It felt great to have 3 1/2 days off work and I was able to get rested up a bit.  I spent Friday evening and Saturday morning with a friend of mine I hadn't seen in awhile.  He flew his plane up from St. Louis and landed nearby at Mosby Air Center.  I picked him up and we came by the house for a visit with Jodi before driving up to St. Joe to watch his son play for the St. Joe Mustangs.  We had a great time talking and watching baseball.  The next morning, we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and then I took him back to the airport.  After readying his plane, I stood out near the runway and took photos of him taking off and flying by.  Here's one I got as he passed me.

 

We traveled back to St. Louis on Saturday to attend Jodi's sister's annual 4th of July party. It was hot but we enjoyed some good food, music and of course, fireworks. The next day, we paid a surprise visit to my mother and then went to Jodi's aunt's to hang out for awhile before driving back to KC.  The weather got real interesting right before our departure when a microburst hit and took out some trees near us.  The rain was coming down sideways in sheets.  As we passed through Warrenton on the drive home, we saw part of the roof was taken off the Super 8 hotel and other businesses had roof and other damage.  We also saw a couple fireworks tents that had gone down in the storm.

We went to two parties on Monday and shot fireworks off in the neighborhood this year.  I took some of my "good stuff" and did some e-firing.  I'm shooting the fireworks after the T-Bones game on Saturday and then I have another shoot to do the following week in Smithville.

It should be relatively quiet at the plant this week since we are down for vacation.  The end of Escape production is now planned for April of next year. Employees are being offered opportunities to :follow the product" and transfer to Louisville.  We're waiting to hear how many have decided to go.  An official announcement has not be given as to what product we are getting to replace the Escape here.