2012 Miramar Air Show

friday.october 12. 2012  what a blessing it was to be in the area on the weekend of this spectacular opportunity!  It was a 'first' for both of us.  It's the 'little things' that are the 'big things' like parking in the morning in nice, neat rows on 80 acres of unlandmarked tarmac.....trying to imagine how on earth you'll find your car hours later......(ah-ha) seeing a label 'S-4, I & L' on a barricade at the end of your row (yeah, we're good to go)...then noticing that ALL the barricades read 'S-4, I & L'.....but wait, now you see the words 'Self Help' (I'm not kidding!) stenciled on ONE barricade adjacent to YOUR ROW ONLY.  Fast forward to the end of the day when thousands of cars 'dot' this 80 acre tarmac, no longer in anything that resemble rows at all......but there it is.......'Self Help'.....like a compass rose, directing us to our car while so many others were using their key fob remotes, pressing the 'panic' button and cars everywhere were 'singing' and 'honking' and 'beeping' in a hilarious chorus of 'here I am, find me, over here'......makes you wonder if someone in the control tower was filming this for America's Funniest Air Show Parking Videos!!  Anyway, I (way) digress........

In addition to the amazing Blue Angels, we saw spectacular ordinance demonstrations, the stealth Raptor, the Harrier, a B-25, Super Stallions (heavy lift Helicopters), and various armored elements.  There was always something exciting in the air or on the ground worthy of our attention.....and servicemen and women everywhere worthy of our gratitude!

 

and, if that weren't enough, we were then able to fill up our gas tank at the base station for 20 cents less/gallon than anywhere off base AND pick up a few items at the base Exchange before heading back to......yes, the hot tub!   Since we'd had a pretty yummy hotdog at the air show, we weren't ravenously hungry, so we decided to get a carry-out pizza from California Pizza Kitchen, a very popular place adjacent to San Pebbles (that's where we're staying).  Now, everytime we walk past this place, we inhale the deep delicious aromas of what we think must be applewood smoked bacon and barbecue (are you getting the olfactory picture I'm paintin'?)  So I was sure that when your dad (rob) looked at the take-out menu he'd surely want whatever THAT was on our small pizza.....never a dull moment!  He suggested that we order the vegan japanese eggplant with sundried tomatoes, red onions, broccoli, mushrooms and goat cheese on whole wheat!  What?  No bacon!  No bbcue!  Ohmigood-to-the-last-finger-lickin'-crumbiness!!! Hideaway and Brothers Pizza, you got your work cut out for ya!