Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama Trip

Russ and I both had a temporary duty assignment the same week, except his TDY was to Maxwell AFB and mine was to Gulfport MS.  My best friend, Diana Bishop, was also TDY at Maxwell at the same time.  So as Maxwell was just a 4 hour drive from Gulfport, I made the relatively short drive to see both Diana and Russ after my training was over and stayed for a day and a half.

Diana's classmates were having an end of class party and invited us along.  Russ did more than his share of helping her classmates "finish off" their liquor supply.  (Note, this photo was taken "pre-helping.")

Russ had been upgraded to a convertible PT Cruiser, which we all enjoyed cruising around in.  (It was so hot that we ended up putting the top up and air on.)

The most significant thing about this trip was that on the day I left, 25 July, Russ told me he loved me for the first time.  (I'd already figured out that I loved him on 18 June, but "patiently" waited for him to figure things out for himself before I said anything.)

I was so glad I went to Maxwell AFB!

Tangier Island

As if Russ weren't creative enough with his date plans before he bought his plane, he came up with some incredibly fun dates now. We flew to Tangier Island in Chesapeake Bay off the coast of Virginia for some fresh crabs. We stopped at a little mom and pop restaurant and ordered some terrific crab dip and crab soup. Yummy! (And once again, I didn't get sick flying in N75078.)

Aerial View of Tangier Island

It was hot and hazy rather than the clear blue skies you see in the post cards, but we still had a wonderful time.

Rachael's First Flight in N75078

One of the benefits of owning a plane is that Russ could take Rachael or his other friends flying whenever he wanted. For my first flight, he kept a simple plan: fly me down to Norfolk and back without getting me sick. I'm proud to say, Russ was successful in this venture.