Noknowhengo

This is the Indian name Peggy has given to this rag-tag band of Flagship devotees awaiting the next leg of the journey. This is our 4th day of hanging in Cowtown waiting for the adventure to begin. All is not lost as Gene and Sheryl have enjoyed having Peggy and Steve as tour guides in Fort Worth. We have walked the downtown area, enjoying the architecture and the food. We have visited the stockyard area. We will be here three more days before heading to Los Angeles. Steve was brave to invite Gene and Sheryl to spend a week in his condo and they are grateful and hope that they do not start to smell like three day old company is said to do. It has been so cold and damp here that it seems like we went to Seattle after all. The weatherman tells us that is will leap frog from 49 yesterday to 65 today to 80 tomorrow. What a change!

Monday afternoon we headed out to Alliance to clean and reorganize the plane only to get a phone call when we were within sight telling us that it was on the wash rack and unavailable. That turned out to be a blessing as this was the only time we had sunshine and we took the opportunity to visit the stockyards.

Tuesday morning early it was back to Alliance to find the Flagship shining like a new dime after a wash and buff. We are grateful to Zane Lemon and Jeff Selby for the work they have done before us in unloading and cleaning the plane. Jeff, our ever devoted man on the scene, had been there at 7AM, after getting off work at 10PM, to tow the plane back into the hanger from the wash rack. One employee had worked through the night to wash and buff it. The "boys" got to work loading a tow bar, rearranging the cargo hold, oiling the plane and other chores while stopping to give tours to American employees and visitors who happen by. The two guys who built the galley come by to see how we liked their handiwork. Meanwhile the "girls" unload things that will not go to the west coast and sort and reload the things that will. The Flagship has a parts locker and a storage room here to keep extra supplies. We recover the boom box so we can play 40's music during our events while Peggy does her "stewardess" thing. We will not be selling but we take hats and some shirts to give away. It is after three when we finally get things in order but feel good about what was accomplished.

John Thatcher will be out on Friday to do a 30 hour inspection on the plane. And George Dennis is constantly working in the background wherever he might be from Miami to Singapore making arrangements and greasing wheels to make this operation work.

On Saturday the journey to the west coast begins.