We had an airshow in the Tri-Cities this week, and I live about 3 miles north of the airport. The show was on Wednesday and they performed a "dress rehearsal" on Tuesday. I was very innocently riding my older mare out around an open field when the jet first appeared, flying sideways as shown in this photo, at about 150 feet above the ground. (And I just love the clouds and the sun trying to shine through in this first picture too).
What the jet looked like with the naked eye a mere split-second prior to arriving overhead. (See the tiny speck in the middle of the below photo, right above the tree-line.) Okay.......you may need to click on this photo to get into "enlarged" mode so that you can actually see what I'm talking about!
The jet in silhouette.
The most amazing part of the show I witnessed while out riding was the tremendous noise created during the afterburn of the jets. I mean, the plane was nowhere to be found and all of a sudden.........BAM, the ground literally shook and it was so noisy. The noise freaked the horse.
According to an article in our local paper, these jets are currently in use by the U.S. Air Force in Afghanistan and Iraq. My heart swelled with pride at the thought of our service men & women flying these in harms way.
Now, back to Africa. Last week I went to the health department, met with a travel health nurse specialist who took my medical history and we spent about 90 minutes discussing what I needed to do to be "safe" health-wise in Africa. I felt like a pin cushion - getting an adult polio vaccine, a hepatitis A/B combination vaccine and a meningococcal vaccine. I left with 4 doses of an oral vaccine for typhoid, taken every other day. My bank account is $231 lighter. I still have to get a Yellow Fever vaccine and a couple more hepatitis doses and something else. Oh, malaria pills. And probably something else. Who knows. I just show up and they do what has to be done.
I also need to purchase travel/health insurance, but I really cannot do that until I know our exact departure date and how long we will be gone. Minor details. I've checked out a couple companies. It sounds so confusing. Obviously I haven't found the right one yet, because I'm sure when I do, it will just seem right and complete. Until then, I keep researching.
1 comment:
The jet planes do sound amazing. There was an air show on Oahu when we were there after Cadence was born. Even though my mind was immensely preoccupied with thoughts of my daughter, it was hard not to get caught up in the incredible speed, sound and power of the mighty planes.
Sorry you felt like a pin cushion. Better though to get it all taken care of now. I'm sure a few days feeling like a pin cushion feels a lot better than actually catching a nasty disease and winding up in an African hospital!
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