Making Up For Lost Flight Time

I certainly didn’t waste any time getting back into the saddle.  Chuck and I flew to Tillsonburg for the Harvard Fly-In yesterday.  It was about a 45 minute flight.  A tad hazy but quite calm.  After landing, I put my classy pitot static cover on, so no flies would enter the pitot static tube (air input measures airspeed):

 

Ah yes, one of my prize purchases from Oshkosh.  Anyway, we wandered around the displays at Tillsonburg.  We noticed this little Harvard and thought it would be the perfect size for my little mother:

Here are a couple of adult-sized ones:

The trip there was a nice way to spend a few hours.

We came home and let the children out on the balcony.  They sure love the heat:

Abby decided to stay inside:

I was able to go for another flight today.  I was asked to fly someone from

Sunken Ship Entertainment over Crimson Park in Niagara Falls to get some video footage.  This park was one of thirteen selected in the province to be part of a show through Sunken Ship, and have the park completely renovated.  Here is a description of what is involved.  Two small video cameras were secured onto Vyctor for some additional views:

 

We left around 2:00 and did quite a few circuits around Niagara Falls.  I sure hope he got the footage he needed.  We were in the scenic circuit, so we were limited to a minimum altitude of 3500 feet.  Thank goodness for zoom lenses!  The flight was a little bumpy due to the clouds overhead.  At least the visibility was decent.  I’m really glad I could help them out with this as it’s such a great thing they’re giving to the community.

Today’s symptoms: Felt pretty good!  I’ve had a bit of a headache since about an hour ago.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/31/2011 5:34 PM

Glad and Sad To Be Home

Our trip to Oshkosh, WI. ended yesterday.  I was so glad to be going home to see my kitties, but equally sad to be leaving.  We had such a great time.  We’re hoping to stay at the same cottage next year.   As we were leaving the cottage that morning, I phoned the owner to let him know we would be out well before the 11:00 check out time.  He told me he read my blog the night before and he checked out pictures of my hairless cats.  Well, he just went on and on about them.  How cute they are, how he wishes he had some of his own, they’re beautiful – he LOVED them.  I was starting to get nervous because we only had about 20 minutes left on the cell phone, and he just would not stop talking about the cats!  Eventually he was able to compose himself, as we said our farewells.  I sure hope to see him and his wife again next year!

 Before hitting the airport, we stopped at Denny’s for breakfast.  The restaurant next door had a Cessna 150 on the roof.  How cool:

Our two flights home were decent, kind of.  Our first was delayed about 30 minutes because they ended up putting us on a different plane, which had too much fuel for our load.  I offered to get off to compensate, but the Captain said that simply taking a celery stick off the plane wasn’t going to help much with the weight and balance.  Two people eventually agreed to leave, we shifted some folks around and off we went.  During our second flight which was from Detroit to Buffalo, someone poopied their pants not once but twice!  The smell was horrific.  Soon after the second discharge, I remembered I had some perfume in my purse.  Chuck and I put some under our noses, which helped a bit.  Other than that, the flight was fine.

I was so thrilled to see my girls when we walked in the door.  Their grandma took really good care of them – thanks again, Lil Jan!

Today’s symptoms:  I had a really bad headache today.  It was probably from all of the excitement over the last few days.  My joints and muscles were really aching too.  Oh well, tomorrow will be better!

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/29/2011 7:57 PM

Best Vacation!

We had another perfect day at Oshkosh yesterday.  We arrived at the Fond du Lac Airport to catch the 7:30am bus to Oshkosh.  We were a little surprised that most of the vendors didn’t start until 9:00.  Still, there was plenty to do.  We got in line at the breakfast booth in the food court.  A couple of guys behind me started reading my tattoo.  They asked where I flew out of and I said St. Catharines, Ontario.  I then said Canada, which was quite unnecessary.  He said they were from Oshawa, which is just across Lake Ontario.  It’s also where the guy who bought my first plane is from.  He asked if he could take a picture of my tattoo.  No problem!

After we ate, we wandered over to the Jeppesen tent to hopefully be one of the first 300 there to get a free hat.  We joined the line, but someone came out and said that the hats weren’t in yet and to come back later.  Quite a few people were annoyed, and rightly so.  We didn’t end up going back.

Here are a few shots from the day:

Check out the amazing paint job on this bad boy:

One week each year, Oshkosh is the busiest airport in the world, thus the busiest control tower:

M&M’s was one of the big sponsors:

It was a great day with plenty of things to see.

We took the owners of the cottage out for dinner last night.  It was such a nice time and Chuck and I really enjoyed the restaurant they suggested.  I’m so relieved that they’re willing to rent to us again, even after meeting us…..

We woke up to plenty of rain this morning.  Blah.  We didn’t end up going back to Oshkosh.  Still, we had a nice day.  After watching a few shows in the morning, we headed out to the mall in town.  We came back to the cabin and threw the frisbee around.  There was a guy doing touch and goes out on the lake, which was rather enjoyable to watch:

I was walking around the cabin after dinner and noticed a little toad (I believe named Gus) in the window well.  I cleared out the spider webs and reached down to rescue him.  I brought him inside to show Chuck and snapped this pic:

Little Gus is living the high life in the neighbour’s garden now.

It was a great day and we’re sad to be leaving tomorrow.  Even though we didn’t go to the aviation expo today, it doesn’t seem like a wasted day.  We have enjoyed our stay so much at this cottage, that it has made the trip better than I could have imagined.

Today’s symptoms:  Feeling pretty good, I’m just experiencing a fair amount of muscle and joint pain.  Still, I can’t believe how much I was able to do over the last few days.  It wouldn’t have been possible before the CCSVI surgery.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/27/2011 9:14 PM

Elizakosh

Well, my life is now complete.  Chuck and I arrived in Wisconsin yesterday to attend EAA Airventure at Oshkosh.  It’s the largest aviation expo in the world. 

We are so lucky to have the accommodations we have until we leave on Thursday.  We’re staying at a beautiful cabin on Lake Winnebago in Fond du Lac, called Sunrise Paradise.  Holy cow – we are so impressed!  This place is amazing. 

I was so exhausted after our flights into Cleveland then Milwaukee, I had to take a nap while Chuckles went to the grocery store to buy some vittles for supper.  After our meal, I was still completely wiped out that I don’t really remember doing anything more than crawling into bed.  On a bright note, I had a great sleep and was ready for the great day ahead.

This morning we got up bright and early (well sorta – 7:45) and headed out to the Fond du Lac Airport to catch the bus to Oshkosh.  We arrived at Oshkosh just before 9:00.  We traded in our online tickets for our daily passes and headed into the crowd.  Here are a few pics:

During the week-log event, this is the busiest airport in the world.

I really wanted to see the Sikorsky X2 – the fastest helicopter on record.  Hey, I got my wish!

Chuck received a free T-Shirt from Sikorsky.  I think they gave it to him so he could mop up my drool.

I was very surprised when two people came up to me and asked if they could take a picture of my tattoo!  I normally don’t have it showing, since I don’t walk around with my lower back exposed.  However, in the spirit of the event, I had to show off my airplane:

We met up with a few people from home, including my aviation mechanic.  I didn’t even know he was attending.  Overall, it was an amazing day.  We lasted until about 1:30 when we climbed back on the bus to head back to our car at the Fond du Lac Airport.

We arrived back at the cottage completely knackered.  I knew I had to perk up, as the cottage owner was bringing his jet ski for us to use.  It was so nice of him to take his time to do this for us.  I’ve always wanted to ride one.  When he arrived, he took me for a spin while Chuck took some pics from the dock.  I forgot to ask him if I could post a pic of him on my blog, so I hope he doesn’t mind a shot of the back of his head on my blog for the world to see:

I had a total blast!  I thought he was kidding when we arrived back at the dock and he asked if I wanted to drive.  I was a little hesitant, but thought it would be fine with him on the back.  I scooched up front and asked him when he was climbing back on.  He just laughed and said “I’m not going!”  What the heck!  I almost chickened out but knew I would regret it forever.  After a quick lesson, I headed out into the wild blue yonder, all by my lonesome:

It wasn’t too long before I floored it.  What the heck – live it up:

I wasn’t going to try anything stupid and risk any damage to his machine.  I figure the worse that would happen was I would fall off and be gnawed on by a swarm of sturgeon at the bottom of the lake (nom nom nom).  Fortunately, I stayed on for the whole ride.  I made it up to 60 MPH – it was awesome!  I had the best time.  After a graceful dismount, the three of us chatted for a few minutes.  The two guys looked over and saw the little tear trickle down my cheek.  It was then that I was offered to go out for another ride.  We all found it rather amusing at how inept I was at donning my life vest:

I tried to explain that I PURPOSELY put the straps in the wrong order to 1) make the vest a tighter fit.  created and new fashion statement.  4) ok, no excuse – I’m a dork.  After correcting myself, I headed out for another spin.  When we got back to the cottage, Chuck and I had to use some steel wool to clean the bugs off of my teeth – I haven’t smiled that much in a long time!  I’m so glad no one could hear me yelling “WEEEEE!!!” over the sound of the motor.

Chuck and I are just going to chill for the rest of the night.  We did, however, run outside one last time to take a pic of the cute little ducklets frolicking about:

Aren’t they precious?

Today’s symptoms:  This has probably been one of the best days symptom-wise of my life!  I can’t believe how much I did today.  I’m now dealing with a bit of a headache, but that’s about it!  Of course, I’m very fatigued after the long day, but I think that would be true of anyone.  This may account for the grammatical errors in this blog.  Sorry – my bad.

 

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/25/2011 8:30 PM

Golftacular!

The weather has still been insanely hot here the last few days.  They’re saying tomorrow may be a record breaker, with temps in the mid to high 40′s with the humidex.  Blah! 

I flew over two charity golf tournaments over the last couple of days.  The first one was for the MS Society, down in Port Colborne.  I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to fly, due to the hazy conditions and low clouds.  Fortunately, the sky was perfectly clear over the golf course:

The conditions were much more clear today, but even hotter.  This one was in Fonthill by my old high school.  The charity was for the Wise Guys:

It was actually a relief to land as the heat was becoming unbearable.  I think I lost about seven pounds in water weight!

This morning really didn’t start off too good.  I got ready for work and went to grab my purse on the way out the door, only to find it wasn’t there.  We were out at a restaurant the night before, but I was sure I had it with me on the drive home.  I was really mad at myself for being so careless, assuming I left it in the car.  You can imagine my shock when I walked down to the car, only to see my purse wasn’t there.  OK, now I was about to freak out.  I ran back up to the apartment and looked everywhere.  I then hysterically called Chuck and said my purse is gone.  He said he would drive over to the restaurant and see if anyone was there to let him in.  It was doubtful since it was so early in the morning.  In the meantime, I frantically ran around the apartment, looking in every nook and cranny.  I then decided to share my grief with my mother – probably not the kindest thing to do since there was nothing she could do to help me.  By the time Chuck arrived at the apartment, I was leaning over the sink in the bathroom, gagging up my stomach.  He went to our other apartment across the hall, only to find my purse on the chair.  When he walked in with it, I opened my arms and ran toward him, grabbing my purse and hugging it to death.  I think I kissed it a few times too.  What a relief!  I stupidly had my passport and Nexus card in my purse.  So if it was gone, we wouldn’t be able to go to Oshkosh, WI next week.  I would have ruined everything!  After I calmed down a bit, I remembered that I as soon as I got home last night, I grabbed the key for the other apartment so I could go over and water my plants.  Yes, I took my purse with me.  Chuck and my mother found it highly amusing!  Fortunately, I feel the same way – it just took me a little longer to get to that stage.

The little kitties are enjoying our heat wave.  Check out these shots of little Mya and Boo all snuggled together:

Today’s symptoms:  A little more tired than usual due to the stress of my emotional break-down this morning.  I have a fairly bad headache, but I have a feeling the weather is playing a big role in it.  I’m looking forward to sleeping well tonight.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/20/2011 7:06 PM

 

Hot-O-La!

We’re having yet another heat wave.  I see it’s supposed to last for the next week or so.  Blah!  Despite the high temps, Chuck and I flew non-stop to Welland last night.  It was a grueling 8 minute flight.  We were there for the Air Force Association social dinner.  I thought a bunch of people would have flown in, but it was just us.  It was cute when everyone waved to us as we taxied into our parking spot.  When we got out of the plane, the sweat was dripping off of us.  At least it was a little more tolerable in the shade of the hangar.  The dinner was great – food-wise and company-wise.  They even had dessert:

I am now a member of their association, which is kinda nice.  After our meal, we socialized for a bit, then had to head back to St. Catharines.  I had to be there by 8:00pm, so they could put my plane back in the hangar for the night.  It was so cute – when we announced that we had to be on our way, everyone got in formation and we all marched out to my plane for a proper send off.  They gathered around while we started up:

It was a quick flight home, just in time to shove little Vyctor back in the hangar for the night.

Weather-wise, it was even hotter today.  I visited with my mother, but stayed cool in the mall.  It seemed to be a different story back home.  Poor Pinky was hardly conscious from the heat.  Mind you, crawling under the pillow sham didn’t seem to help her cause:

This seems to be her favourite pose:

Her and her weird little sister decided to crawl into one of my shopping bags, after I emptied its contents:

Even the dude in the background is admiring their new digs.

Service endorsement:  I just had my wheel chocks powder-coated at Bird’s Performance Coatings in Port Colborne.  Wow, I was so impressed by their work!  I had spray painted them last year, but the paint has been chipping off.  What a mess.  These guys did an amazing job.  I wish I could have my entire plane powder-coated!  Probably wouldn’t work too well though, since they have to put the item in an oven.  I was able to show them off last night in Welland, to the Air Force Association folks.

Today’s symptoms:  Felt pretty good, despite the heat.  Most people with MS have an intolerance to heat – it has a tendency to suck all of our energy out of us and bring on some of our symptoms.  My hands and arms are aching, I have a bit of a headache, but that’s about it!

 

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/17/2011 5:03 PM

Charity Golf Tourney

I can’t believe it’s Wednesday already!  This week is flying by.  Speaking of flying, I flew over a charity golf tournament for St. John’s Ambulance on Saturday.  I started my fly-over at around 8:45am.  The weather was perfect for flying and golf.  The golf course is across the street from a grass strip runway, but I had to keep my low and overs fairly high due to the excavator in the middle of the strip:

Unfortunately, the pictures I took of the golf tourney weren’t all that great.  But, I heard that they all really enjoyed the show!

I flew again on Monday night.  The winds were quite strong but I decided to fly to my Recreational Aircraft Association meeting.  The flight there took about 15 minutes (into the wind) and home was about 6!  It was a good turn out, but I was the only one to fly in.  Fortunately, there was a tie-down spot back at the St. Catharines airport for when I flew back and had to leave my plane outside in the wind overnight.

The weather has been really hot over the last few days.  It cooled down a tad today, but it’s supposed to go back up over the weekend.  The kitties have been taking in the heat out on the balcony:

Not sure where little Abby ran off to when I was taking the pictures.

I have the day off tomorrow so my little mother and I are heading over the river to do some shopping.  I need some more shorts to show off my pale, spindly legs.  I think Jan is in the market for some tops.

Today’s symptoms:  I’m dealing with a sinus issue again.  I hardly slept last night and ended up leaving work an hour and forty-five minutes early today.  Hopefully I’ll feel better for our shopping excursion tomorrow.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/13/2011 8:12 PM

 

 

Transponder Fixed!

I had the day off today so a friend from our Recreational Aircraft Association group flew with me to Brantford.  I had to pick up my transponder and drop off the rental at the avionics shop.  My passenger, Fred, had a headset to pick up.  We took off from the St. Catharines Airport just after 9:00am.  It was much more hazy than I thought it would be, according to the previous day’s forecast.  Still, it was a very calm and smooth flight.  We arrived in Brantford after a 39 minute flight.  We parked outside of the avionics shop, close to this beauty:

 

I really don’t know if I believe what it says on the tail:

Fred and I spoke with the folks at the avionics shop, then went to the restaurant for some toast, coffee and a chat.  The traffic was fairly light while we were there, but at least we were able to watch few planes going in and out.

Back to the shop, I was very happy with my bill.  They were able to fix my transponder, which saved me from buying a new one (around $2500!)  Fred and I had a nice flight back, although the sun still had not burned off all of the yucky haze.

I drove down to the pet store in Niagara Falls to take advantage of the sale they had.  My kitties eat Royal Canin, which is quite expensive.  I need all the sales I can get!  Speaking of kitties, check out little Boo and Pinky on the cable receiver:

Mya has been sleeping in their favourite spot the last few days, so I guess they had to find somewhere else to go.  Mind you, the cable receiver is Abby’s favourite spot.  Everyone is getting displaced!

Today’s symptoms: Felt great!  My energy level was high and the only pain I was dealing with was a headache that started later in the day.

 

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/7/2011 8:23 PM

Deep Fried Brie

It’s been a great long weekend.  Happy Birthday, Canada! 

I know I promised myself that once I had the CCSVI surgery and started feeling better, that I would start taking more vacation time.  Well, it hasn’t happened yet.  Grrr….  I did convince myself to take the afternoon off on Thursday so I could hit the skies and work on my aerobatics.  I took two herbal Gravol (pure ginger, nothing else) and wore my electronic anti-nausea bracelet.  The combo worked like a charm.  I was doing aerobatics for about an hour!  I worked on my snap-rolls (they still need work) and taught myself the Cuban 8.  I may go up again tomorrow for aerobatics as well as a scenic flight around Niagara.  Speaking of flight, I flew again on Friday night.  I took up someone from the St. Catharines Tower (I won’t mention his name for fear of his coworkers finding out and heckling him!)  We took off around 9:30pm and headed over Niagara-On-The-Lake, then Welland and over Niagara Falls for the fireworks.  We both tried to take pictures with my camera, but I’m pretty sure I had it on the wrong setting.  The fireworks came out looking rather pyschedelic:

Crazy!  It was a great flight.  He was quite impressed with what the new runways lights look like.  He was a little concerned over my presumed lack of hearing though.  At one point he said “Gay pride parade” and I thought he said “Deep fried brie.”  Then he said how bears were coming to his neighbourhood.  I was really concerned that they would track him down and eat him (nom nom nom!)  Fortunately, he said “a fair” rather than “bears.”  What a relief!

Chuck and I were going to fly to Stratford on Saturday.  I called for a weather briefing and found out we were expecting thunderstorms and general poopy weather for the afternoon.  Needless to say, we didn’t go.  We headed over to the States instead, where we both bought new shoes to wear to the aviation expo in Oshkosh later this month.  I can’t even imagine how many miles we’re going to end up walking each day.

The weather was perfect today and the kitties were enjoying laying in the sun:

Abby enters the scene:

She soon left and wandered out onto the balcony:

Mya and Pinky remained together for about an hour:

Today’s symptoms:  I’m feeling great today!  My energy level is high and I don’t have a headache.  Life is good!

 

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/3/2011 6:24 PM