Tony’s first helicopter ride (and not to the hospital)! It was fantastic and put a big smile on his face. We spent Christmas money from Dad for this fun trip.

We were given some safety instructions upon arrival in their office and waiting room. Basically we were not to touch the doors of the helicopter, had to stay in front of it on the ground, and had to wear seatbelts and life preserver belts around our waists with a pull cord for activation.

Our pilot was trained at a school in San Antonio and started out flying in South Dakota near Mt. Rushmore. He lives in a nearby town, drives to the airport there and then flies to work. And that’s pretty cool!

The water is clear enough to see large sea life such as dolphins, though we did not spot any today. The headsets were voice-activated, and we had no trouble hearing each other. I had no idea so many of the individual houses on SPI have swimming pools. Our pilot said most of them are for rent on airbnb.