Made It Home

After 4 days on the road Keith made it home Monday afternoon. He left Mt Home on Friday around 3:30 and made it about half way across Wyoming before stopping for the night. The second day he made it to Missouri and by Sunday night he was in Youngstown OH. I guess when you get into a grove you just don't want to stop.

One of the first things on his list was to get all the Idaho dirt off the car and out of the wheel wells etc. So most of today was spent get the car cleaned up. He even found some Tumbleweed stuck in the front.

He will be home for about three weeks before it's off to South Carolina. Not only will he be in the same time zone as we are he will also feel like he has returned to civilization as it will no longer be an hour drive to get to town.

Been Busy

A lot has happened since our last posting. The big reason that we have not put anything new up here lately is because our PC decided to begin a slow but agonizing death. To make a long story short the old PC has been relegated to the shop and has been replaced by a newer version. I didn't realize how many programs and files we had and even now still have some that need to be moved. As soon as Keith comes home, along with a load of extra parts, we plan on doing some major surgery on it, however the prognosis is not very good. It looks like it might be the processor in which case it to the parts bin for it. It has however lived a good life and we should not grieve at it's passing.

Speaking of Keith, he called today and should be leaving Mt Home on Friday afternoon. The movers are scheduled to pack his stuff on Thursday and his final paperwork for out processing is set for Friday morning. It looks like he will need to report to McEntire on the 16th of May so we should see him for a couple of weeks. We're just glad we don't have that 4 day drive ahead of us.

Besides that and going to work everyday, last Saturday we attended the 25th Anniversary party for some friends of ours from Central PA. It was great to see a lot of our old friends as we just don't seem to get together as much as we should. We spent a lot of time catching up on what was happening in every ones life and in fact had a hard time leaving.

Well it back to moving files and tracking down program files. Should be completed soon...we hope!

Happy Birthday

We called Keith today to wish him a Happy 21st Birthday. It's hard to believe he hit that milestone already. The bad news for today is that because of his change in orders his date to process out has been pushed back to at least the 20th. The problem seems to be that they cannot get his goods packed for delivery to McEntire by the 13th. So that leaves him and the other airman who are going to McEntire another week at Mt Home with no planes to work on. We just hope that he get some leave before he has to report.

Busy Weekend

With the nice weather on Saturday and rain returning on Sunday the gardener the carpenter and the wedding planner were all busy trying to get things done. Saturday we took some time to make a trip to Masonic Homes to take a look around the grounds. With the wedding this time next year it seemed like a good time to see what might be in bloom and how things would look for the big day. Well we were not disappointed as there were many spring flowers and quite a few trees in bloom. Hopefully this is a preview of things to come next year. We also spent some time checking out the local nurseries looking for some plants to add to the gardens.

Sunday the weather turned to rain so after running some needed errands the carpenter got to work on some of the wedding projects that were waiting for him in the shop. Although these were not completed he made good progress and should be done with these soon. A good thing since there are more projects waiting to be started.

Update from the Airman

Keith always complained about the tumbleweed, especially when they had to clean it from the flight line, but this is crazy. According to the Mt Home Air Base News: Hundreds of tumbleweeds clog the entrances of several base housing units behind the base hospital here following two days of sustained heavy winds March 29. The base dealt with sustained winds clocking 40 mph with maximum gusts reaching 56 mph over a 48-hour period. Tumbleweeds packed against some fences across base caused them to collapse under the sustained wind pressure. Keith told us that along the roads it is piled up as high as the bottom of the road signs.

At least he will not have to deal with these in South Carolina. Speaking of which he has been told they will be out processed on Friday the 13th ( somehow it seems fitting) and he will be leaving on the morning of the 14th. If his leave is approved he will stop here before going on to McEntire to meet up with his old F-16's. The last 5 to be assigned to McEntire left this morning so he will not have too much time before he sees them again. They spent all week getting them ready for the flight so hopefully the pilots don't break anything on the way there.

Craft Approval Received

Kris stopped by today on her way home from a meeting in Camp Hill to borrow the truck so she could pick up some slat board for her store. The company is in the process of remodeling the interior and upgrading their photo processing equipment. She also borrowed Dad to drive the pickup, help load it at the lumberyard and unload it at the store. All in all seems she had a very good plan.

While she was here she gave the go ahead for some wedding projects that have been in the shop waiting for her final approval . With the colors and finishes selected for these projects the carpenter can begin final assembly. Hopefully within the next couple of weeks these can be checked off the list of things to do. I guess it all depends on what else "the carpenter" might decide to do. After all there is a lot of work to do outside and he is a part time gardener.

New Links

Today we added links for web sites of our Family and Friends . The first one to be listed was for our friends Teresa and Norm. Please take a few moments to visit them and read about the adoption of their son. On a side note Teresa owns a styling salon and Kristin has ask Teresa to do her hair for the wedding. Just one of the many friends we are involving in the affair.

We also added a link to the site were Kris has posted pictures of all the DIY projects they have done on their home. There are some major upgrades that were completed.

If you have a website please let us know and we will add it to our links.

Base Change

Keith found out this week that instead of going to Shaw AFB he is being transferred to McEntire ANG base. The McEntire Air National Guard base is also located in South Carolina approximately 16 miles southwest of Columbia. As part of the 2005 BRAC Recommendations the 366th Fighter Wing at Mt Home, where Keith has been assigned for the past two years, would distribute nine assigned F-16 Block 52 aircraft to the 169th Fighter Wing at McEntire. So first they sent the planes, now they send the maintainers.

F-16 Mishap

One of the F-16's that Keith used to work on at Mt Home crashed during a training mission at Nellis AFB. You can read about it at
http://www.f-16.net/news_article2230.html

The aircraft crashed at 20:50 hours local near the end of the runway, while on approach to the Tonopah Test Range Airfield, approximately 20 miles southeast of Tonopah. The aircraft was flying a night training mission over the restricted Nevada Test and Training Range when his After Burner was stuck. The pilot tried to make an emergency landing but the lights at the airfield didn't come on, so he tried it with his Night Vision Goggles. Right before he came in, the runway lights came on and he was blinded. He then saw he was short and after he took off the NVG's he ejected safely.

This is what happens when you let them out of your sight for a couple of weeks.

More shopping

What do Mom and Dad do on a Sunday afternoon when they have no plans? Work on the wedding of course. Yesterday, after we cut the coupons from the paper, we were off to the local craft stores to pick up some more supplies. Love those coupons. As many of you know we hate to pay full price for anything.

When we returned home we spent the afternoon finishing up some of the table decor and getting it packed away so it would be ready for the big day. BTW if you think that we might give away some secrets about the decor here your wrong. We are running this show on a "need to know" basis.

Didn't your Mama tell ya....

when you are home alone and the roof is wet you should not be up there trying to fix a radio antenna? Well Alan's brother Gary didn't listen because that is what he did a couple of weeks ago. To make a long story short he fell, broke his right leg in numerous places and had to craw into the house through the bathroom window to call 911. ( maybe now he will learn to keep his cell phone in his pocket) He now has a plate and 14 screw holding his lower leg together.

The good news is that the Doctors say it should heal with no problems. The bad news is the antenna never did get fixed and if it was not for his walker he would be back up there trying to fix it again. Netti needs to keep him on a shorter rope.

Last Flight

The last F-16 mission flew at Mt Home AFB on Friday March 16. As you can see in the photo, after the plane landed it was sprayed with champagne by the ground crew. The F-16's have been reassigned to other air bases and are being replaced by F-15's which have also been flying at Mt Home for many years. Most of the Airman that have maintained these planes, including Keith, are being reassigned and will be leaving by the middle of April. We look forward to having Keith back on the East Coast. After all a 9 hour drive is a lot easier than a 4 day one.

The video below is of the last F-16 and the first F-15 doing a flyover during the last flight. For those non-military types the F-16 is the plane flying in the lower position.