This may be a stretch for a Patriot’s Journey post, but one of the things I love about America is our airshows. We have dozens of them annually that are within reasonable driving distance and many feature either the U.S. Navy Blue Angels or the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. There are no better airshows anywhere in the world! And whenever I see either of these precision flying teams perform, my heart beats faster and I’m reminded why I’m glad to be an American. You can’t watch the Thunderbirds and not agree!

That said, the second annual California Capital Airshow at Mather Field will run this weekend featuring the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, Red Bull Air Force, Jim Varden, Greg Poe and many more. Local Aerobatics Champion Julie Clark will also perform. It promises to be a great show… If you can get in.

Last year’s show, featuring the Blue Angels, suffered a bit of a logistical snafu - planners so grossly underestimated attendance that Highway 50 was gridlocked for hours, parking was impossible, and many folks, including us, finally gave up in frustration.

Supposedly, planners have “solved” the problems and promise smoother sailing this year. Their  “plan” seems centered around encouraging attendees to ride buses and  the RT. Says RT Driver, “Imagine upwards of 50,000 people trying to exit at Mather Field Rd. over the few hours leading up to the show… Now imagine that you and your family are not among them!!” Hmmm… We’ll see.

With that in mind, we won’t be attending the show this year. Instead, we’ll be spending part of Saturday afternoon at a friend’s home near Mather so, if I’m lucky, I might get off a few shots of aircraft flying over their house… I’ll wait and see how the traffic situation plays out this weekend before deciding whether or not to give it a try next year.

But tomorrow afternoon Dawn and I will be sitting comfortably around a pool, sipping mojitos, enjoying the company of good friends and watching the show action right over our heads. Life is good! God bless America!