Bill and Sue Eckert

After a beautiful Christmas concert at church with next-door neighbors Dick (in the choir) and Dorothy Stewart, and a great Christmas party with old friends Larry and Aldina Copeland, we're in the Christmas spirit! Good friends have added so much warmth and fun to life here in Colorado Springs, including classmate Gene Rose leading our USAFA '68 40th Reunion and the Stewarts hosting us and Chloe for July 4th up in Frisco, CO, with a cute parade and world-class fireworks over Dillon Reservoir.
We enjoyed a pleasant Thanksgiving at home with Katie and her friend Brian, who drove up from C-17 training at Altus AFB, OK to join us, along with Katie's classmates Jaci and Jared Smith, who now live walking distance from our house (Jaci teaching flying at USAFA, and Jared in the space business at nearby Schriever AFB, CO). Katie's new Boston terrier puppy Gracie came along, and she and our Chloe soon became great pals, running and playing constantly such that we were worn out. Dawn on the intended day of Katie and Brian's return to Oklahoma greeted us with what became 14 inches of snow, but in typical Colorado fashion a bright sun rose the next day and cleared the roads for them. Gracie saw her first snow, and soon the yard was covered with little tunnels made by scampering, leaping dogs that seemed to never tire.
We won't be with Katie this Christmas, but enjoyed driving with Chloe to visit Katie in Charleston last Christmas, including standing on a bridge as she flew over as a copilot in a 17-ship formation that went on to do a formation airdrop with local Charleston guests in the cockpits. We enjoyed a number of parties with her squadron-mates, and visiting the handsome American LaFrance Fire Engine Museum in North Charleston, as well as the beautiful Christmas lights display on James Island. On the thoughtful invitation of Katie's Godparents Bob and Judy Pastusek, we drove up to Virginia to stay with them over New Year's, spending fun time with Jess and Cathie (Bill's sister) Siglow, their son Justin (stationed at Ft. Belvoir-where Katie was born) and his girlfriend Rachel, and enjoying a fun New Year's brunch with old friends Ron and Barbara Boston-who were Katie's sponsors during her USAFA doolie year. After checking the weather forecast carefully, we decided to route our drive back toward Colorado by first going straight over the Appalachians into West Virginia. Of course, an unpredicted heavy snow found us at night up on the eastern Continental Divide, in a directed convoy following a snow plow…. But we came down into Kentucky bluegrass in bright sun the next day, and life got a lot better when we visited the Louisville Slugger baseball bat factory and the Four Roses bourbon distillery (yes, free samples). Chloe was a pleasant traveler all the way-always interested, adaptable, and ready to play.
Katie did her second deployment to the Persian Gulf this year, this time as a new C-17 Aircraft Commander. Her schooling at Altus right before Thanksgiving was C-17 AC airdrop training. You'll see in the paper that the Air Force is doing a lot more airdrop missions in Afghanistan now, to help our Army and Marine folks minimize their convoys on increasingly-contested roads-just as the Air Force has done in Iraq. Katie loves this stuff. Right after her return from the Gulf, we met Katie, Brian and Charleston friends in Hawaii, dividing a week between the Hale Koa on Waikiki and the relaxing little cabins on the water at Bellows Air Force Station on the eastern shore of Oahu. I re-discovered the superb body surfing at Makapu'u Beach-last visited when I was a cadet in 1966, and Katie's pals showed us the nice snorkeling beach at Hanauma Bay State Underwater Park.
We enjoyed a spring drive through Yellowstone (spring as in some roads were still blocked by snow) with Chloe, who was fascinated with us by the bison, elk, wolf, black and grizzly bears we saw. We entered via a couple-day stay in Cody, WY (gorgeous Buffalo Bill Museum there), and exited via the beautiful Grand Teton National Park, with an overnight in the pleasant town of Jackson, WY, where we found both the National Elk Refuge and National Museum of Western Art. The Snake River flows through Jackson, connecting via other rivers down to the Pacific Ocean. I wanted to cross the Continental Divide east of there, seeing old Oregon Trail along the Wind River Range through South Pass-"the key to westward migration." You can visualize why it was actually reasonable to take ox-drawn wagons across the mountains there-long, gentle slopes.
We hope that you and yours enjoy a Merry Christmas and a fine New Year, and that those who defend us stay safe.

Love,
Bill and Sue Eckert