Texas Trip

Hey all. We recently got home from a week long trip to Texas to visit Lindsay's parents. The trip started friday morning at 2:15a.m. Lindsay didn't get home until after midnight from working all day and I was able to get to bed around 10:30. Needless to say......which is probably the most useless phrase in the english language, the trip started very sleep deprived. We left about 3:15 after getting the truck loaded up with all necessities for the trip, including the motorcyle and trackday gear. We made it to the track by 6:30 which was an hour earlier than we needed to because the track website had the wrong information. We got setup for the day and ended up having a lot of fun. I hadn't ridden at the track in awhile so it took a couple sessions to get up to speed. Well 5:00 came and I was hot and tired. The bike was just as pretty as when we first got there and I didn't have any new injuries so it was a good day. We took off from the track for what we thought was a 3 hour drive and was actually a 5 hour drive which we turned in to a 6 hour drive. I feel like starting a new paragraph.

We got to the in-laws house a little after 11:00 that night, but about 10 minutes before we did we met some of the local wild life. We saw a deer on the side of the road so I flashed my lights and honked the horn. The deer overcame the shock of my headlights and darted back into the woods so Lindsay said "Wow I am glad we did not hit that deer" and a second after she finished the satement BAM!!!! the deer ran into the right front quarter panel of my truck and bounced off the hood. That stupid deer was a vengeful creature. He left a basketball size dent in my truck that I was not too happy about. Anyway we take out the deer and continue on to our final destination. We pull into the driveway tired and ready for bed. I had taken my shoes off for comfort's sake. I get out of the truck and walk about 10 feet toward the garage where Lindsay is greeting her parents. All of sudden I feel this intense stinging/burning in my foot. I lift it up and a freakin' scorpion scurries its way to the garage. I STEPPED ON A SCORPION BAREFOOT!!! At this point I am hopping a one leg, holding the other while pointing to mini satan running away and producing a sound similar to when the doc tells a 10 year old girl say "AHHH" so he can look down her throat. Someone grabs a shoe and kills the satanic messenger and then my all too sympathetic mother in law says "that's why you wear shoes in the country". Linz and I get a good laugh out of that response throughout the week. It was not quite the start we had hoped for, but we were there mostly safe and there was a shower and bed waiting.

The rest of the week was much more fun. A couple visits by the grand parents, some shopping, some yard work, cooking and cleaning, house decorating, ground school and good time to sit back and enjoy being away from home/work and with family.

Of the many exciting things I experienced that week the best was getting to fly the T-6 simulator at Randolph AFB. A HUGE THANK YOU to my father in law David and his friend Dave for setting up the opportunity for me to get some stick time in the trainer. It was really incredible to see what it's like to be in the pilot seat. I am very anxious to see if God has pilot slot in my future. I look forward to getting many more hours in the pilot seat!

There are many more stories to be told from the week, but it is late and I am tired so you will have to hear them in person unless Lindsay gets off of the beach in Curacao and gives you her side of the trip. Good luck with that.:)

I am in Wisconsin right now with the Air National Guard and Lindsay is in the Carribean with a friend she was deployed with. I am sure we will post an update when we get back home.

See ya.