Greeting Loyal Airmen. We're posting a day early this week because at this time tomorrow Ye Old Air Chief will be flying to Columbus, Ohio, to attend the first Pulp Fest Convention.  Rob Davis and I will be there with lots and lots of Airship 27 pulps, and on Sat. afternoon, at 1:30 PM, Ye Old Air Chief will be giving a chapter reading from the latest Captain Hazzard novel, CAVEMEN OF NEW YORK.  We really hope lots of you Loyal Airmen can make the trip and join us for this fun weekend.

Meanwhile early Tuesday morning Alex and Cora flew back home to Colorado, accompanied by Valerie. Their wonderful three weeks visit to New England seemingly over in the blink of an eye.  What follows are just some of the photos we took their third and last week here.  Enjoy.

         
                                         Alex & his Uncle Chris and a real Maine lobster.

The lobster bake at Michelle & Chris' was truly one of the highlights of their visit.  Alex had never tackled eating a Maine lobster out of the shell and his Uncle Chris was only too happy to show him how it was done.  There was also lots of other good eats that night to include grilled chicken and corn-on-the-cob plus a super creamy desert Michelle whipped up that clearly added extra pounds to all of us.

       
                           Ye Old Air Chief,   Taryn,  Cora & Alex at York Beach.

Being that it was their remaining few days, we asked Cora and Alex what they wanted to do.  They answered immediately, “Go back to the beach!”  So for the third time during their stay, we packed  up the car and headed for York Beach, Me.  Happily our son, Scott, was up for the weekend with his two kids, Taryn and Logan, and they joined us for the day.  It was another fun filled romp.  By mid-afternoon, tired of the crowds, we headed back home and continued the party in our pool.

         
                                   Scott, Logan, Taryn, Ye Old Air Chief, Alex & Cora

After a good hour of splashing, diving, jumping around and just plain acting crazy, Valerie snapped the above photo.  One of the real joys of this trip, and we thank Scott so much for driving up from Conn. to join us, was the fact that Cora & Alex at long last did get to meet all their cousins.  That was truly special.  For all of us.  Thanks, Scott.  You're not only a super dad, but your also a terrific uncle.

             
                                   Cora & Val overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee.

What with the weather being iffy all the time they were with us, we sadly did not get to travel too far north during their visit.  Still, considering they live at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, that was never a priority.  Still one day we managed to drive up to the lakes region.  We went to Weirs Beach and took the two and half hour cruise of the New Hampshire's big lake, Winnipesaukee, aboard the Mount Washington.

           
                              Mount Washington cruise ship docked at Weirs Beach, N.H.

This is an amazing cruise that covers most of the lake's 13 miles, and is filled with lots of interesting history about the lake and the people who first discovered and eventually settled the area.  The kids were truly impressed and
had a great time.  Although it was cloudy and overcast when we left dockside, by the time we were coming back, the sun had broken through and it was a really beautiful, scenic trip.

         
                              Valerie & the Air Chief aboard the Mount Washington.

In looking over all the hundreds of pictures we, and they, took during these past three weeks, I was hoping to find the perfect one to end this entire series.  A photo that we would look at in years to come and fondly remember all the fun we had with these two truly wonderful youngsters.  And here it is, as if they are looking out over the majestic waters and saying a fond farewell to New Hampshire.

              
                                            Alex & Cora aboard the Mt. Washington

The afternoon after they flew home, we returned to Hangar 27 and it was sadly very, very quiet.  It had been a long-long time since Ye Old Airchief and Val hosted kids…and we loved every single minute of it.  When hugging and kissing them goodbye at the airport, we let them know how much we had loved their visit and thanked them for making this one of the best summers of our lives.  Hopefully they'll be back next year too.

On another sad but happy note, our daughter Heather, is moving this weekend.  After living her entire life in Maine and New Hampshire, she's picking up her roots and moving to Chicago, the Windy City, for a new and fresh start.  We think was she is doing is extremely exciting and wonderful (and brave) and wish her all the best in the world.  And Heather, we'll be visiting before you know it.  Good luck, Sweetheart, and God bless you every step of the way.

That's it, Loyal Airmen.  I've got a few more last minute errands to run before shutting up Hangar 27 for the weekend.  Again, if you are anywhere near Columbus this weekend, do stop by and say hi. The greatest fun of any con is meeting you Loyal Airmen in person.  That's it till next week.

Ron – Over & Out.