Glamping (part 1)

Glamping is the term my brother came up with to accurately describe our camping trip. It's glamorous camping.  It's really a great way to go! We bring our own food, which is mostly prepared ahead of time, so we have great meals and then we stay in cabins with air condition and beds. We have indoor plumbing and we take showers, but we don't use hair dryers or wear make-up. My dad rents a golf cart to play chaffeur for the weekend and then the rest of us take it cruising around the park. There's a water park and other fun things to do too.  I took a ton of pictures of the weekend so stay tuned for more!

Our trip started out with a great surprise! We met up with my parents and niece and nephew at the Brenham airport diner to watch the little planes fly in and out and have lunch. It's a neat little place. When we were seated at our table we heard a loud helicopter coming in. Imagine our amazement when we saw it was a United States Army Chinook! 

When the army guys came in the diner, Matson must have said "guys, those are the pilots of the airplane!" 30 times. He was so excited!! We let the guys eat their lunch in peace, but when they came out my dad asked them if they were the pilots (as if we really needed to ask) and then my mom asked if the grandkids could meet them. They said sure and that if we wanted to walk down the runway we could get on the Chinook!  

So we followed them

down the runway

through the field

to this great big helicopter!

We really didn't know what anything was in there, but we just looked around and found it all interesting.

The pilot

and co-pilot.

They didn't want to stay in there too long. So many buttons!

Brody and Emersyn just peeked in.

Emersyn, who is three, kept saying she had never been on a helicopter before. Well, now at three years old she can say she has been not only on a helicopter, but an Army Chinook!

The kids were so intently listening to this guy tell them all about the door in the floor and how they do rescues through it. Some of these guys were part of the rescues after hurricane Katrina.

We learned so much about this thing. The Chinook can land in water and float for 30 minutes. It can fill up to a certain point with water and for special operations a zodiac boat can zoom up the ramp into the Chinook. (Two boats can fit.) They then take off and do a fast get away.

As we were looking through these photos just before posting this Matson pointed out to me that the lever with the spiral yellow tape on it is the emergency brake and that the yellow bar across the opening can move. Someone was listening and storing a lot of information!

Even the big boys were interested and learning!

I was told that the first Chinook flew in 1955. It's the only helicopter that can carry one just like it, which weighs something like 35,000 lbs!

To see this thing was a really neat experience! Matson says he wants to be a rescue pilot now.

The guys told us they would do a low fly-by so we waited for that. And while we did, we met the County Sheriff in-waiting. Matson was so intrigued. He went up and asked him if that was a gun on his belt and if he shot bad guys. The sheriff said, no, but he sure fusses at them.

When the Chinook took off, the sheriff held Matson up and he was screaming, "DAD! DAD!! Look!!" b/c the Chinook was amazing! It was loud and fast - just like a little four year old boy. :)

They indeed made a grand exit with a low fly-by. You know the thrill you get when the jets fly over a baseball game or something? Well, it was like that. There was a guy hanging out the window waving to us and even one sitting on the back ramp with his feet dangling. Oh it was so cool!

And as soon as the Chinook was out of sight, Reese had us all looking at this little grasshopper on the air conditioner. :) All amazing things - no matter how big or small!!

Stay tuned for more!