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Boston-Portsmouth Air Show Weekend

Jonathan — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:39:34 +0000

This weekend David and Christopher came out to visit and go to the air show at Pease. The weather was perfect and we all had a great weekend.

On Thursday night I picked them up from the train station at Exeter, NH and went to the Olive Garden for dinner. Delicious!

I took a day’s vacation on Friday and we went to the Hampton Airfield Café for breakfast and then watched the aircraft take off and land. After breakfast we headed over to Pease to see if we could catch a glimpse of some aircraft arriving for the weekends air show. We were able to watch for around 5 minutes before the police started moving people on.

In the afternoon we drove up to York to see York Beach and the Nubble Light. We stayed around York for most of the afternoon before returning home for a BBQ.

On Saturday and Sunday we went to the Airshow at Pease. The weather was great and we saw a great deal of aircraft both on the ground and in the air. I was lucky enough to sit in the pilot seat of a Delta Airlines 757 as well as a KC-135, an aircraft I have seen a lot at Pease over the last couple of years. We also toured a KC-10. The air display included an F-16, F-15, F/A-18 as well as the Blue Angels and the Brazilian Air force Smoke Squadron.

Here are some pictures from the air show, with captions where possible:

F-16 Fighting Falcon

U.S. Navy Blue Angels

U.S. Navy Blue Angels flying past the tail of a Boeing 757

U.S. Navy Blue Angels

U.S. Navy Blue Angel

Air show crowds taking shelter from the sun underneath an A-10.

Taken onboard a KC-135 looking back towards a KC-10.

Flight controls inside a KC-135.

Looking out of the KC-135 towards F-15′s and F-16′s

F/A-18 Hornet

F-15 Strike Eagle

Christmas

Jonathan — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 01:47:11 +0000

We drove up to Meghan’s parents on Christmas Eve. Our Christmas Eve meal was a delicious ham and potato dinner.

After eating we played monopoly until late. My canny ability to avoid landing on Park Place and Boardwalk kept me in the game a few hours more than I perhaps should have! It was easily the most fun monopoly game I have had.

The following morning we woke up and opened our presents around the tree. Meghan’s parents were very generous and we came away with lots of nice gifts.

After we had opened our gifts we made our way down to Boston to see the rest of Meghan’s family. We had a delightful Turkey and Lasagna dinner with the most delicious pumpkin pie dessert courtesy of Meghan’s sister.

After dinner we made our way home again and opened our gifts from each other.

Here are some of the many generous gifts I received over Christmas:

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Jonathan — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:50:17 +0000

Yesterday started with an early rise of 5am to do a final weighing of my cases and breakfast with my parents. I barely found room in my packed cases for my insulin which was the final thing to be packed. My parents then drove me to London Heathrow for my 11:10 flight to Boston, MA. We were there a little early so I had my cases tagged and waited 10-15 minutes before dropping my bags off. I then said goodbye to my parents and made my way through the security line. I was expecting problems at security as I was taking several months worth of medication and needles though. It was painless though. They didn’t ask for my prescription or doctor’s letter or even ask me to remove my shoes or laptop from its case.

I boarded flight BA213 at about 10:40 and found my seat. It was at least 95 degrees in the aircraft! Apparently the APU was broken and therefore there was to be cold air until the pilot turned the engine on before push back. We were then left waiting for an hour while ground crew were involved in putting out a nearby vehicle fire. The sweat was pouring down peoples faces as they fanned themselves with the B747 emergency foldout. I asked the air hostess for some ice for my insulin which I was given.

On the aircraft I met a lovely Italian lady called Anna and her son Carlo. They were on route from Italy back to Boston and were very friendly. Amazingly the lady met her husband (another Italian) in Boston 48 years ago and found out soon after that he came from her hometown in Italy and went to school with her brother! It’s a small word! I spent quite a bit of the flight talking to them both, it made the flight a lot more interesting than usual.

The flight was a little late arriving at Boston due to the delays in London and a last minute change of runway. I made my way through immigration with ease. The immigration officer didn’t remember how to process a K-1 visa so she called for help. She took my I-129F petition and stamped it, she also stamped my I-94 landing form and passport. I also had my picture taken and fingerprints done. She didn’t ask me any questions as I think she was more concerned with processing my visa correctly!

After clearing customs I met Meghan at arrivals and we got a cab back to her car and drove up to Plaistow, NH. On arrival we dumped the cases, unpacked my medication and went to Wal-Mart to buy some toiletries. After that we went to the Longhorn Steakhouse for a really tasty filet steak with blue cheese dressing and a few coronas.

So day 1 is over! Today we are going to sign on the new apartment, go outlet shopping, meet with the wedding photographer and then travel up to York, Maine to stay with her aunts before driving up to Booth Bay in the morning.

Packing for America!

Jonathan — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:51:21 +0000

I have finally made some progress with my packing. In some ways packing to move abroad is easier than packing to go on holiday. For example, when packing for a holiday I always make sure I am extra careful about leaving plenty of room in the case to bring my purchases back, when moving abroad I don’t have any such concern. Also, when moving abroad I am fully prepared to leave my hundreds (sometimes feels like thousands) of t-shirts behind in favour of buying new ones when I am there.

My hand baggage is proving to be far more of a concern than my checked baggage. All of my camera equipment goes with me on the plane, no exception. My medication also needs to go with me as well as my visa documents, x-ray, master copies of my birth/police certificate, drivers licence and passport (complete with K-1 visa). I will also take my electrical items onboard. If I was not such a geek and therefore feel the need to travel with loads of personal gadgets each with their own USB cable and power pack, I might actually get away with travelling light.

I will breathe a sigh of relief when my cases and I have touched down in Boston!