The best laid plans ... often go awry.
I am a new private pilot (acquired my license in June 2020). I try to fly whenever I get a chance. I have a Cessna 150 which is one of the slower airplanes in the sky, but I can get to anywhere in this circle on a tank of gas.
The plan was to fly down and get the suitcase from Susan (north of Dallas) and then deliver it to to Mark (St. Louis). Unfortunately the weather didn't want to cooperate.
ROAD TRIP! :-)
It was so nice to meet Susan, Craig (her husband), and Shelby (their dog). We had a nice lunch where we were able to get to know each other better. We had normal conversations about normal stuff. It was amazingly awesome!
We met at a point about half way between Joplin and McKinney in McAlester OK which is an interesting little town. Jennifer (my wife) and I noticed a fun outside art sculpture as we came into town.
Once back in Joplin, the suitcase hung out in my office for a few days and then on Wednesday October 29th, I headed to St. Louis to meet up with Mark Richman. Mark and I have been friends for over 15 years and he's been my boss at Skeleton Key for the last 11 years.
It was great to see Mark and his family. When Skeleton Key has a staff conference, Mark will typically have the team out to his house, so I've known his family for awhile now. It was great to see them again. We ate homemade pizza. They introduced me to putting an egg on the homemade pizza (which I had never heard of, but am now a huge fan...try it!). Mark and I had some business to attend to in the northern part of the state and were able to spend several hours in the car together. We tried to solve the worlds problems, but I don't think we quite got it done, nevertheless the conversation was fantastic and "hit the spot" for what I've been missing.
Once we were back in St. Louis the suitcase transfer was made on a beautiful sunny fall day (why couldn't it have been like this when I was trying to fly?)
I understand the suitcase already has a new destination coming up, and may make a stop where POE was scheduled earlier this year.
I can't wait to see where it goes from here. Thank you suitcase for bringing us together at a time when "together" is what we need.