Wings and Wheels

We are up bright and early to make the trip from Cody to Powell for the air and car show. Seems there was a late night text that went out saying that since we now have two vehicles, the females can sleep in. Since Jake is the only one who checked his phone in the middle of the night, Peggy is the only one who sleeps in. However Deanna and Sheryl do enjoy the extra free time.
The dedication of a WWII Japanese internment camp is happening today between Powell and Cody and we see buses pulling into it. Wish we had time to look in on this.
Powell is a very small town and the people there are so grateful to us for bringing the Flagship there. This is a relatively small show, but we still have a good number of people come through the plane. They are all interested in the history of our airplane as are the well behaved children who accompany them. The organizers of the event are also glad to have us there and are paying for 17 memberships for the helpers. We sell some shirts in spite of having limited sizes. We also sell five other memberships but divide into two flights because of the high altitude and heat. Air is thinner here and the warmer it is , the thinner it is. All the gear we haul around with us, like the tent, tools, ladder and so forth have been removed from the plane to make it lighter. The show organizers are very accommodating to provide a truck for this and help load it. Notice beyond the plane, there is pretty much nothing. There are just fields off into the distance where there are mountains. They grow B's here: beans, beets and barley.
The flights are so much fun with Peggy playing stewardess. She has a lot of clever lines. The reward for all the work are the wide smiles and enthusiasm of the passengers as they leave the plane. Several passengers are pilots and some of them have taken a few minutes in the right seat. Afterward, a few of them get their logbooks and have Gene sign them off for 8 minutes or so instruction. We like Powell and they like us.
We are surprised to find out that the air show ends at 2PM, and when the two flights are over, and the plane reloaded, we are back at our motel by 5:30. It feels like a vacation. The men gather outside to do what these men do.....talk flying. See photo of Gene holding court. Rick has pretty much shadowed Gene all day and says he has enjoyed soaking up as much info on the plane as he could.
This evening we have dinner at the Wyoming Rib and Chop House. The food is good, but the margaritas are the worst we have encountered on any of our trips. Perhaps the worst encountered anywhere. Gene makes a mistake of saying, "What time is it, Kids?" Which launches Peggy into a rendition of the Howdy-Doody song. Everyone joins in except Gene who tries to crawl under the table. This is quickly followed by the Mickey Mouse song. The waitstaff acts like this is an everyday occurrence and due to the late hour, there are few others in the restaurant at the time.