirlwind tour record for most places seen by foot in New York City within one day. Pictures are worth a thousand words and my photo album is full of the latest ones.

Flying over NYC

Today I got to fly up the Hudson River at 1,000' MSL enroute to a photoshoot just north of New York City. On the way I was able to see the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Lower Manhattan, Ground Zero, the Empire State Building, and Central Park.

• More Pictures on my Photo Album

Pat's King of Steaks or Geno's Steaks?

The raging debate in Philadelphia is not Yankees vs. Phillies, instead it is who has the better cheese steak, Pat's King of Steaks or Geno's Steaks across the street. Both of these family owned businesses have been around since the 1930's and are in fierce competition. The proper way to order a cheese steak sandwich is by stating "wit or witout" (With or without onions) and then specifying the type of cheese. We ordered "wit whiz" whiz is the local favorite. Krystle and I both shared a steak from each stand and our answer to long time debate was "Pat's King of Steaks." Geno's however was not bad and had a cleaner place to sit down and better neon signs.

South Street - Training Update

Krystle and I have been out in Philadelphia, Pa since Monday. We have been keeping busy training and have had plenty of time after work to explore a little bit around Phily. Today we hit up South Street, a bustling part of downtown known for it's night life. Krystle had a craving for pizza so we ran into Lorenzo and Sons for a quick slice. The customer service was not very good, however the pizza was unbelievable. The slices are huge, and there are big signs that say "No! No! No!" referring to the answer you'll receive if you ask for any toppings on your pizza, plastic forks and knives, or usage of their bathroom. The slices were only $2 and were so tasty we had to go back and have seconds. Pizza in Phily is only to be eaten like a taco. We burnt off the rest of our time off by walking around Washington Square a large park in the middle of the city.

Krystle Graduates!

After 6 Years (1 year on standby) and a lot of heartache, Krystle works her little toosh off and Graduates! We have been partying all weekend in celebration. Congrats Krystle!

Initial Training @ Sim Com

I start my new job as a Survey Pilot by attending a Cessna 310 initial course at SimCom in Scottsdale. I'm looking forward to the training, it should get me up to speed with the airplane and help further polish my procedures and training. I just know they are going to make me sweat bullets in their simulator by throwing every possible compound emergency that they can think of. It has been a long time since I've been at the controls of a simulator so I am a little apprehensive. Wish me luck.

Loosing my favorite benefit

The best benefit I get from hauling cargo around is getting to fly every day into Arizona Sunsets. I'll miss the AZ sunsets, but I'm looking forward to seeing new sunsets in other places.