An Amazing Day!

Well sir! This group of days off have been my most amazing to date. I have done some pretty friggin cool stuff since I have been here, and have some more in the works but this day was by far one of the most amazing experiences I have had.

On Sunday Zaza gave me drive home and we devised a plan to go rafting on the bow river with Michelle. Well Michelle met us at home and then we went down to the river to blow up the raft. Once we got down there she realized that she didn't have the plugs for the raft to keep the air in. So.....we can't really go rafting on a deflated raft so we packed it up, a little disappointed and went to get something to eat instead. We went to a place in Kensington called Sams and it was really good food. Then we called it an early night because I had a very exciting Monday to attend to.

So Amy, my cousin, works for STARS. They run the air ambulance for the province of Alberta, and soon other provinces as well. The deal there is that when you work a statutory holiday you can apply for a family flight where you and two family members can go up in the helicopter. As some of you may remember I was scheduled to do this a few weeks ago but got rained out. This Monday they were forecasting sunny skies and no wind. I was super stoked for this! Monday I got up bright and early, had a shower and got ready to go. A little after 8 we headed down to the airport for our family flight! We went in, we met the pilot and signed our lives away before we went in the hanger. We were then given helmets with mics on them and led into the hanger, where they keep the helicopter. James, our pilot opened the door and

sitting on a wooden platform was a bright red helicopter. It was super cool to have a look around inside. James went over some safety stuff with us, like what to do in case of emergency etc. Then we stood on the platform while they towed it out to the tarmac. We put our helmets on and took a quick picture before it was time to get in. Amy, being the super awesome cousin she is let me sit up front with the pilot. So we got in our seats, strapped ourselves in and James readied us for take off. He showed me all the dials and gauges, and what the start up process looked like. The headset helmet was cool, and voice activated, so whenever I talked everyone in the helicopter could hear me. I could hear everyone, except Amy. I think there was something wrong with her mic because she was apparently talking to me and I couldn't hear her, and I also couldn't see her because she was in the back and I was in the front. Then it was time for take off! James switched the switches, turned the knobs, pulled the levers and we started to lift straight up from the platform. It was so cool! Then he did a little ballet move where he spun around before he finally took off. I really thought it was going to be a bit more rough, but it was a super smooth ride for the most part. We started out over the city, and it was just so amazing to see the city below us. We glided over suburbia and then over Nose Hill park. Then James said, "Okay, you can fly now." I was nervous and said no he could do it. Then

he took his hands and feet away from the controls and said, "Well my hands and feet are off so what are you going to do." Then I actually flew the helicopter! Obviously with instruction from the professional, but I steered it to the left and flew it towards the Canada Olympic Park. It was so amazing! I can't believe I actually flew a helicopter!! Then we went over the hospitals, swung by downtown, over heritage park and then turned around and headed back. On our way downtown he was telling me about how they can hover in the air just like when we took off. Then he did it. He stopped the helicopter in mid air and we watched down below as the rest of the world went by. Talk about freakin cool! Going by downtown was super awesome because we were so close to the same height of the buildings. It was so much different then being in an airplane. I took a bunch of  pictures and just sat with an ear to ear smile as we went along. The flight was about 20 mins or so and then we were back at the hanger. I thanked James, the pilot, and Bruce, the medic, very much for taking us up. Also a big thank you for Amy for hooking up the whole family flight deal. What an amazing experience! I am so happy I was able to do that. That is something I will definitely never forget!

Amy and I had a whole day planned. We were going to sail the skies in the morning and then go to Calaway Park for the rest of the day. That is the "amusement" park here in Calgary. So after a quick stop at the house we headed for Calaway Park. We went in the gates and walked around a bit before we both had the same feeling. The feeling that this park sucks and there is nothing amusing about it. Upper Clements park in Digby is about 5x better then this place. It was small, and all the rides seemed to be for small children. I felt embarrassed going on the rides, like I was some overgrown girl child or

something. We were going to go on the bumper cars until they told us that we all had to move in a clockwise circle. WTF! When does the bumping happen if you are just driving in circles like idiots!? So we got something to eat, walked around a bit and got the hell outta there. We spent the rest of the day at Costco and Value Village, which I feel was much more entertaining then Calaway Park would have been.

The rest of my time off I spent drinking beer in the sunshine and genuinely enjoying life :) Back to camp in the morning!