Last month I had a couple pretty good trips with awesome crews.  The first 2 weeks I flew with a couple guys who were just riots, we had a really good time.  And the best part of the whole trip (I can't believe I forgot about this!), I got my first ferry flight!! :)  That means that we had to ferry the airplane (without passengers) to an airport that had a maintenance department.  So the guys let me sit up front with them, plugged in some headsets so I could listen to the radio chatter, and away we went!  I was so excited...it's so much different sitting up front and watching a take-off and landing.  I was very grateful to the guys for letting me sit up there with them, but they seemed to be just as happy to let me considering I was so excited to see the whole process. 

The trip I had the last 3 weeks was with a different crew going to different places, including a long layover in Winnipeg.  The hotel we stay at there is one of the "plushest" ones that I've been to so far.  I think I mentioned on an earlier entry that we had gotten picked up in a limo the first night I had ever been there, back in May.  Well, no limo this time, but a town car with an entertaining driver does the trick just the same! :) 

Each week we got in around 2:00 p.m. local time, giving us plenty to do before we had to jump in bed to be ready for an early show the next morning.  The first couple weeks we walked to a market area called "The Forks" and ate dinner (some of the best gyros I've ever had!).  The last week it was so blasted cold that we decided to pass on walking outside.  Lucky for us they have a huge indoor walkway that connects many of the downtown businesses and hotels, so we stayed inside the whole way to the mall and back.  Those Canadians definitely have figured out that walking outside in that cold weather is definitely best avoided! :)

Speaking of colder weather, it has become very evident lately that I am going to have to start carrying a coat for overnights...I can't believe that it's fall already, I seemed to have missed summer! 

A couple weeks ago it was kind of sad in the crashpad...well, for me at least.  One of my roomies, Nick, who I had gotten to be pretty close with, left for an extended backpacking trip in Europe.  I still haven't adjusted to not having him around, so my way of dealing with it seems to just be not being home at all.  I think in the last 3 weeks, I've only spent 2 nights at home, maybe 3.  I was lucky enough to be able to spend time with my best friend and her boyfriend over Labor Day Weekend, and then this week provided another whirlwind trip to Dallas/Ft. Worth.  Funny story actually...

Since I had a whole 3 days off this week, I had decided to make a trip to Eugene, OR, mainly because there is a vineyard up there that has AWESOME wine, and the one bottle I had bought back in June was not nearly enough.  Also, the captain I'm flying with this month is from Portland, and he said he had ate at a really good Thai restaurant up there, so hey, what better reason for a random trip?  Well, unfortunately all the flights to Eugene were oversold...there was no way I was getting there on Monday, no big deal though.  My best friend (Brooke is her name, btw) and one of her co-workers were coming to DIA to fly out to Dallas, and neither one of them had ever flown so I said I'd meet them and help them get checked in and find their gate, etc.  Well, while waiting for them to board, Brooke suggests I make the trip with them.  I find out the next flight leaves at 4:00 p.m. (it's about 1:15 p.m. at the time), so I rush back home, change clothes, pack a change of clothes, and speed back to the airport (it was definitely deja vu of my Puerto Rico trip).  I get to Dallas, we go eat (I had the BEST steak of my life at Texax Land & Cattle Steakhouse), pay for a $35 cab ride down to the Stockyards.  The Stockyards is actually the old stockyards of Ft. Worth, but now it's a pretty happening place for night life...except on a Monday night.  It was deader than a doorknob, but we got to see Billy Bob's of Texas and that was worth it.  I came home yesterday afternoon (a day later than originally planned) and am leaving today on my four day trip.  Next week might prove to be just as crazy, as there is a possiblity I'll be in 4 different states in the course of 5 days! :) 

It's things like these crazy trips that make me SO thankful for my flight benefits.  I've never had the opportunity to do things like these before, and sometimes I still can't believe I do now!  Next month will be exciting, too...I'm headed to Europe to see Nick for (hopefully) a week or so, depending on how my schedule works out.  I submitted my passport application last week and had it expedited, so it should be here by the end of the month...then it is just a matter of getting a group of days off together and I'm outa here!  My first international trip, voo-hoo! :)  We're not sure where I'm going to meet him yet, possibly in Poland.  You can be sure that you guys will get to see tons of pics though! :)

Well, better get a start on that laundry that has been severely neglected in the last couple weeks...the pile is almost tall as me! :)