Recently I got invited by my daughter to visit her and her family in Las Vegas and watch her husband at work. Well..Las Vegas, who could say no to that invite. Under ordinary circumstances that would have been enough. But not this visit!

You see my son-in-law Steve goes by another name- Dallas. Steve is Major Steve Horton the #4 slot pilot for the United States Air Force Flight Demonstration Team-The Thunderbirds.

The occasion was the Approval show-the very first show of the season but open to only friends and family of the whole team and several high ranking Generals with pen and paper taking notes on every move. Approximately 1000 got the honor of seeing the new 2006 team do their stuff over their home at Nellis AFB under overcast skies. The crowd is so small by comparison to a normal show of 200,000 attendees that it feels like a private audience with the Pope. The biggest ever crowd was at Coney Island on 4 July 1987 -a mere 2.25 million watched in awe that day.

And if that wasn