I am a 59 year young newly minted grandfather with a beautiful wife of 32 years and two beautiful daughters. My oldest is married and a social media manager at Ghiradelli Chocolates in San Francisco. My youngest is a C17 pilot for the US Air Force. My granddaughter is two weeks old, born on Christmas Day and I can't wait to meet her. My wife was(is) a very talented illustrator when we met, but gave it up to become a full time mother which has paid off with two quality young women. It was a sacrifice for her, but she has no regrets. The girls always come first for both of us.
My profession has been a software developer for the past thirty years. Before that I was a professional photographer. I've always had a passion for flying and traveling which is probably why my daughter decided to become a pilot. My wife and I were married in Athens Greece 33 years ago January 8 and have been traveling the world with our daughters ever since. I have been blessed and am thankful for them every day.
My postings here at Steemit will be about my travels, off roading experiences, flying drones, photography, flying sims, software development, life in general and most importantly being a grandfather. (Still coming to grips with that one).
Somewhere in all of that I hope to inspire big dreams for venturing outside of the personally narrow and motivate you to explore the world and all that it has to offer. It is enormous, endless and would require several lifetimes just to scratch the surface. There is no better time to start than right now because the clock is always ticking and our time here is short.
I started Jeeping ten years ago with my first Jeep Rubicon. I had never owned an offroad vehicle before, nor had I ever been offroad. The first trip I took was to the Sierras with my buddies who had also recently purchased Jeeps. When I turned off onto my first trail, there was snow on the ground, water puddles a foot deep and undulating terrain that tested the full range of the Rubicons offroad features. I couldn't believe how free i felt navigating this foreign terrain. The Jeep, unfettered by the challenges crawled over rocks, mud and snow like they didn't exist. It was an amazing and magical experience. I had a smile on my face that lasted for weeks. In the following years I became one of the founding members of our Jeep club, Back Country Explorers which now has around 40 members. We travel to at least one offroad adventure each month. During the winter we'll visit the Mojave Desert since it's cooler and the rest of the year we'll go to the Sierras, Arizona, Utah, Colorado or a local day trip just to get out. Our little green friend here was a prop brought by one of my buddies who though it'd be cool to place him in the "flying saucer" we found in the Mojave Desert many years ago. Just one of the many finds we've come across in our quest to go where few people have gone. It's always fun to ask our new riders if they'd like to visit an alien crash site. You can imagine what goes through their minds (like the first time I was asked). An alien crash site? Sure, let's go!
The excitement about seeing something unknown is what keeps us coming back for more. You won't find this stuff in large cities or towns. We venture into the backcountry which is only accessible by four wheel drive to experience things we've never experienced and only seen by few. You really should try an off road experience. Here are clips of our adventures this year taken with my drone. Enjoy! Looking forward to sharing this year's quests with you.
I am currently at the beginning of an around the world flight in X-plane 11, a flight simulation program flying in a Pilatus 12 NG, a Swiss made, single engine turbo prop that seats 8 people. I decided to fly around the world in the sim to learn more about navigation and instrument flying. I was getting bored flying to local airports so I created this challenge. It fascinated me how planes got from one place to another and this trip was designed to uncover that mystery. There are approximately 40 legs in the trip with each one being around 1000 miles long. Each leg takes about 5 hours in real time, and yes I let the sim run for the duration. It's fun and I learn alot with each flight. I am not a certified pilot in the real world, but as I'm sure is true for some of you, you have a friend with a plane and they let you "fly" it. I have over 40 hours at the helm in the right seat, but haven't gone through the motions of getting my license due to time and money constraints. Sim flying is preparing me for the day I pull the trigger and get the real thing. My daughter Chloe, who got her license at 24 has given me all of her books and calculators that she used during her lessons so I am devouring all of it in preparation to getting my license.
This is Chloe, my youngest who is the "real" pilot. This is a shot of her refueling her C17 in flight. 
Then there is my granddaughter, Charlotte. I have yet to meet her since I've been fighting off a belligerent cold that has me quarantined 500 miles from where she lives in San Francisco. I've been waiting for nine months since my daughter and husband summoned the family to a breakfast in Santa Barbara to deliver the news. We didn't see it coming, since their thoughts were to start a family many more years down the road. A baby was the last thing on our minds that day. The tapping of a glass silenced the conversations around the table which made way for the announcement, "I'm pregnant" by my daughter. What?! We were stunned at the news as wonderful as it was. I began calling my wife Grandma, she called me Grandpa and as I looked around the table there wasn't a dry eye anywhere, including mine. This was one of the more amazing moments in my life next to my wife telling me she was pregnant eons ago. Many months later a "sex reveal" party was organized by Katie who happens to be one of the best party organizers ever. She is a perfectionist and every detail is tended to. She organized her wedding, created the theme and designed all of the acutramonts that go with it. She is amazing and her mother's daughter. The reveal came when there was another rap on a glass and a black opaque balloon was brought out that once popped, would reveal the sex of the baby with either blue or pink confetti. Who thinks up this stuff? Katie picked up a pin, popped the balloon and pink confetti flew everywhere. Again, there wasn't a dry eye at the party. A baby girl was going to join our family! Now the plans could jump into high gear to purchase clothing and furniture every newborn deserves. Here we are are two weeks after being born and I still cannot go see her. I couldn't forgive myself if I got her sick so I'm keeping my self far away. Perhaps in the next couple of weeks I'll be rid of whatever I've got and will take the journey to meet my beloved Charlotte. Until then, I'll continue to enjoy the photos my wife and daughter send me everyday. I do love the anticipation of meeting her and can't wait.
Charlotte
New parents, Katie and David
Thanks for taking the time to read my first post. I look forward to sharing more in the future and learning from all of you.
welcome to steemit
Welcome to Steemit my friend!, nice post....Blêssings!
Welcome!!.. I enjoy Jeeping as well in CO. This is a great community!
You have a great intro post, well done.!
Awesome. We ran Black Bear Pass a few years ago in Telluride. What a trail!
Welcome dear to the best community which values our hardwork... @sarinakhan be in touch
Welcome on steemit @thehammer333, stay awesome. By the way I had something to tell about Bunos Stuff!
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Hello welcome to steemit Bill! : )
Nice post! I will follow you from now on. +upvote
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