The main point of instrument flying is to be able to fly through clouds, or whenever without seeing the ground. This is all very well, but flying yesterday Johntheflyinginstructor actually filed an IFR flight plan and instead of 'practising' flying without looking out the window (accomplished by fogged goggles - the 'foggles'), he had me fly straight into a big fluffy cloud so neither of us could even see the wingtips. Sadly the weather cleared up later in the hour and I had to put those foggles on again.
Clouds are wet, too, though they do look like fairy floss. Flying through them meant water pouring off the windscreen for most of the flight. I must admit it did feel a little on the strange side to be flying around and not able to see outside, but that is the point of the instrument rating.
Also had some fun playing with the GPS, and using it for an approach to land - following the little picture on the screen, and when Johntheflyinginstructor had me remove the foggles, there was the runway sprawled out in front of me, and back to land we went.
That was fun.

Getting the license was very easy - All I had to do was smile nicely at an old man, sign my name, and they gave me a 'temporary' license on the spot, my 'real' one is to be posted to me at some point.

Since we had made the trip to Indianapolis, Sarah showed me around Carmel, the city she grew up in, her old high school, the place she used to work, and just all around the place.
It is precisely the "America" you see in Disney movies. You know, the one where everyone has a three storey house with a front lawn (no front fences), children ride bikes with no helmets, telephone numbers start with 555, basketball rings out the front, basements, yellow school buses not used for any other purpose, and letterboxes with flags on the side.
I was rather kicking myself for forgetting my camera, but its not that far away and I'm sure we will be back in the area again soon. This place was incredible - just about every house would be upwards of at least $150,000 to $500,000 in the local currency - though the same things anywhere in Australia you would be looking at starting around the $800,000 or $900,000 mark. Huge! The school, for years 9 to 12 only, squeezes 3300 students in - and has the basic essential features no school could possibly do without, like a planetarium, five stadiums (some inside, some outside), a radio station, an olympic sized swimming pool, two cafeterias (not tuckshops!) and of course 3300 lockers.
I was very excited to see the nest of school buses - they really do look exactly like the bus on The Simpsons - and they spend the time when not actually on the school run just nesting in a rather large carpark all together. I will promise to put some photos of these buses up some time soon.
There are a couple of new photos up, but I tend to leave my camera behind at the times when I most need it. Like yesterday afternoon, when I saw a convertible full of old people stopped at the traffic lights...

Planning a little trip this afternoon to the FAA (big scary aviation regulators in America) this afternoon. They read over my license and stuff which I faxed them from Japan, and it seems they have realised that I am not a terrorist. They sent me a nice letter the other day to this effect, so I phoned and made an appointment to collect my American pilots license from them this afternoon.
The flying I did last week was technically without a license, but this is OK because Johntheflyinginstructor was in charge (on paper). If anyone would have asked, I could have been a new student pilot. But anyway, once I get this shiny new american license, I will be able to fly the plane solo or with passengers. This is a good thing.
I do hope it is a bit of paper A6 size or smaller.. then I can slide it into my license book alongside the Australian license and the New Zealand license... (I should start collecting these...)