Just after lift-off:

Me geeking the camera on take-off:

Coming in for a fly-by:

Going around:

Coming in for a fly-by:

Up close and personal:

Going around:

On every trip around the pattern, Kevin would let me know how much time he needed to change lenses, change filters, reposition, etc. and I would adjust my pattern to give him sufficient time. Then on the 4th trip around the pattern, I don’t hear his usual radio call, just “Andy, I have to go.” I think to myself “Huh!?!?!” We flew in together….and you have the whole afternoon off….what do you mean “I have to go?”

Well….I look down and there is a police truck with the lights flashing and Kevin is being dragged away in the back. I start to get very worried and try to decide what to do. I don’t want to get in trouble by landing and possible having them take down my tail number or start hassling me about how I was flying. But there is now way I can leave Kevin there alone….so I land and try to figure out what is going on. I see the truck pull up to a bungalow up on the top of the hill on the east side of the runway. The guy gets out of the truck and starts talking to Kevin outside. Luckily it was just some rent-a-cop security guard and he let Kevin go after a stern talking to.

Needless to say, we left immediately and decided to head home. We hadn’t satisfied our photo craving yet though, so we were scheming on where we could take some more photos. Usually, an airplane would be a great photo platform as you get great views of the ground below. My Mooney, however, isn’t the best for taking pictures. The problem is that you really need an open window to take the pictures out of so that you don’t get reflections off the glass and the camera doesn’t have focusing problems. In the Mooney, there is only a tiny pilot’s side window. When we saw some hot air balloons, however, we decided to try and shoot of the little thing:

It worked decently and before we knew it, we were photographing everything. Here is Del Mar race track:

Geisel Library and UCSD:

Muir college / my dorm from first year / my apartment from second year:

Marigold area / my hanger at KMYF:

We finally landed at KMYF and stopped at the gas pump to fill up. The sun was just setting and it seemed like another great opportunity to take some artsy photos of my plane and some photos of me in front of it

Setting sun and the Mooney:

The Mooney on a golden ramp:

Me and my baby:

I love my baby….we get along soooo well:

Mooney and me:

You can see all the photos we took in the gallery below. I have high resolution versions of all the pictures so just email me if you want one.
Low-res gallery

After we got done putting the plane away, cleaning it, downloading the pictures, burning them to CD, and closing up the hanger, I got a quick bite to eat at CPK. My buddy Marco from Potenza, Italy called me and invited me to go bar hopping in the gaslamp (downtown San Diego) as it was his girlfriend’s last night here in the states before returning to Italy. We spent a while drinking, socializing, and dancing…….I spoke almost exclusively in Italian and convinced two Sicilian girls that I was an Italian, and then came home wayyyyyy too late. Good times

While studying at UCSD, I decided to study abroad. In June 2004, I moved to Siena, Italy for 6 months to learn Italian. I became fluent in Italian and had the time of my life. I had never thought that I would be able to learn another language, but I did and was blown away by it. Being able to listen to Italian music, watch Italian movies, order off menus in Italian, and understand perfectly when other Italians speak is AMAZING.

In June 2005, I graduated from UCSD (Summa cum laude, phi beta kappa, tau beta pi, gold key… ). I decided to go to graduate school and get a JD/MBA (business and law degrees), but due to the great experience I had in Italy, I wanted to take a year off and learn another language first. I decided on Chinese (Mandarin) because:

1. It is the most spoken language in the world
2. China is becoming (if it isn’t already) the most powerful economic force in the world
3. It is the farthest language from English and now would be the best time to try and learn it since I don’t have a job or a family and can just move to China
4. I find the culture to be interesting and exciting
5. I really like Chinese food

Thus I will be leaving for China October 19th, 2005 and staying until graduate school starts in late 2006. I will be studying mandarin in a city called Shijiazhuang (I don’t even know how to correctly pronounce that name) that is about 200 miles south of Beijing. The program I will be in is the Konall school. My only goal is to get decent at Chinese by the time I return to the US. Until then…..

Chinese Chinese Chinese!!!!!