So much to talk about, just never enough time.....

Little bird taking shade under big bird.

Oh so cute.

Before he hopped up here, he tried to land on the skid and slid off, it was funny.

The real reason he comes around, a source of water. Smart bird.

Yay!!!! A mission!!!!! Feels good to land in the Mountains. Skids don't need concrete to land.

TruTV came up to do some final shots of me here in L.A. doing my job to tie in with Maui Choppers coming out hopefully in December this year.

My crew! This is one of many ways they PT. They are going to hate me for this shot, but I think they look cool, and so does the ship off in the background. Gives you a good perspective of how neat our base is.

Not the most gorgeous sunset we've had, but a typical how I end my day shot.

How I begin my day, the morning sun overlooks the valley to the west.

Sometimes I hang out on the pad and take in the view for a while.

A morning preflight surprise!!!!!! OMG! I almost fell off the ship when I lowered the cowling as he was not there when I opened it. I had wondered how big the spider was that had made his way through the engine compartment as I tore off thick webs during my preflight. Baby Tarantula?????????

Little Spyder!

The adorable Brownie Girls with myself and their amazing leader Connie Henyan who exposes them to so many wonderful things.

Some love from the Brownies

Living without cell phones and internet all day is actually quite relaxing up here at the helibase. It can sometimes be a little stressful if I know I need to return a call during normal hours since I only have limited time at the end of my work day to make calls and get online. I haven't had much time to do either. Cell phones and computers and other great technology have enhanced all of our lives greatly, but sometimes it's nice to go without for a while and just relax and do the things we did before cell phones and internet. Wow, kids today will never know what that is like. Hahahaha. I remember when I was a kid and the cell phone first came out, it was this huge clunky thing you had to carry around in a big briefcase bag over your shoulder. Wow, times have changed.

It has been a truly great experience being up here in Idyllwild working for Air Resources. It's times like these when I love working for so many different companies which allows me to be exposed to an ever changing flight environment. I learn to adjust to different work ethics, company policies and procedures, different people I have to work with, different helicopters, different missions, and very very different and diverse flight locations. It is always such an amazing experience to be exposed to working for so many great companies.

Having said that, today as I drove from the base to the hotel, we had another truly breathtaking, car stopping sunset as we have been having up here lately with all the cloud cover. The past several nights have been indescribable. Today's sunset prompted me to finally get online and blog. I haven't been taking as many photos as I usually do. I've been simplifying my life up here, not always grabbing at my camera since I have learned to let go of technology at the base. Although, yesterday I had to finally take a photo of this little bird that frequents the ship every afternoon. This leads into another story.......

There is a place up at the base, a very small little space, almost like a time capsule, a pocket of cell service. It's on a rock just below the helipad. I had tried everywhere at the base when I first got up there weeks ago to find signal, to no avail, then one of the guys on the crew told me about the rock. I sat on this rock, and voila, cell signal!!!! If you move a foot off this rock, signal goes away. I don't know what it is about this spot, but I call it the Verizon Rock. It's really not comfortable to sit there all day, but it can be cool. The scenery is gorgeous and the lizards and birds are entertaining. This is where my little bird friend comes into play. Every afternoon this peeping little bird comes to the helicopter. At first I thought, wow, how cool, little bird-big bird! hahaha. This little guy would hop around the machine, taking shade under the belly tank, peeping along, hoping around, every afternoon. I finally got off the rock the other day and watched him closer. I noticed now he isn't there for the helicopter at all. Smart little bird found a drip from the in ground faucet next to the pad. He hops around the ship, being all stealthy, then slips into the hole in the ground for a bit, then comes back up, doing some more hoping and chirping, then back into the hole. It's really entertaining to me. I took some photos.

Also, last Sunday, a Brownie group leader and some mom's along with the Brownies from Corona came up for a visit. It was soooo cool to have them come up. Next time I'm home I am supposed to find my brownie pic and get it over to the girls along with posting it up here! That will be funny.

Okay, it's getting late and I have to catch up on some paperwork I brought with me. More stories to come soon. Have a wonderful week everyone!!!! I will try to remember to get a photo of the rock up soon.