What a Hectic Weekend

Searching for Adam's delayed flight...

This weekend has been hectic to say the least!

Adam outprocessed from his last training base on Thursday and into early Friday. He then hopped on a plane mid-afternoon on Friday. He was supposed to arrive in Burlington around midnight but, as usual, his flights were plagued with delays, maintenance problems and even a canceled leg.

He ended up spending the night at the USO in Philadelphia where he got to catch some sleep and was given a nice hot meal and a hot shower. He finally arrived in Burlington early in the afternoon on Saturday.

Searching for air traffic and listening for Flight 3861...

We had a little time to kill before Adam's flight arrived (another delay even on this new final leg... for crew rest this time) so we visited the tower at Burlington's quiet airfield. Being in the tower overlooking this combined civilian and military airfield reminded me of some of my past Air Force jobs.

I had forgotten how quiet this airport is... even on a beautiful Saturday! I grew up just outside JFK International Airport directly under a flight path. This was in the 1960's when noise-abatement procedures were not even a thought and when jets dispersed heavy black soot like a crop-duster sprays crops. This happened 24 hours a day. These early airliners were low and so loud that you could scream at the top of your lungs and the person standing next to you could not hear you. Our teachers had to stop teaching every minute or two for 20 seconds or so while each aircraft roared overhead... rattling and shaking every building nearby.

Yes... Burlington International is so quiet it reminds me of something out of The Jetsons with personal air vehicles quietly whizzing by with a quiet vibrato whir. As we were looking out the tower at this lazy northern tier airfield, I half expected to see George Jetson come whirring by the tower! Instead, we were brought back to almost silent reality when we heard Adam's flight call in to the tower... then silently touch down a few short minutes later.

After Adam's flight started its taxi to its gate, we then headed to the area where we could greet him just beyond the security checkpoint... Sheila was happy... perhaps a bit relieved... and maybe even a bit giddy and silly.

We then had to hunt down his luggage which arrived on a flight earlier in the morning. This is another advantage of Burlington being such a slow and quiet airport... finding his luggage was just as quick and easy as walking to the baggage carousel!

Flight 3861, wheels on the ground at 1725Z hours...

In the big scheme of things, these delays were really no problem but this was our weekend for packing and heading back to the lake house to start our summer so we were a bit antsy to get on the move.

When we finally arrived home from the airport, we had to quickly pack Sheila's car (my car was already packed up and ready to go) so we could get to the lake house and unpack before dark. My spinal injuries were happy to have Adam around to help lift the three kayaks onto the roof of Sheila's car!

As our short caravan made its way to the lake, Adam joined Sheila in her car while I drove my car alone. This allowed for some valuable time for Sheila to talk with Adam.

After arriving at the lake, we unpacked the cars and unloaded the boats. Everything wasn't even in the house yet and Adam hopped in the car and headed back toward home. He'll be working in his recruiter's office for the next week or so. At least the house won't be empty while we are at the lake house. He'll be visiting us at the lake house whenever he can. I know he wants to get some sailing in before he heads overseas. He'd also like to see some of the family and friends visiting us at the lake house. Additionally, we'll be having a small "Air Force Dinner" here at the lake... some of us older retired guys will be bombarding Adam with advice... social and professional... advice we wished we could have be gifted when we were starting our own careers. That should be a nice night.

So, Sheila and I spent the night, last night, getting settled into the lake house... cleaning some stuff, putting clothes into drawers, stocking the kitchen, setting up all the outdoor furniture, installing our outdoor canopy for dining out on the deck, and then finally eating some dinner around 9:30pm! Today it is beautiful here at the lake but we are bit worn out and just taking things slowly and leisurely.

The grandkids will be joining us in a couple of days and we're looking forward to that. I know they've been looking forward to it for quite some time now. We even brought half their toy box from home in case the weather is less than cooperative for water and beach activities. We're also looking forward to our usual rotation of guests.

This really is a great way to start each summer! And, it is nice that Adam's schedule just happened to allow him some more time here swimming, sailing and kayaking... something I am sure he felt was a "last time" activity last summer!