Brunswick, ME (USA)

After getting checked out of the Mid-Atlantic Lodge (Air Force Inns) this morning, we (Chip D. and I) immediately got organized for our mission to the US Mainland.  Since we weren't carrying any passengers and the weather was great, we were able to fly from the Azores to Maine non-stop. After landing at NAS Brunswick, I was glad to find there wasn't any snow - it was just the "normal" cold.  Following our fuel stop, we continued  to Atlanta. Arrived in Marietta pretty early in the afternoon and everyone in the crew seemed happy to finish up the trip. From my point of view, this mission is memorable for having some of the most difficult weather scenarios, a nearly broken aircraft (bad!) and the unfortunate case of the lost bags. Still, it also featured lots of flight time - always a bonus.  I think we did a good job, under the circumstances...

Praia da Vitoria, Azores (Portugal)

When I exited my room at the NAVSTA Rota Navy Gateway Inn this morning, I was greeted with a the sight of Rota covered in a dense layer of fog - I've never seen it so bad.  This trip just keeps getting more interesting every day!. During our (Chip D. and me) flight planning, we tried to find an airport within our range that would have better weather but we ended up having to wait out the fog for about five hours. At that point, I made a call home to tell them we would be calling "uncle" and stopping for the night in the Azores. There was a little grumbling, but I pointed out that we had been ahead of schedule throughout the trip and they agreed we were making the right call. We finally got going and found that when we crossed the west coast of Portugal, the weather was much improved. In fact, it was so nice in Terceira that I almost didn't recognize the place! We had enough time to drive into Praia (with a rental car from Via Livre that I picked up at the BOQ Front Desk) and have dinner at O Pescadors. I also got to do some post-Christmas shopping (lots of closeout hand-stitched decorations). Found a few other good souvenirs. Even got a good night's sleep - tomorrow should be a good day.  We spent the night at the Mid-Atlantic Lodge.

Rota (Spain)

Because of the bag SNAFU yesterday, we had to leave Crete early this morning. Fortunately, we quickly got checked out of the NSA Souda Bay Billeting, returned to the aircraft and got ready for our modified mission.  After takeoff, we (Chip D. and I) had no problems getting up to Germany.  Once we'd landed, we dropped off the bags with the passenger services (just as we had hoped to do). Whew!  Very relieved that the "emergency" was over...  The crew picked up some beer for the road (always a good idea in Germany!) and, after fueling the jet, flew to Spain. We arrived at Rota relatively early and, by then, everyone felt much better about the trip.  Bonus: we are back on schedule and should be home tomorrow... [Watched some NFC/AFC Championship games (very late in Spain when they were shown at the Club.] [Spent the night at the NAVSTA Rota Navy Gateway Inn.]

Kuwait City (Kuwait)

Since our mission was supposed to be an "out and in" to the Middle East, we didn't check out of our rooms at NSA Souda Bay Billeting (just packed and took all our stuff, just in case).  By the time we took off this morning, it was with the knowledge that one of the biggest thunderstorms I have ever seen was stuck right over southern Iraq and part of Kuwait. Still, we had no weather at all until right before we were supposed to land. We couldn't make it in to our primary airport (ceiling too low), so we diverted to Kuwait City. It was pouring there, but we landed uneventfully. Unfortunately, the ramp was so clobbered with other aircraft that we ended up having to move a few times. During the second move, I felt a big bump as we were taxiing. When I got out of the plane, I discovered that they had taxied me within four inches of a huge hole on the ramp! My nose wheel track went right along the edge of the hole (WHEW!). In the end, the rain stopped and we left. On our way back to Crete we felt pretty good about how everything had gone. When we landed at Souda Bay Air Base, however, we learned that some of the passengers' bags hadn't been unloaded before we left! This was kind of embarrassing (for everyone in the crew). Chip and I spent several hours working on a solution - and I think we have one. We'll fly up to Germany tomorrow to drop them off for another aircraft to take back to Kuwait. Hope "Plan B" works...  [Spent the night again at NSA Souda Bay Billeting.]

Costa Esmerelda, Sardinia (Italy)

After checking out of the Mid-Atlantic Lodge (Air Force Inns), we proceeded to our aircraft (parked on the Lajes Air Base flight line) and departed from the Azores pretty early.  We are trying to stay ahead of schedule through the whole trip. No problems until we got to Sardinia - 50 knot winds! We only had a few minutes to get our aircraft out of Costa Esmerelda (Olbia) before they were going to start charging us 500 Euros for every hour we were still there. We had seen an Auchan from the ramp before, so I sent Chip to investigate. He managed to catch a cab for the three minute ride and run inside to get us all a few nice items. He was back as the fuel hose dropped - and we left on time. Our flight to Crete was easy and we landed on a clear night (hardly any weather - good!).  Our crew spent the night in the NSA Souda Bay Billeting.

St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador (Canada)

[Mission to Europe with Chip D.]  [Departed Atlanta in the morning and flew north to Newfoundland.]  This was one of the hardest approaches I have ever flown into St. John's: freezing rain droplets, low ceiling and snow all over the runway. We made it in (thankfully) and stopped the aircraft on the short runway (they only plowed the middle 50 feet). Very icy everywhere and we had to pay a lot for full de-icing. When we got on our way again, we had lots of trouble with our HF radio and almost had to head back to St. John's. Eventually, we resolved the issue and proceeded to the Azores.  Arrived at Lajes Air Base to the normal winds. After putting the plane to bed, our crew checked into the Mid-Atlantic Lodge (Air Force Inns).  Very tired at the end of the day...

Marietta, GA (USA)

[ran errands after work today - stopped off at the Cobb County Board of Health (1510)]

Powder Springs, GA (USA)

[Silver Comet Trail with twins]