And I Am Officially OLD

This week was horrible because I put a foot in the grave by turning thirty years old. All of my life I have always thought people who were thirty and over were old...so, now I am old. It was the first birthday that I didn't actually want and that should be a shocker to those of you that know how much I like getting presents, attention, and being pampered for a day. But, I would have forgone all of that if I could have had twenty-nine repeated.

As for the birthday, we went out to eat, I opened presents, and then I studied! What a way to spend a birthday...reading! That is like getting a present of a hammer with a note to bang my hand with it, not something I really wanted to do. But, being the ultimate professional pilot, I studied so that the terrorists will not win this war.

Thank you to all of those who sent cards, presents, and e-mails. Thanks to my wife, I got a lot of e-mails from friends back home that wouldn't have remembered me without her.

Classes have been going well. I passed our first test, but I still feel like I don't have a clue. The C-130 is so much more complicated than the T-44 that at times it seems overwhelming. At least I will have years to learn every little detail instead of weeks.

Other than the reason I am here in the land of overall wearers, not a lot going on. Candi and I went on Saturday to Pinnacle Mountain State Park which was recommended to us by several people. It was absolutely beautiful. Candi didn't tell me that we would be hiking straight up rock faces, but we made it and even the dog was able to scramble up the rocks. We are going up to the Ozarks next week to see all of the fall colors, but some of the trees around here have started turning colors. Here are some views that we were able to capture with my excellent finger painting skills:

Maumelle Lake from the top of Pinnacle Mountain

Start of the Ouachita Mountains

Candi and a tired dog...and a few trees (that is all there is in Arkansas)

Arkansas River and trees

The top of Pinnacle Mountain with the Arkansas River in the background

Notice any similarities from above? Found this pic on-line of one of our C-130s flying by the same place...something to look forward to!

Thanks again to all of those who helped make by horrible birthday descent. Next week please check the blog to see if a yankee can navigate through rural Arkansas and still live to blog about it.