Woke up just before 9:30 to Mom yellin' and sayin' that breakfast was ready.  Sweet action.  I rolled up the stairs to find that grandma had made biscuits and gravy.  Boy, I could sure get used to this!

Took a shower under probably the most enjoyable shower head ever, then went outside to help my dad tackle a couple of projects.  The nice weather had decided to retreat...it was rather chilly (40's?) and pretty windy.  But Dad and I spent a few hours installin' a receptacle for grandma on her deck and fixin' a light in her Statue of Liberty statue.  Took longer than we had expected, but we got 'em both done.

And it was time to celebrate!  Dad has been lookin' forward to flyin' with me for some time.  And frankly, I've been lookin' forward to it, too!  I used to fly a Cessna 152, and because of weight and balance issues, we were just never able to go up.  I flew with him once in a Cessna 172, but that was a few years ago.  So I was thrilled to take him up again!

We headed to the airport and loaded up.  I had punched the numbers for the weight and balance, and the Cherokee was goin' to work just fine.  We flew about an hour and a half over the Lake of the Ozarks.  I showed him the GPS, how instrument flying works, and all that other good stuff.  And we just took a leisurely stroll through the air.  It was kinda nice.  Of course, I am more fond of goin' places, and it would've been nice to have headed somewhere with a mission, but we had some time constraints as others wanted to fly, too.  That and we wouldn't have been able to have eaten any $100 hamburgers...grandma kept us stuffed to the gills!

Landed back in Camdenton, then took my uncle Randy and his son Tyler up.  This was Tyler's first time and Randy's first time in a small airplane.  I have never seen a man more tense in my life!  His shoulders were arched way up towards his ears, his hands were between his legs, and he stared straight ahead.  I tried to keep talkin' to him and keep him loose, but he wasn't havin' it!  It was kinda funny!  He was obviously nervous!

But after take-off, that all changed.  He instantly recognized where we were, and he showed me around the lake.  He lives on the lake, and he's seen plenty of lake maps, but all of a sudden, those maps became reality.  And he knew exactly where every resort, restaurant, and cove was located!  He loved it.  He couldn't stop thanking me!  And Tyler loved it, too.  At one point, he asks me, "Hey, Andy, is it normal for you to feel like you are going to throw up"?  "Um, uh, yeah, sure that's normal..."  ha!  So I gave him some ideas for breathin' slowly and focusin' on somethin' inside the airplane rather than lookin' all over outside.  It must've worked because he kept everything inside.  Much to my liking, of course.

Flew back to Camdenton, then headed to grandma's for another huge supper.  Spent the night watchin' some NCAA basketball...some Forrest Gump...and playin' some games.  I was rather tired from the day, so I headed to bed around 11:00 P.M.  Ended up talkin' to a friend on the phone until 1:53 A.M.  yikes.