Saturday, June 27, 2009 -
The weather this morning is a lot like yesterdays, except . . . by 11 AM, the wind built to 20 mph with higher gusts and kept on blowing.
Using the UPS tracking web site, I discovered an order I had placed had been delivered, so I’ll run to town and pick it up. The Air Show is also in town, so I’ll get a chance to watch the Blue Angels do their routine.
After my morning coffee and some brunch, Zack and I played and then drove into town to pick up my order and watch the air show. It is being held at the airport, which is at the exit I take to pick up my mail. I also need to pick up some more water filters for my system. I noticed that the water smelled dusty and that is usually because the filters can’t filter out all the slit. I always filter my drinking, coffee, and ice cube water through my Brita water filter, so I have clear clean water, but brushing my teeth and showering, the water has just gone through the ultra violet filter, killing 99.99% all bacteria, after having passed through the silt and carbon filters.
It is a beautiful, clear, warm day in town and as I approached my exit, I could see some activity over the airport and noticed the large amount of traffic. I had checked online to see what the schedule of events were, and the Blue Angels were scheduled to perform at 2 and 4 PM, and it was now 1:30, so I had time to pick up my mail, the filters, and still get to the airport to watch the show.
I was going to pay the $5.00 parking fee, which supports the event, with entrance to the show being free, but there were no signs pointing to the location. There is the old air terminal, where the college has an aeronautics program and the reserves have some aircraft, and then there is the public terminal for commercial aircraft, and at the far end is the UPS cargo and Forest Service aircraft. After I crossed the freeway, I noticed a large number of cars parked on the grass near the airport authority facility, so followed the crowd and pulled in.
It turns out that it was just people that found a good place to watch the show from and nothing to do with the organized show at all. When I found out where the actual show was, and saw the stop and go traffic, I decided to stay where I was and watch the show. As far as I know, there wasn’t much in the way of aircraft on the ground, so the big event was watching the Blue Angels, which I could do from almost anywhere in the area.
By 2 O’clock, nothing was happening, so I walked over and struck up a conversation with a man that was driving a bright orange 1967 Road Runner. As we visited, a F-115 and WW II spitfire started doing air maneuvers overhead. We watched and visited but the Blue Angels never got airborne. Not being in a location where we could hear an announcement, it is hard to say why the show didn’t take place at the scheduled time. I ran another quick errand before heading home and when I came out of the store, I noticed the Blue Angles performing. I drove back to the same spot and watched, taking a few pictures before my camera malfunctioned for the last time.
The routine of the Blue Angels seemed to be the same as when I watched them several years ago, so I was a little disappointed, but it was a good show. When they landed, all of the people tried to leave at once, and no one wanted to let cars into the line going out to the road. I had to force my way in and then because I wanted to turn left, while all the others were turning right, I drove on the shoulder and got out on the road. I was basically across the road from the U.S. Forestry Service office and I wanted to see if the new law enforcement person was on station yet. The last I knew was that it was a young woman that they were sending through the academy and she wouldn’t be out in the field until mid to late summer of this year.
As chance would have it, there was only one person in the office and it was the new officer. Her name is Jennifer Thomas and she is in her mid twenties. After introducing myself and explaining my reason for stopping by, we visited briefly and then I left. She is still doing her training and it will be late July or some time in August before she’ll be out and about in the forest.
Because I am planning on rerouting my road, I wanted to make sure I had befriended the only person that might give me problems, and now I know that they don’t have anyone to patrol the entire Helena National Forest, so don’t need to worry about being stopped in progress.
Zack and I drove home, unloaded the car, played, and then I fed him and opened my package. I had purchased a crossbow and it needed to be put together. I spent the evening doing that and then showered and had some dinner before watching a little television. I got tired long before my normal bedtime and retired at 10:15.