Blue Angels Air Show

I'm still trying to catch up on all my blogs. So here is one from July 24th.

The Extreme Blue Thunder Air Show came to Idaho Falls that weekend. It was the only air show that featured the Navy Blue Angels performance team in the whole Mountain time zone this year. We felt very lucky to have it! We bought the tickets in honor of Jimmy's birthday which was the 27th. He turned 12, which is indeed a birthday worth celebrating. We started out the day at the Science Center parking lot, where a shuttle bus took us the .4 miles to the air show (but free parking is great wherever it is). Still, it was a 15 minute trip with all the traffic. Little did we know that getting home that way wouldn't be possible.... anyway, more on that later.

Looking cool in our caps.
We walked into the air show and bought a souvenir program for Jimmy and then looked at the smaller planes and helicopters on show. Almost immediately a B-2 stealth bomber did a fly-by. Those are truly silent planes! They just sneak up on you.

The stealth bomber

Sammy manning a helicopter machine gun

An old "warbird"
Then we had a chance to set down all our chairs and blankets, and Jimmy, Sammy and I went to see a large airplane that was offering walk-through tours. It was an Air Force refueling plane, an "airborne gas station" as the airman in it explained.

The boys got to lay down and look at the controls where the person maneuvers the refueling hose into the other airplane.

Jim and Sam in the belly of the plane where they actually lay face down (not up as the boys are doing) and maneuver the controls. It's a tight fit.

Then we sat for a while and watched the show. There were P-51 Mustangs at the beginning, which Jimmy really likes because he studied them for his 6th grade passion project. There were also biplanes, war birds, and some very fast (and loud) MIG fighter jets.

This plane is doing a loop.

Abby... smiling through the heat

Thank goodness Grammy brought frozen wash cloths to cool us down. Augie stuck it under his hat.
The biplane
After about three hours of these other planes, the Blue Angels took off. Now, we had seen them practicing their tricks over the previous week so nothing was too novel, except when they are right over head and crossing within inches of each other. It really takes your breath away! I tried doing some videos but I was almost out of memory. Some of the best videos I will put on below. (Jessica, these are for you, so you can see AND hear them!)



Four of the blue angels in formation

All six in formation

A low overhead pass
At the end of the day, all 38,000 people were trying to load the shuttle buses at the same time, making it about a 3 hour wait. Well, we figured since we live only a mile away it would be better to walk. Only Grandma was not really feeling well, but she said she'd rather walk, too. It was HOT (95 degrees) and the pavement was scorching. We hobbled along for about an hour till we made it home. We ended up very sunburned, tired, and hungry. (The food at the air show was a joke... $4.50 for a hot dog, $3.50 for a drink, $8.00 for a hamburger. And since 38,000 people were all trying to eat at the same time, it was an hour or more in each line. So we all had one Bambino [fried, stuffed scone] and that was it. They finally opened a fire hose and filled people's water bottles.) We were happy to find food and water and comfy chairs at home. I sent Daddy to the parking lot to fetch the car when he got home from work. Overall, except for the traffic and food, we were pleased with the show and were glad we took the chance to experience a once-in-a-lifetime air show.