Flying & FEMA

Last weekend, I hitched a ride with my parents to a wedding in Arkansas. Luckily, they have a small plane so it was only a two and a half hours by air rather than 8 hours by land. God bless airplanes!

We flew into the airport at Hope, Arkansas which is about 17 miles away from the farm where I grew up. Even though I spent much of my childhood in and around Hope, I had never seen the airport or heard of its history.

I knew something was special about the place when I saw the hangar (most small-town airports do not look like this):

When I asked my parents about it, they began to tell me a little bit of the history & I saw this on the hangar:

The area was known as "The Proving Ground" during World War II. Basically, the Army used the area to test bombs and ammunition. Inside the airport, they had old mortar shells and other ammunition and several photographs of the events that took place there. Pretty interesting.


But maybe you're not a big history nut. How about a little recent history? Remember the big hurricane a couple of years ago on the Gulf Coast? Oh....what's-her-name???? Ah, I remember: Hurricane Katrina! Familiar? Well, you'll probably recall the devastation and how FEMA had to come in with temporary housing for people after the storm. Ever wonder what happened to all those mobile homes? Probably not (I didn't either), but check this out:

Yep, these are the THOUSANDS of mobile homes leftover from Katrina. Some are used and some are brand-new, but all are for sale. So, if you're in the market for a mobile home, you know where you can find a hand-full or two. LOL!

This was the view from my window for the majority of the flight. We flew slightly above the clouds. All the fluffy whiteness made me crave cotton-candy!

These were my pilots, affectionately known now as "Pop and Nana."


And one blurry picture of me in the backseat. Flying, by the way, is a great way to catch up on homework!

And for my Okie friends, this is the view of Oklahoma from above. I believe we were somewhere in between Watonga and Woodward. I wish I had taken one over Arkansas. It's always strange to see how two places that are so near one another in location can look so vastly different!

Hope you enjoyed the flight!