I have class tonight, on Valentine’s Day, which totally sucks because it means I won’t get to spend the evening with Jose. Instead, I will spend the evening with my Critical Approaches to Digital Media professor. Can you hear my excitement?
We ended up doing a pseudo-Valentine’s Day yesterday instead. We took off work early and headed to the airport to enjoy the absolutely gorgeous weather with a flight down to Galveston and back. It is so cool that Jose finally has his pilot’s license and I can just hop in the plane with him at a moment’s notice!
It seemed like it only took about 5 minutes to fly to Galveston. You could see the island as soon as we took off, and as we got closer everything looked so pretty. The water sparkled in the sunlight and everything looked so clear and vivid. It was only my second time flying with Jose, but already I was able to better understand the calls we were hearing over the radio. And since Galveston has a control tower, Jose got to practice talking to a tower — the first time he’s done that without his instructor along! We were cleared for landing and did a big turn over the island to approach from the gulf. I could see the waves crashing on the shore as we descended. It was awesome.
After landing, we just taxiied back around to take off again and head back to Pearland. One day we’ll have to actually fly down for lunch. We took off and flew basically right up I-45 for a while. I could see all the construction on the bridge to Galveston, and marvelled at the maze of refineries that is Texas City. It was a fairly clear day, and as we got closer to Pearland, I could see downtown in the distance — not as much haze as there was the last time we went. There were four or five other airplanes in the pattern at Pearland, so it was quite busy when we came back in to land. There was another plane that was right on Jose’s tail, which made our landing feel a little rushed since the guy was so close. I looked behind us at one point and saw him following us — it felt like something out of a dogfight movie when the plane behind you is trying to get you in its sights! Jose was not exactly happy with how close the guy was, but his landing was still perfect. In fact, his landing in Galveston was perfect as well.
After flying, we had dinner at La Madeleine, which has become Jose’s standard post-flying meal spot. Later, he gave me roses and I hid these scientist valentines for him to find. My favorites are Sagan and Darwin. It’s good that I have a boyfriend who finds those as funny as I do. It’s good that I have a boyfriend as awesome as Jose.
looks like it was very clear yesterday. I love when you can see downtown from the airport.
So if you have a pilots license can you just show up at the airport and rent a plane or reserve? Is there a plane rental service?
Brian, I’m not 100%, but I think the answer is “sort of.” It’s not quite as easy as renting a car, but most small airports do have clubs and/or businesses through which you can rent their planes. They may require you to get checked out in them first, but in the end, yep, you can rent a plane.
Right now, Jose is still using his instructor’s plane, but he plans to join the Bay Area Aero Club that’s headquartered at his airport. He’ll be able to rent their planes, even for the whole weekend if he wants.
That’s pretty cool. You’re going to be flying all over the place.