Going Up!

Call me crazy, but the airport is one of my favorite places to be. I love planes. I love to fly. I love the whole unbelievable concept that 60 tons of metal can break the binds of gravity and soar to altitudes that allow you to see the curvature of the earth - all in comfort and style. I love everything about the airport and find it simply facinating.

My love of flying starting at a young age. My dad would load up the family and stop by Kentucky Fried Chicken for individual dinner packs. We'd drive out to the airport, dinners on our laps and watch the planes take off and land as we ate. My dad had a radio that allowed us to listen to the conversations between the control tower and the pilots. It was such a thrill to listen in on the instructions, readings, directions and things that passed on this frequency. Sort of like secretly listening in on a forbidden conversation.

I've always carried this love with me. I don't fly NEARLY as much as I would like to...my last trip was two years ago... pity. But sometimes I'll drive over to the airport, radio tuned in and watch the planes. I'm not the only one there. It's funny how many others find this a great way to pass time.

Friday I was able to go on a tour of our airport... of the artwork. Ours is the second largest collection of art in the U.S. Who knew! We were given all sorts of facinating information...our airport employs 31,000 people! We were driven over to the new 'rental car' complex...wow! Rainbows of reflected prisms colored the walls - it was a facinating art installation and one that all valley residents should really see at least once.

I took this shot of the new control tower being built. It's HUGE!! Unfortunately, I didn't get the current control tower in this picture for an awesome comparison. But trust me...this tower is a monster! Once completed, it is going to operate for a year in tandem with our current tower before it takes over the operations of the flights soley on its own. I can hardly wait to see it when completed. Now if I could just find a way to finaggle a tour of it....what an experience that would be!