Merry Christmas

It's always sunny above the clouds :)

The last two weeks have been a blur! On the 15th I found myself flying to Wilmington, NC for an emergency service call on a Heater/Cooler via ATL (Hotlanta!).

The pesky Heater/Cooler

70 degrees when I got there. Fixed it and spent the night there, eating the Captain's platter at Hieronymus Seafood (a must stop meal whenever I'm in town there!)

Nothin' fancy, just great food and lots of it. Plus Johnny the bartender is a helluva nice guy!

Flew to Minneapolis on Wednesday (again via ATL). Thursday and Friday were spent installing equipment at a couple of local hospitals, one being directly across the street from where the Vikings play.

Friday evening I flew back to Michigan.

Sunset above the clouds is always inspiring

Saturday was spent driving to Crystal Mountain with my favorite skiing buddy Derek.

The view from above the Buck chairlift at Crystal. Very Christmassy with the lights and snow.

We skied there Saturday and Sunday, leaving Monday morning for yet another service call in Petoskey, MI.

Little Traverse bay.

Worked until about 9:30 Tuesday night while Derek swam at the pool and worked out in the hotel gym. After we checked out Wednesday morning, it was off to Nub's Nob! For four hours of skiing on pristine packed powder in the bright sunshine along the shore of "Michigami" (Ojibwa for the Great Water)

 Behind us, the bay.

VIDEOS:

Derek tears up Dorie's Bowl at Nub's Nob

Tim cruises down Sno Pro at Nub's Nob

Twenty Fourth Christmas

Derek, Chris, Tim, and Meredith

Wilmington, NC

Back down I go to Myrtle Beach and Wilmington. Driving my white Mustang along the Intercoastal highway to fix a piece of medical equipment. Here are a few pics I took in Wilmington:

This is the bow of the WWII battleship "North Carolina" which cost 78 million 1937 dollars to build...

Panning down the side of this juggernaut, one is blown away by the sheer mass and size, well over 600 ft long and I'm guessing 7 stories abouve the waterline...

This is a detail shot of the forward 16" gun battery. Yes, I said, SIXTEEN INCHES.

This is the USCGC Diligence (WMEC-616). This is an ocean going, medium endurance cutter that has been in service since 1964. I once had a friend who served on her sister ship the Steadfast. This class of cutter is 210 ft. long and have a beam of 35 feet. She is based in Wilmington and is moored along the bank of the Cape Fear river across the way from the battleship. "Semper Paratus!"