Sigh of Relief

   I was so exhausted tired by the time I was settled into my seat for the flight from Fairbanks to Minneapolis, so I pretty much fell asleep right after taking off. Slept off and on for the next 4 hours. My brain was working much better after sleeping those hours. After waking up, I had a nice conversation with the lady sitting next to me. She had been in Alaska for a family vacation with her children and grandchildren. She was a really sweet old lady. At one point we were talking about airplanes and she told me that her father, who was born in 1892, had to go to a boarding school after his father died. Her dad as a young boy used to lean over a particular fence not far from his school and watch Wilbur and Orville Wright test fly their planes!

dark, stormy cloud near Minneapolis

   Well, about an hour outside of Minneapolis/St. Paul we hit some rough turbulence. They were having thunderstorms just outside of the city, which was causing our rough flight. It probably was the worst turbulence I've ever experienced on a large jet. Because we were in a holding pattern to land in Minneapolis and didn't have enough fuel to hang out in the sky waiting, they diverted us to Duluth, MN. The landing there was a little scary, first sigh of relief after landing there. It was gorgeous weather there, but of course we didn't get to actually enjoy it. We all sat on the plane for about an hour. Finally they cleared us for take off and to head to Minneapolis. Still rough skies near St. Paul, so more turbulence to endure. I took a picture of the sky outside the city. You can see the dark blanket cloud stretching to the west. Another sigh of relief after landing in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

flying over Minnesota

  I arrived in Denver Monday evening. Was picked up from the airport along with 2 others coming in for the wedding this weekend. They had come in from Mongolia, so they were pretty much exhausted from traveling.
  Tuesday Trina and I went car shopping for most of the afternoon. We found some possibilities, but everything nicer was a bit more than I had wanted to pay. Wednesday morning, Mickey, Jonah and I went to go look at another car. That was the one! It's nothing fancy, but good car. Its even one of my favorite colors. :) Shiny, dark forest green. So, we purchased it yesterday! A huge sigh of relief! Glad that's over.
  Several hours after buying the car, I headed down to Colorado Springs to see a friend at the Airforce Academy. It was a nice little drive (only one wrong turn). Major thunder and lightening storm down that way. I loved it! Thunder and lightening is one of my favorite things. Lance gave me a little tour of campus, it was evening by the time I got there, so most places we couldn't go into. But still got a feel for the place - it is a HUGE. After which we went to Olive Garden - yummy!!!
  Tomorrow starts the wedding preparations, so I'll be busy for the next couple days. Looking forward to it though. It will be fun with all the people we have here. Until then....