Bo Does Mountains

You know the way I love books? Well, that's the way Captain America likes airplanes. He can't get enough of them.

And that's how we got the newest addition to our family.

Meet Bo. Short for Bonanza F33a.

Isn't he a beauty? And the plane ain't half bad either!

Captain America traded in our first plane and brought Bo home a couple of months ago. We've already taken him a few places, but this weekend we decided to go on our longest trip yet--to the mountains of Colorado.

Those of you who regularly fly the friendly skies in one of those big jet airliners at 35,000 feet don't know what you're missing at 13,000 feet.

That scenery right below your toes!

Another thing you're missing in an airliner is wearing an oxygen mask. It's a necessity when you're flying high in an unpressurized plane like Bo. Here I am modeling the latest in tube technology and looking remarkably like someone's grandma. Oh wait, I am someone's grandma!

Our first full day was spent in the quaint old mining town of Creede, known primarily as the place where the Coward Robert Ford was gunned down, which I'm pretty sure puts me at one degree of separation from Brad Pitt. So there's that.

The next day we went to Williams Creek Reservoir in the San Juan National Forest. 

In Houston the temperature that day was 96 degrees and 94% humidity. (That is not a typo.)

At Williams Creek Reservoir that day it was about 78 degrees and 11% humidity. 

That's why we are smiling in this picture.

It was such a pretty Colorado weekend, one morning I sat out on the porch and before I knew it, I had made this! After I decorate the endpapers, it will be ready for your Christmas decor. 

Wait, what? Christmas already?

Yes! I'm pleased to announce that on September 10th, Reading With Scissors will be at the Shop 'til You Drop Marketplace, so I'm already making holiday products. I'll be featuring some of them here over the next few weeks, so stay tuned.

Speaking of staying tuned, one of the easiest ways to find out what's going on is to sign up for my new email list. The first email will be coming out shortly. There's a sign-up form on this page, so go ahead and don't miss out! There will be goodies. Just saying.

Come On and Fly Me!

The first time I went up in a plane, I was about 11 years old. I was at the Fairview Flying Farmers Fly-In and the pilots were taking anyone up for a spin around the countryside for a penny a pound. Marion Ratzlaff strapped me and my brother and my mom in his plane and we made the jaunt to Canton Lake and back.

I am not sure if the Flying Farmers still offer that treat. If they do I bet it is more than a penny a pound these days. Even if it were still a penny a pound, I don't think I could afford it anymore.

Several years and a college degree later I met a guy in an Air Force flight suit who invited me to go flying with him in a rented plane one afternoon. 2nd Lieutenant America was right out of college, too, where his degree had taught him all kinds of aerobatic moves. I don't remember a lot about that flight except the hammerhead stall. For those who don't know what happens during a hammerhead stall it goes something like this: you go straight up into the sky until the engine stops and then you scream a lot--well, I did, Captain America was just laughing--and then the plane noses over and heads straight for the ground until you get enough airspeed to start flying again.

Somewhere in all the screaming I think I promised to marry him if he let me live--either that or I blacked out. It's all a fuzz now. So began my life as a pilot's wife.

Anyway...

A couple of weeks ago, Captain America made a trip to North Carolina and came home with our own plane!

Here he is at the helm. Hubba hubba!

And here's what the world looks like from the co-pilot's seat...

 

All of which leads me to this beauty I snagged recently at an estate sale. 

And now it looks like this...

I normally don't keep dust jackets on books, but this one is stellar. It really makes the whole piece pop!

If you're looking for a special gift for the pilot who has everything, click here. I know just the thing. And I promise no hammerhead stalls involved.