I love it when I am so excited about something that it wakes me up during the night.
I was happy on Sunday night because I knew I would spend all of Monday flying ... .  Boy was I happy when the GPS display started turning blue ... It was too overcast to actually see the water, but just knowing it was nearby was pretty good stuff. I hand flew the leg home ... two hours of unadulterated fun.  I was right seat looking across for instrument help ... It was pitch black on top and we were in and out of the layer ... pretty fun at 195kts GS.  On the panel in front of me the "spare" Attitude Indicator stayed just whooper-jawed enough to encourage a slight turn which would put me left of course ... Reading the HI over there, even anticipating cross cockpit parallax viewing errors, kept me laughing at myself ... subconsciously I wanted to "line it up" ... would have taken me more left ... too left  and not at all right. Pink line was shaking a finger though ... no,no,no and mind that crosswind while you're at it girlfriend. Everything conspired to nudge me just a bit.  OVC40 at home base gave us plenty of room to cancel and set up for a visual ... For some reason our localizer has been squirrelly of late so I was happy to see the lights in plenty of time.
I love to land airplanes.  I really do.  The climb out is fun, but, I always feel like the airplane is doing all the work there while I just continuously update my "what-ifs".  Landings invite finesse. I always say the airplane wants to land ... and in the way I'm meaning it it's true, but airplanes don't automatically land in a manner that makes me smile very slowly all the way from my eyes and mouth to my heart. At 154 kts I requested gear down ... three green no red ... time for flaps ... and ... I came over the gate high enough to know the wheels wouldn't be loving on the white strips.  We rolled off at the high speed exit when I woulda preferred the one before ... Oh well.  I don't get to land  often enough at night and I was just a tad too energized.  If I were flying on an inheritance I might have gone right back up for a few laps, but ... I started buttoning up while my buddy taxied us to the hanger.   Well ... Flying ... it's just good.
Today we have spent driving to Texas.  I haven't touched the wheel, which is unusual.  My husband is normally very appreciative of my heavy foot moving us along.  It's been a very pleasant ride.  We stopped for lunch in Rushton, Lousianna, at a nice little local place with a Cajun sounding name. Their Gumbo was pretty good ... not insanely hot like the bowl I enjoyed yesterday ... spicier is still better.  We played a game of pool while we waited.  I get pretty serious when I'm shooting pool ... I expect to win. After lunch we browsed several cute little arty shops in the restored old downtown area. My husband enjoyed handing me a little sack from the Chartreuse Pear ... tucked inside is a bar of White Gardenia , shea butter enriched, bath soap and a candle, Black Moss ... smells soooo good.  Little luxurious treats.