May 31 - Worcester, MA

What a pleasant surprise to be greeted in Worcester by friend and fellow Northeast Pilot's group member Michael Amir in this fine Vintage automobile. More than anything, this stop demonstrated to me that despite all of the detailed planning I undertook, this trip will be full of unexpected twists and turns, unplanned events that I am actually looking forward to. I encountered some moderate rain showers and turbulence enroute from Bennington to Worcester, but managed to deviate around the heavy precipiation. It was definitely challenging.

Mike picked me up and we made the short drive across the tarmac to the FBO. When I walked in, I noticed the woman at the front desk was taking photos of me. I felt famous for a moment. Paparazzi are already chasing this crazy cross-country pilot. Well, little did I realize, it was Ed's camera phone and Ed Haddad was hiding behind a newspaper at the FBO counter! Mike had flown to Albany to pick up Ed earlier in the day so that he could join us in Worcester. So, Ed saw me off in the morning from Albany and then rejoined the send-off festivities in Worcester!

Was I suprised? Actually, no. Firstly, this is just the kind of thing I would expect from Ed, but secondly, technology foiled Ed & Mike's surprise plans. While I was in Bennington having breakfast with Carla, a very interesting email came to my iPhone. Several weeks ago, I had set up http://flightaware.com/ to track Mike's plane so that I knew when he'd be arriving into Albany since I was to pick him up for a big Lebanese party we held at a local restaurant. I added his tail number with email alerts so that I would get an email when he landed. I never did remove that alert, so I got an email when he filed the flight plan to Albany, when he took off from Worcester, and when he landed in Albany. Knowing that Mike & Ed were talking that morning, I put two and two together and Carla & I were having a good laugh discussing this planned surprise while having breakfast in Bennington. Of course, I didn't say a word when I met up with Mike at the airport, because I didn't want to ruin the surprise. He admitted later that he was worried that I still had this alert set up. Also, we were both flying at the same time and were on the same frequency, so he was careful not to have Ed transmit, because I would have instantly recognized his voice. Well, little did they know, I already knew they were coming.

This whole set of circumstances reminded me what good friends I have! It also reminds me why I have chosen to take this trip and demonstrates that I am not in full control of its outcome. Again, I'm looking forward to the twists and turns that await me.

So, we all enjoyed a feast with Michael's family at his house in Worcester. We dined on his deck in a light rain shower. Soon, we had to move inside as light rain turned into thunder and lightning. A cell was moving through and to the east, but a window opened up to the west that would allow Mike to fly Ed back to Albany. The only problem is that these storm cells were in my flight line between Worcester and Beverly. It looked like I needed to wait about 2 hours for my path to clear, and that was precisely Mike's round trip time to return Ed to Albany, so I sat in the back seat of Mike's Cherokee six to join them for this trip. You can see me relaxing with Mike's son Guy. This was an interesting flight as we were flying through the backside of a cold front. We experienced gusty winds and moderate to severe turbulence. I got to fly the Cherokee 6 back to Worcester in somewhat better conditions. The turbulence had subsided, though the winds were still howling both on the ground and at altitude. We flew back with a 200 knot groundspeed. For someone who normally flies at half that speed, it is pretty impressive to see the ground moving beneath you this rapidly. It was a very quick flight back to Worcester to say the least. I hopped in my plane and flew to Beverly, landing just after sunset at 8:30pm. My friend Rob Phillips picked me up and I'm now staying with him and his family in Marblehead. More on that later.