It's All In Who You Know

When we were living in Maryland, we attended a small Presbyterian church about 25 minutes away. Also attending that church was another military family with five kids. Their dad was in the air force and is one of the pilots for Air Force 2. While we didn't have the time to get together often, our similar goals and lifestyles made us good friends.

Now, with all of Condi's visits to the Middle East, we have been able to visit the dad whenever he flies her over. Each time he comes, he has offered to give us a tour of the plane and on this trip, the timing was perfect. They had a long day with a flight to Egypt and back, but once they had cleared the plane (we didn't get to see Condi. Bummer!), they let us back to the secure runway. As the flight and security crews were shutting down the plane for the night, we got the grand tour from the entrance to the tail and back up to the cockpit. It was tempting to ask for a picture in Condi's chair in the private lounge under the Secretary of the United States plaque, but we contented ourselves with just looking. Everyone got to sit in the cockpit, though.