FOO

Since the Cirrus was across the apron from the Mercury office, close to the sheriff's helicopter pad and office, guys in golf carts took us and our luggage out to the plane. As Bruce finished his pre-flight, I did some stretching. I started with a modified triangle pose with my arms wrapped around my waist.

A man from a group standing outside the sheriff's helicopter office shouted up the hill and over the chain link fence to me, "You doing Pilates or something?"

I called back, "Yoga!" and struck the correct pose with my arms stretched fully up and down. The group laughed and I heard muttering about doing cheers.

He shouted back, "That make that plane fly any better?"

"No. Makes me fly better!" They laughed again and began to disperse. I finished the modified triangle pose and completed a side angle pose, of sorts.

I was startled when the man came up by the plane and asked, "Where you headed?" I noticed that he had on a kaki green flight suit with County Sheriff patches on the shoulders.

"We're trying to make it to Sioux City, Iowa."

The deputy replied, "I spent a week there one day," as he started to walk towards the open doors where Bruce was working away. It became clear that he really was looking for an excuse to come look inside the Cirrus. Many pilots wanted to see the cockpit since it was mostly glass, a very new thing in general aviation. Then he said, "I'm going to get one of these when I win the lotto," and laughed.

Bruce looked surprised to see the deputy stick his nose inside the door. Not his usual chatty self, Bruce was focused on getting us to Iowa. If we had had more time, Bruce would have given the deputy the grand tour as he had for so many others. Being a pilot, the deputy knew about trying to get places before dark and did not push. We said our goodbyes and headed for the sky.

Once out of the local airspace and back into our cross-country groove, Bruce requested Classic Rock on the Roady. The music was interrupted by air traffic controllers and pilots talking. I asked Bruce about some pilot terms they were using. Affirmative meant "yes." Roger meant that you received and understood what was transmitted. Willco meant that you received, understood and will comply to what was transmitted. Bruce pointed out that "roger willco," a phrase I liked to use, was redundant. I spent the flight practicing my newly corrected pilot lingo with Bruce. For example, when Bruce asked for an apple, I responded, "willco." Reaching behind me to fish out an apple from the snack bag was where the yoga came in particularly helpful.

When we stopped for fuel in Missouri, I noticed a young man dressed all in black with a new red cap sitting on the curb next to the entrance of the FBO's office. As we passed him to enter, we both gave him a friendly hello. He paused, looked up with a pack of green Safeway brand cigarettes in his mouth, removed them and said, "Whas yer name?" in a slow southern drawl.

Bruce responded, "Bruce."

Then he demanded of me, "Whas yer name?"

I said, "Heather."

Then he urgently asked Bruce, "Thas yer wife?"

Bruce laughed and responded, "Yes," as we passed into the office.

After hitting the restroom, I asked the woman inside, Vicki, "Who's the character outside?" I was thinking of asking him what was his name. Vicki was shaken by my question and said that the drifter had shown up earlier in the day. They had the police talk to him, but they could not do anything as the drifter was sitting on public property. She confessed that he was "not right in the head." Bruce joined us to buy some maps. I went over to the vending machine for some peanut M & M's. They were not a peanut butter and jam sandwich, but they would have to do.

Then, the drifter came inside and looked over the items in the display case. He asked Bruce, "Whas yer duty?"

Bruce replied, "You mean my job?" That was what he wanted to know. Bruce concluded that the guy was retarded and explained, as he would to a child, that he was the pilot of the plane outside. The drifter did not stink, looked dusty yet relatively clean, and had a week to two week's growth of sparse, light brown beard. Bruce finished his purchase of maps from Vicki and we left.

Bruce later said that he thought the kid was not a drifter. Because Vicki was noticeably concerned about the kid, Bruce concluded that he was her retarded son. Bruce was surprised that Vicki had told me the kid was a drifter.

As we got back into the plane, the drifter was outside, sitting on the curb and flipping his carton of Safeway cigarettes. A pack fell out. He grabbed it, put it back into his mouth, then pulled it away leaving one cigarette behind. He started smoking. Two men came over to talk to him as we pulled onto the taxiway. As I could see no other possessions, I wondered how he ended up at the airport. Then I remembered how deserted yet open the Fort Stockton airport had been. Perhaps the man drifted from airport to airport looking for restrooms.

As the day grew warmer, thunderclouds formed. Bruce dodged them and watched for lightening strikes as we made our way across Iowa. He adjusted his route to keep the strikes 100 miles away from us. I did not hear any thunder, but watched the strikes register on the storm scope.

We landed before sunset in Sioux City, Iowa and spent the night across the river in Sow Sue (as our driver said it), Nebraska. South Dakota was just up the river five minutes. Our hotel had a restaurant that was the local business hangout for Tyson. IBP, International Beef Products, was purchased recently by Tyson. The menu featured "Chairman's Choice" beef, so we had the special--peppercorn New York steaks. Our waiter was very proud that we could see men with Tyson logo's on their shirts at the tables next to us and that his restaurant served the top 2% in quality of IBP's beef. The steaks were good, but not as good as Bruce's parent's homegrown beef.

According to our driver who looked to be retired and had lived here his entire life, Sioux City had a population of 80,000 down from 100,000 just a few years ago. Gateway computer was headquartered here and laid off 4,000 people a few years ago. The hockey stadium was recently expanded, sponsored in the past by Gateway and now by Tyson, and full that night for a game. Our driver admitted that going to large cities like LA scared him. he had gone there once in 1969 to see a baseball game. We noticed new construction along the roads. An expanded Lewis and Clark Center, the main point of interest in town, was one of the projects currently underway. The economy was starting to come back and our driver was happy that Tyson purchased IBP. Although, he had to keep reminding himself to call IBP Tyson now.

The people in Iowa were exceptionally nice and happy. We enjoyed Sioux City and considered staying on for a half day to see the much vaunted Lewis and Clark Center. After all, we were following their trail.

Pilot Notes for Leg 5 :: KCHS to KSUX