Well, not exactly a dream vacation. But it was a great trip!
This past weekend, Troy and I went down to Abilene on Saturday and stayed overnight. We got to see Steven two days in a row! Steven was delighted to see us and we were thrilled to see him! We had planned to take him to the zoo but the weather wasn't cooperating so we got to hang out and play rough at his dorm.
Sunday morning, we went downstairs to the hotel lobby for breakfast. We sat beside these nice gentlemen who happen to be helicopter pilots who fight forest fires. These guys live in Oregon, but their company is contracted by the State of Texas to be on call as first responders for a fire. Their job, literally, is to sit in the hangar and be ready to fly as soon as a fire is reported. The only reason they weren't at the hanger when we met with them is because of the rain. It was unlikely that a fire would start in those conditions.
The crew we spoke with included the pilot, maintenance engineer, and fire manager. They told us all sorts of stories about firefighting, answered our millions of questions, and even invited us to come and tour the aircraft.
We didn't have enough time this trip to go on the tour. But, we are planning to tour on our next trip down. Their contract will require them to be there for three months so we are excited to go on the tour!
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