Colors of a slightly more northern Fall - Huntsville

I neglected to post pictures from my trip to Huntsville, Alabama
so here are some pictures from the area.

Now how many can say they flew one of these on their birthday?

SEE?

I did too fly it!  That is me in the CH-47 simulator and I had a good time doing the takeoff, flying and landing!  And got a compliment from one of the guys waiting for their turn behind us, who was a pilot.  Can you say swelled head?  Of course, Neal said those trees that look like an "X" with some green dots on them from the air look like a real tree when you are landing!  The flight instructor guy said "ummmm, watch out for those trees!"

This thing practically flies itself.  If they had shown me where the key was to start it, I'd be able to make a great escape in my next im-a-spy-daydream LOL

so much fun.

Oh and I took a walk around the pond there and snapped a few pictures of the ducks, geese and Koi, enjoy! Oh and the nighttime shot of the fountain too.

Air show at the Beach!

Caelum and Stephanie called us up on Saturday and invited us to join them on Sunday for an airshow over Daytona Beach sponsored by ERAU.  What fun we had.  Now I have a lot of pics but these couple make for a good showing of the air that day.

Fishing time in Florida has arrived!

Okay so you can fish all year round if you don't mind melting from the heat.  Last time we went out was the day before Mother's Day with Stephanie and Caelum and it was very hot!  But the fishing was hot that day too and we had a lot of spanish mackerel and assorted other species caught to everyone's delight.

But back to friday's fishing report.  neal caught a nice even dozen of these

the fish, not the shrimp LOL
We used them for bait.  We had three very nice hits in the channel in the bay but did not get any of them hooked!  We were so unprepared for it.  And lost all of our rigging to boot. :(  But how exciting.

I went hours and hours and hours with nothing!

then we headed in to the nursery area as I call it.  Inshore at cockroach bay and I caught a lovely sea trout, a mango snapper, a whiting, a lady fish that leaped in the air as it got hooked and a small bait fish.  no reds though :(  All of these in the last of the 6 hours we were out fishing!  Neal caught nothin' in the nursery area.  We are completely different fishing people as everything else in life we are opposite on.


Here is a pic of the sunrise as we headed out.

and we saw a playful dolphin or two as we headed closer to shore.  here is what you get when you are seeking a dolphin pic!  a lot of water, barely a splash and I managed to get ONE with a tail showing.  He was jumping up and slapping his tail on the water making a HUGE splash. and noise.

the trout i caught before he went back to his family and friends :)

Oh and I saw a manatee several times in the inshore/nursery area too.  I would have thought it was not cold enough for them yet but there he was.  A bit small, maybe 4 foot and in some very very shallow water too.  I heard him before I saw him.  They come up to the surface and exhale which sounds like a loud sighing noise.  Choco, our beloved-gone-to-heaven-3 years ago doggie, would make a great manatee sound as he settled in on the tile in front of the fireplace.  Or just about anywhere come to think of it.

And so you don't think i've been lax on stuff for the twins, here is a pic of the two candy corn hats i have finished and the first of the candy stripe hats i'm up to the crown shaping on

aren't they just too sweet?

Have a grand and glorious day!