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Sunday, March 7, 2010

Sundays in My City: Yep, it's a Blimp

My husband works on a Naval Base. He doesn't land fighter jets on aircraft carriers or decipher code in a submarine off the coast of North Korea.

(Thank God.)

Rather, my man negotiates contracts for goods and services.

It's very dangerous work.

Well. Paul needed to go on base to pick up his computer yesterday morning. Following that little errand, we turned a corner and saw this:
 

What's this? A flying machine? A dirigible? A zeppelin? A blimp?  An airship? Yes. OH THE HUMANITY, Yes!

We stood a respectable distance to check it out. "It's like the Spirit of Adventure in that Up movie," Owen announced. "Can we go see it?" 

Paul said, "No, Buddy. We're not allowed on the runway." 

Owen looked at his feet, disappointed, considering if he should muster the energy to whine or flail a bit. As he stood there, weighing his options, a man wearing a flight jacket told us to hop in his truck, and he would let us get a closer look. 

He didn't have to ask us twice. 


These things are huge. Silent and ponderous, like whales. 


This particular airship is used for surveillance. It can stay in the air for over thirty hours. Our guide told us it's as quiet and comfortable as sitting in a living room. (I guess he hasn't been to our living room recently.)

I don't know much about aircraft, and I know even less about the military. I do know that a routine errand to pick up a laptop turned into one of those incredibly cool moments of serendipity. 

You can find wonders everywhere. 



Thanks to Unknown Mami for hosting Sundays in My City.
Unknown Mami

23 comments:

Bethany said...

wonder of wonders, how neat, love the way you described it too and I was so happy your boys got to get closer AND you had camera. Sweet!

Formerly known as Frau said...

That is so cool!My husband would flip out to see that. We just watched Up last night! Cute show! Have a wonderful Sunday with the boys!

Marla said...

How cool! Your boys will always remember this.

Anonymous said...

now that is cool
http://affamilycabral.blogspot.com/

Sonya said...

WOWie that is soo awesome! It's flippin HUGE!!!

Ms. Moon said...

Tiny wonders and huge wonders are both wonder-full.
Thank-you for sharing this.

Eternal Lizdom said...

How very cool!

Your husband and I have a bit in common, perhaps. I'm a procurement analyst for 3M and also a government contract administrator. Whoo hoo!

Rebecca said...

Wow! Thanks for the photos of the blimp. That thing looks massive!

Claudya Martinez said...

I'm so glad you guys got to see it up close. What a wonderful unexpected treat!

Joanna Jenkins said...

WOW, talk about perfect timing! How fun for you and the kids. I've never seen one up close before.

Thanks for sharing!
jj

Mrs4444 said...

That's very interesting! How incredibly HUGE--makes me wonder how they could hide from anyone for that surveillance....

AudreyO said...

My kids dad worked on an aircraft carrier. They never tire of hearing his stories and he of course never tires of telling them. Now, my daughter has a friend who is in the navy and she loves using navy slang talk with him. Her friend chuckles at some of the terms my daughter has learned.

mimbles said...

Oh wow, that's brilliant! I'd love to have a close up look at a blimp, I think they're fascinating.

Corrie Howe said...

So does your husband with with Don Statter? I remember when he talked about the testing of the blimp which was around for a few months awhile back.

Organic Motherhood with Cool Whip said...

What an awesome experience. My boys would have died and gone to heaven. Plus I love the way you described it: "These things are huge. Silent and ponderous like whales." You are eternally brilliant.

Coby said...

That is just freakin' awesome! Ditto to loving your description of it as silent and ponderous like whales. Lovely imaagery!

Nicole @ WhenDidIBecomeMyMom.com said...

How cool that you got to see it up close! We have one of those for surveillance down here. You're right, it is flippin huge. :-)

Maude Lynn said...

How cool for the boys!

Unknown said...

WHat awesome memories you will all have of that day---awesome!

Lee Ann said...

Wow! I love that you got to take closer look! If it is like floating around in a living room then I need to have a go in a blimp! Ooh must put that on my bucket list!

Traci said...

Wow! How amazing is that. What a fabulous experience for you and the boys!
:-)
Traci

Corrie Howe said...

I was closing over the TJ bridge this week and it was smack dab over me. I took a picture as I was driving, but the picture made it look like a speck, which is not at all what it looked like in real life.

Anonymous said...

WOW, simply amazing. You are all so lucky to have stumbled across such a fantastic adventure.