Woke up at 9:45 after a rather dismal night of sleep. I simply had too many wake-up times! And none of them left me feelin' adequately prepared for the day. I had my alarm set for 10:15, but obviously I didn't make it that far.

Went into town, bought some milk, came back and ate cereal, showered, and then was called into the FBO by Van. We had a guy losin' his shirt! woo hoo! One of the guys Van is instructing was doin' his first solo today (the back of your shirt is cut off as a way of celebrating...hey, it's tradition)! One of the most fun moments in flying is watching a brand new guy come in from his first solo. He walks proudly, can't wipe the smile off of his face, and has that slight look of surprise! He just flew an airplane...by himself! I remember my first time quite well! My legs were shakin' rather uncontrollably as I came around on final! They seemed to get worse the longer I did the pattern! But it was a blast. There is nothin' like lookin' over in the passenger seat and seein' no one next to you! You yourself are totally responsible for gettin' that airplane down on the ground. Agh, what a great feeling! The guy only had 9.8 hours under his belt.

After he left, Van asked if I wanted to go up today, but I passed. I just wanted to take the day off and focus on studying. I'm glad I made that decision.

I spent the next couple of hours doin' just that...studying. I watched more King videos and did some practice test questions. Things are goin' along there, but this next week is goin' to be pretty intense. I've still got quite a bit to cover...

After studyin' for awhile, I went over to the FBO and talked with some pilots there. One guy had flown in and one had drove in. Just two older guys spendin' their Saturdays at the airport. "I had to get away from the wife for a bit," one said. haha...he was joking, but then again...maybe not! We're just like little kids at the airport...and I don't see that changin' anytime soon!

Well, later in the day, I needed somethin' to do, so I opted for Wal-Mart (when all else fails, right?!). I ate at the Subway in the store, bought something I needed, then just walked slowly around the store. No real concern for time. Kinda nice. After that, I just drove around Chanute some more to get a feel for the town. And actually, it's a pretty interesting town. Even in the middle of nowhere, it has quite a bit of businesses...and even rather large ones. I noticed that Hitchhiker II campers are made right here in town. That surprised me. You see them on the roads quite a bit. And the nation's largest cement plant is right here in town...the towers are readily noticeable from the sky. Yeah, we have a skyline, all right! The town seems to do pretty well for itself (well, outside of the mess of roads!). And with a median income of right around $30,000, the prices just aren't too bad. Ok, so maybe outside of $4.00 milk. I am still appalled that I have to pay $4.00 for a gallon of milk! I remember payin' $1.79!

I wasn't feelin' so great this afternoon after I got back, so I laid down for a bit, but that wasn't workin', either. Finally just headed over to the shop and talked with Mike and Van for quite awhile. That's one of the best things about pilots...we loooove to just talk. We talked about the up-and-coming flight school up the road (that's goin' to be a major point of discussion over the next few months, I can tell), and about airplanes, in general. I guess Mike built his own. How fun is that!

Oh, and in what can only happen when one is alone, I had perhaps the best four shots of my life in darts today. I will often find myself throwin' darts when I walk by the board, and today was no different. I grab the four darts, and BAM. Bulls-eye. 50. BAM. Outer bulls-eye. 25. BAM. Outer bulls-eye. 25. I couldn't even believe my own eyes. It was nothin' short of ridiculously comical...and impressive! One left to go. I let 'er fly. GRR! 19. 119, though, just isn't too shabby for four tosses. (And, yes, I know that the middle bulls-eye is in fact not the best spot on the board or even the second best, but it has its perks, nonetheless!). So I took a picture.

Early in the evening, I got a phone call from Evan, a guy I had met at church a couple of weeks ago. He invited me to come and hang out with the crew in town. I was pretty excited about that. So tonight I went into town and hung with them for about three hours. That was fun...played a game, grabbed some Sonic, and just chilled. I'm so glad I've already got connections!

And on top of that, Evan was showin' some interest in flying (as do most of the people I talk to!), so I asked him if he would be interested in headin' to Dallas tomorrow. He jumped at the offer.

So it looks like Jarryd, Evan, and I will be hittin' the Big D tomorrow. The flight will be long (over three hours there with the winds) and probably two and a half hours back, but it should be a great time!

I can't wait to fly in with the big jets!