Fun in the Sun

Thirty some hours off in Savannah was nice, but despite clear skies and lots of sunshine, it was very chilly. The walk from our hotel along the river to the Riverfront section of town was quite brisk, given the gusty north wind. After a bite to eat, I went in search of a pair of shorts - our next destination was a little farther south, in the Caribbean. I usually pack for every season, winter and summer clothing, given that we never know where we are going until we get there. But I never imagined that when we left Seattle in January that we'd end up in the sunny Caribbean, where the high temperature was 79 degrees F.

We left Georgia behind the next morning and flew along the Florida coastline until we were abeam Cape Canaveral. As we turned southeast towards the Bahamas, we admired the launch facilities at the Kennedy Space Center below us. There were only two of us pilots now - our young co-pilot had left for home yesterday with a family emergency, but fortunately our flight to the Netherlands Antilles was a short one. There would be no need for sleep en route today.

After dodging a buildup of thunderstorms between Puerto Rico and the Antilles, we descended for landing. Rain squalls blanketed much of the island and we did not break out until we were nearly on top of the airfield. I kept the jet in tight and visually maneuvered for a landing. After shutting down the engines, it started raining heavily. Gusty wind was blowing the warm tropical rain sideways and water was soon covering the floor of the cargo compartment. After finishing our post-flight duties, we headed downtown for a scheduled overnight stay. Originally, we had expected 24-hours off, but it had been changed to a more modest 17-hour ground time. Good deals usually don't last very long in this job, but we'd make the best of it, even if we wouldn't see the beach during our short ground time.

Shortly after we landed, Lt Col F, who had been fighting off some kind of bug, decided he should finally see somebody about it while we held down a place at the hotel bar. When he returned, he gave us the "bad" news - a 102 degree fever and other ailments. Our short overnight had just turned into a mini-vacation. The earliest he'd be able to fly was at least three days due to the medication he'd been given.

So, early the next morning I had to complete my summer wardrobe. A pair of swim trunks and flip flops later, we were off for the beach. One of the loadmasters told us about a snorkeling trip and we quickly signed up. We spent the rest of the afternoon on a dive boat and snorkeling over a sunken tugboat in more than 20 feet of water. There were thousands of fish of all colors, shapes, and sizes. It was such a good time that we extended the rental of our snorkel gear a second day.

There were enough Americans at the hotel that they set up a large screen television for the Superbowl, although heavy wind and rain disrupted satellite service for half of the first quarter. The Dutch didn't really get the appeal of American football, but we had a good time anyway.
After another day of sitting on the beach and touring the colorful downtown area, we were soon ready to depart. Lt Col F was somewhat better, at least well enough to fly home. When we finally blocked in the aircraft in cool and dreary Tacoma, Washington, we knew what a great trip this one had been. These kinds of trips don't happen often.

Bon Bini!