Saturday, September 30, 2006

Did I Mention That I've Flown A Blimp?

On my not-so-recent-anymore trip to Los Angeles in May, many fun & exciting things happened {many of which will never be told here for fear of, well, let's just say "what happens in LA, stays in LA}. Thanks to my good, well-connected friend Peanut {me love you long time}, we were able not only take a ride in but also fly one of the four Goodyear Blimps on our first day there.

Let me just say that not any Joe or Sally can just walk off the street & get onto the Blimp. From their website: "How can I get a ride on the Goodyear Blimp?
Rides on the Goodyear blimps are available at the invitation of the company only. Most of the lucky riders are Goodyear customers, winners of local charity auctions, local dignitaries, or members of the press." You have to either BE someone, or KNOW someone who KNOWS someone who is really connected to get a chance to be a 'Blimper' ~ this is not an official term, simply one I've made up myself & will get embroidered on a t-shirt "I'm a Blimper, don't you wish you were too?" . Oh, this could be construed the wrong way, so I may have to rethink this a bit.

Anyway, our trip to LA started with getting the rental car & immediately heading for "Goodyear Airship Operations" located in an area filled with churches & schools. We know this cuz we searched vainly for a lounge for a quick drink beforehand.
Then onto the Blimp "The Spirit of America".


Our pilot Jim was fabulous, witty & very knowledgeable about the Blimps as he has flown them for many years. We headed out over LA to Redondo Beach where we flew up & down the coastline.


All of us were able to take turns actually piloting the Blimp, which was so fun! Hussy had to be talked into it, but I'm pretty sure that she's glad she didn't miss out on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pilot an honest-to-goodness Goodyear Blimp.Here I am at the helm, narrowly avoiding disaster! Man, my hair looks fabulous!

Thankfully, Jim regained control of the airship & took care of the landing himself. I think that was best, considering the rest of us knew squat about what we were actually doing {even if Joe Butthead that joined us claimed to be a pilot & almost astronaut}.

And so, another adventure of the Three Musketeers over, we waved goodbye to Jim & the Blimp as they took off for parts unknown.

2 comments:

Mystique said...

You got the clock up and running!!!! Pretty addition!

Wilma said...

Yes, thanks to you. Now I want to play some more!