Middleburg

Thursday morning, Peggy drove the three men to Dulles airport to move the plane over to Leesburg, some 13 miles. On the way back she went to a grocery store named Wegman's which she said was fantastic and had a cafe where we might get lunch. Around noon, I drove to Leesburg airport to retreive the men who had moved and cleaned the plane. Then we all went to the grocery.
And, yes, wow. Their produce department was about the size of and entire grocery store. They even had truffles in a locked case for $369 a pound. The "cafe" was an extensive buffet where you pay by the pound. And not cheap, as two salads cost us $20 and they were not large salads. There were also places along the wall where you could order sandwiches or get various other hot meals. A soup station, sushi bar and more. The meat dept was equally fantastic. One could purchase any ready made meat one could fathom, then there was an extensive selection of prepared but not cooked meat and then the regular raw meat. At the back was a seafood bar where you could sit and eat prepared seafood. Also a cheese bar with huge wheels of cheese. This place might be the most interesting thing I have seen on this trip.
After lunch, Jake, Peggy, Gene and I went off to historic Middleburg which we had heard about. Supposedly the population is 600. We took a scenic route through the lovely Virginia countryside and enjoyed the view. Middleburg was indeed a cute town with interesting shops and loads of historic houses. We had about an hour to check them out before they closed, then repaired to the Fox and Hound for refreshment (water for me). This is home of hunter type riding and home to the museum on that subject. Many of the shops have a fox and hound theme and equestrian merchandise. Apparently Jackie Kennedy has some history of riding here.
For dinner we came back to Leesburg to an Italian place called Palio's. It was rather formal Italian. The food was fine, but the service was snail like. It was an hour to get our food and they sent out the wrong thing for Jake and Peggy and had to redo.
Tommorrow Gene and I will go to Gettysburg, 60 miles away, with the Dennis family. Peggy and Jake have a myriad of errands and tasks to do before departure on Sunday.

Moving Day

Wednesday is the day that we move to a hotel in Leesburg and trade our Dulles rental cars for Leesburg cars. Jake, Peggy, Gene and I meet at 10, then pick up George so he can also get his car and go back and get his family. The weather is intermittent rain.
The new hotel has some age on it and a Federal style house from the 1700's is a part of the property. The room is decorated very nicely but there are some oddities. To get to it, one has to go down a half flight of stairs and then up a flight. This takes some doing with our heavy suitcases. Then when you walk on the bathroom floor, the tiles crunch and move around a bit with is a bit unsettling. But all in all it is a good thing.
The men leave to deal with the rental car exchange and Peggy and I get the hotel shuttle to take us to the outlet mall where we pass several pleasant hours. An interesting this about this mall is that all the employees are quite friendly and helpful. The rental car exchange, true to form, did not go smoothly and when we returned to the hotel at 3, the Dennis family was just checking in. Gene and Jake were just leaving to buy supplies to make the old radio/ipod union work better.
Later in the evening, the 7 of us head into Leesburg again. We have a drink at the Lightfoot where we ate two nights ago so George and Kay can see it. After discussions with the bartender and waitstaff, we head out for a nearby restaurant in an old mill where the wife of one of the waiters will be our server. The mill is really neat and sparks an interesting discussion. It seems that George and Kay had purchased an old mill in Tennessee many years before and converted it into a home and this one looks like its twin. What an undertaking! Our server, Kristy, is just as cute and perky as one could be and the food is very good. Peggy and I are wearing our new purchases.
There is promise of cooler weather and sunshine for the next three days. Tomorrow the men will move the airplane from Dulles to Leesburg. Gene reports that Leesburg ramp is very crowded and he does not see that they have room for an air show there. The city manager, who is in charge of the show, proposed parking the plane on the end of the runway, saying other planes could just stop sooner. Gene told him that the other planes then could not turn off the runway, and besides, it is illegal. Oh! This show could be interesting. Stay tuned.

Comedy of errors

But not so funny. The first blip was Friday night on our way to dinner and the rental car battery is dead. Not to worry, we just all crowd into the remaining three. The next morning Gene has it jumped off and drives it for 20 minutes, after which it still will not start. We just turn the keys in when we get to the airport as three people are leaving the next day anyway.
Then we find that we have a lot of trouble using our iphones in the hotel. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. We also have trouble dialing room to room, even when going through the switchboard. Texting seems to work better so we often resort to that.
Sunday, Gene wakes up sick (with my cold) and urges me to hurry and go into DC with the others who are leaving at 9AM. I make it down there in about 7 minutes but half put together. In Washington we end up walking for 6 hours, or at least I do. Near the end, I left the group and headed back to the bus, which takes me an hour and a half ( I did take a few short breaks). At the airport I get on the wrong Holiday Inn bus as I do not know the name of the one we are at and am delayed another 30 minutes. Meanwhile the remainder of the group takes a cab to the bus and gets back to our hotel a full hour and a half before I do. I am exhausted, feet are killing me and drenched with sweat as it was warm and humid.
On Monday, we wait around to see what the others want to do as we have the car keys and they may do something with friends. This wait goes on and on and on and it is 4PM when we leave the hotel. So now we are here for four days and no fun is happening yet!
To the right is the Korean War Memorial which is a very moving thing to see. To the left of the figures is a granite wall with images of soldiers faces engraved into it.
Things do start looking up from there though. We head to Leesburg, about 15 miles away, where our next show will be. It is a very old town with lots and lots of charming old homes and businesses. We find a neat restaurant in an old bank building. The decor is stunning and the food is wonderful. Everyone is somewhat cheered after this.
On the way back to the hotel Peggy spots a large grocery store called Wegman's and comments that she had only seen one before in Buffalo, NY. She then pauses and says, "Where are we anyway?" I die laughing for just a moment before I had had the sensation that we were in Colorado. Same four people in a rental car and sometimes we just lose track of reality.
Gene and I plan to go back to Washington tomorrow.

The Plane Pull

The event is a charity for the Special Olympics. Money is raised by corporations, who form teams who set a fund raising goal prior to the event. On the day of the event the teams vie to see who can pull a large plane 25 feet the fastest. There is no admission so the crowds should be large. And, the time is to be from 11-4, so we feel like we are on vacation when we all leave for the airport at 10AM. That is really late for most of our events. By the time all that is settled and we are shuttled to the plane, it is just 15 minutes until the hordes descend. At left, coffee cups sitting on the tail as the plane is unpacked for the event.
We are the first plane inside the gates. Unfortunately, the way the plane is situated puts our left wing just sitting out there inviting everyone who walks in the gate to swing from it. We end up having to post a guard under it to deter that and people who wanted to stand under it in the shade and smoke ( with fuel tanks just above their heads). These people are not aviation enthusiasts and seem to have no respect for the equipment. Later we heard from other participants who had similar experiences. We had enough people to post guards around the perimeter.
Nevertheless, this is for a good cause, and there are a whole lot of cute children coming through and we are glad to be here and take part in the event. One couple with a darling baby leaves it in the stroller while they are on the plane, and it smiles and coos at us, totally unconcerned that we are strangers. We are not charging admission, nor selling anything so we are all free to work the crowd. And we have a long line all day, even until 30 minutes after the show closing time. Most of the people seem very interested in the history of our plane.
The good news is that while it is overcast most of the day which keeps it fairly cool, it never rains. The air show provided us with a very good barbeque lunch, folks came by with ice for our cooler and Chick Fila came by with free sandwiches. The cow also came by and was a photo op. At right is the vintage radio Jake scored on the internet alongside our stewardess photo. The radio is fitted with an ipod playing 30's and 40's music.
The bad news is that being down at one end of the show means that we never saw the actual plane pull or many of the other planes that were in attendance.
An early night, as we are in and out of a Longhorn by 8:10 and folks are ready to turn in for the night. The Thatchers will leave on Monday while the remaining 7 will stay for the Leesburg air show next weekend. We are free to explore the area over the days in between.

Our Nation's Capital

Gene and I left Covington at 7 AM on Thursday, Sept. 22 just in time to hit the Atlanta rush hour. It took an hour and a half to get to Marietta, but after that, traffic was really light. We were headed to Shebyville, TN to meet the Flagship. The foundation founder, George Dennis lives there and he and his wife and son are going on the trip too. I was miserable with a brand new head cold and spent most of the trip reclined with eyes closed, until called upon to drive about an hour from our destination.
Turns out we could have left an hour later and still made it ok as the Noknowhengo tribe, true to form made an hour and a half fuel stop on the way. They finally arrived at the same time that George and his family appeared at the airport about 2PM. There were 7 on board, 3 couples and one solo guy. With our addition, there are 12. After stirring around for way too long which is characteristic of the group, we are finally in the air headed to Dulles airport near Washington, D.C. Most of the trip is in the clouds but one could barely make out the ground at points, like the Shenandoah Mountains shrouded in mist. And rolling green hills upon occasion. George's wife, Kay, has brought sandwiches, apples and cookies. Gene is the last one to eat as he is flying when the rest eat (there are 6 pilots on board so no shortage of relief). When he opens his meal it is a salad topped with pickles and grapes of all strange combinations. Kay remembers a woman in the sandwich shop getting a salad while she was there and we all laugh to think of her reaction when she opens it and finds a sandwich.
Once we are in the air with George in the left seat and Gene in the right, the cabin cools rapidly. Our light jackets and sweaters prove inadequate and we soon bundle ourselves in American Airlines old first class blankets gleaned from storage at Alliance. It is a subdued trip with people reading and napping. We land at Dulles in the midst of a most gorgeous sunset, the sun peaking through clouds with bright silver lining and lots of pink and yellow color. My impaired state keeps me from even thinking of taking a photo, sorry.
We must have taxied 20 minutes, John wondered if we were taxiing back to Tennessee. A van met us and all the luggage and passengers packed in for a ride to a nice FBO, a terminal for private aviation, where we rented four cars and then took off for our hotel. We caravanned through dark wet streets, turning, turning and turning. Thinking how would we ever find our way back, knowing we were still near the airport as we could see planes landing and taking off.
Finally we arrived and after a quick refreshing (by now it was 8:30) met in the restaurant for dinner. High prices for so-so service and very average food, they even delivered the wrong meal to me. It was 11 when I returned to the room and dropped into bed exhausted.
Gene was to return to leave for the plane at 8AM to clean. The four who are wearing vintage uniforms (photos later) left at 9 for Press Day. The Mission here is a Plane Pull benefiting the Special Olympics. Teams of 25 people buy a chance to pull a Boeing 727 with a rope for a certain distance. Gene returned to the room at noon to say that they waited all day for the press who turned out to be one old guy who took a couple of pictures. This is not surprising...most of the media events are a bust.
This afternoon we went to the Air and Space Museum. There was a lot there, but not as much as we thought. Gene said he guesses he has just been to too many and now he has seen it all. We did see a space shuttle which we had seen before. The photo above left insists on presenting itself sideways even though is not that way in my photos, so I gave up. The other photo is our three lovlies in their vintage uniforms. Aren't they cute?