Late Riser

Today was a beautiful day in Carlsbad. After a bowl of Lucky Charms and a cup of pumpkin spice coffee I headed out for bicycle ride. A little more than I bargained for, some of the hills were so steep I could barely continue. The work paid off, and the sights were amazing. As I rode along the beach, I passed nearly 100 people; groups of cyclists, runners, and walkers. Turns out I was a late riser! The ocean was littered with surfers with pods of dolfins just beyond the surf. It was like a postcard, and I felt lucky to be there to see it all.
As a few of us hit the beach today, we reminded ourselves that it was in fact October. I got tan lines on the 24th of October! Who knew?

I backseated my first flight in the huey on Wednesday. On our way into Miramar we came into the runway parallel with a pair of F-18s... it was awesome. I also got into one of the newest simulators a couple of times and am hoping to do so next week as well, as I'm not scheduled to fly. I snapped a picture over the pilots' right shoulder in the cobra simulator so you could get an idea of what it's like. On a more serious note, a friend introduced me to a great video on Youtube of a fellow Naval Academy grad's appearance on the Country Music Awards. Some of you may not know Andrew Kinard's story, but he was wounded in Iraq when he stepped on an improvised explosive device (IED) and nearly lost his life. I had the great opportunity to meet him while he was still recovering in the naval hospital at Bethesda-- you can see the video of him introducing Trace Adkins and the West Point Glee Club at the CMT awards at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0mm4u2VzDs