Take to the air...

Looking at weather radar on TV this morning, we are going to be in for some stormy weather... if we head out early...

We stayed put 'till around 11:00; we don't have far to go today, and there were reports of ping-pong ball size hail.  We got a few sprinkles.

Rolling into Denison, we stopped to check in with my brother-in-law, then went out to the nearby county campground...

It is a pretty park, with a small pond; heavily wooded.  The view from our RV...

Typical of this kind of campground (as opposed to an RV park): piles of firewood at many of the sites.  I'm hoping we can stay relatively smoke-free while we're here (during the weekdays).

Back to John's house, then out for lunch - Cronk's is a local favorite, it is the oldest, longest continually operated restaurant in Iowa.  A definite small-town feel.

From there, we took the "City Circle Tour"... Denison is about 7,500 population, and it doesn't appear that a lot has changed since we were here years ago.  The tour took us to the cemetery where my sister (John's wife) is buried; we paid our respects.  John gave me my first flying lessons at age 16 in a Piper J3 Cub.  His job as a corporate pilot took him all over the world, flying some very impressive jets.  As a retired guy, he still likes to occasionally fly, and has a Cub: a Piper J-11.  He asked if I'd like to take her up... I think he was not expecting it when I said, "Absolutely!"

With my bum hip, it took me a while to get myself in there, but I settled in...

For the record, I have a commercial pilots license, instrument rating, multi-engine.  This is the first time I have been in something this small since I was 16.  John said, "Do you want to take it?"

"It has been over a decade since I have had my hands on the controls - we might be better served if you take off."  ;-)

And then, time to return...

I said to John, "You've still got it."

He replied, "Once you've got it, you don't forget it."  Maybe so... I wouldn't be taking that plane up solo, though.

Back to John's house for more visiting - the reason we are here.