In Captain Gramma, Nancy tells her story.

See our review at Captain Gramma. The book is available from www.captaingramma.com

On afternoon, in the Ongorogoro Crater (I think that is how you spell it) we sat for a couple of hours watching lions stalk a buffalo. After a while, nature was calling and my bladder was demanding attention. I asked the driver if we could go to a remote place so I could relieve myself. He explained that in the Crater, you must find an actual restroom. We didn?t want to be gone that long in case the lions went in for the kill. So, I told the driver to cut the top off his empty 1 liter water bottle and hand it back to me. He refused. I asked if he would do it if I were a man, and he said, ?yes.? Then I ordered him to cut the top off the bottle and hand it back. He reluctantly did, then pulled his jacket up over his head and slouched down in his seat. I told my grandson to stand on the seat and look out at the lions and not at me. I then filled the bottle ? twice!!!!! There were several other trucks watching the lions, and pointing and laughing at us!!! Now, that was the pause that refreshes!!!!!

One afternoon, in the Serengeti, we stopped the truck and got out for a little picnic. We sat under a large tree. I looked up and pointed, there was a 20 foot long python on a branch just above our heads! We simply took pictures and enjoyed our lunch! I can only imagine what we would have done if we had seen such a sight while picnicking here in this country!

While in the Serengeti, we visited a school for the Park ranger?s children. What a sight. There were 7 classrooms. No paper, no books, no pictures, they had nothing. But the children were eager to learn. That touched my heart and after returning home, I sent several large boxes of school supplies to the school.

When we left the Serengeti and came back to Arusha, we flew. I?m sorry, I can?t remember the kind of plane, I think it was a turbo-prop Piper, with about 8 seats. I showed the pilot my license and asked if I could sit in the right front seat, which he allowed. I think he was a bit intimidated when he looked at my license, with 727; 737; 757; 767; DC10 ratings! He was a good pilot, and we enjoyed the trip.

We needed to raise money to help pay for the trip, and we were able to raise about $2000, I seem to recall. We received money from friends and strangers, alike. I remember discussing the trip in a restaurant, and a man from 2 tables away came over and gave me $20! On several occasions, waitresses would reach into their pockets and hand us their tip money for the day.

Before leaving here, the local school brought their kids out to see me off. Then in Denver, Donna had visited a couple of inner city schools, and about 30 kids came out to Centennial airport to see us off. Our first stop was in Atchison, Kansas, Amelia Earhart?s birthplace. We were met by high schools kids, many of whom had written poems and letters for us to take along. They had a nice ceremony for us, with speeches and martial music. It brought tears to my eyes.

Then we stopped at Dayton, Ohio, and spoke at several schools. We were there 2 days and when we left about 100 kids from local schools came out to see us off.

Our next stop was Shanksville. We were the first airplane to arrive. We spent the day watching the others arrive. It was beautiful to watch as all the airplanes came in and fixed their flags to their airplanes. The next afternoon, the whole group went to the crash site where we had a brief ceremony, and laid the wreath. It was very moving and we felt that we were standing on hallowed ground. From there we flew to Fredericksburg, MD, toured AOPA headquarters, and then were bussed to the Pentagon. One of the group had contacted a Congressman who made arrangements for us to have a tour. We conducted a ceremony outside near the crash site, then went inside for our tour. Again, we felt we were standing on hallowed ground, where so many had died or were injured. It was a very special privilege to get a chance to walk the halls of the Pentagon.

Once we arrived in the New York area we had a banquet. Then on the Sunday morning before 9/11 (I think it was the 8th) we left early and flew in a parade of airplanes down the Hudson, past the site, and back to the airport. We were then taken by busses to the ?Intrepid,? which is a museum ship, permanently docked in New York. There was an impressive ceremony, with music and speeches, and we each presented our state flag to the City of New York. It was a very emotional day of celebration and sadness.

We had to get up to a work station and attempt to do small chores, like turning a bolt with a wrench. As you apply pressure to turn the bolt, the chair scoots away, because there is no friction. It is difficult. You must hold on to something while trying to work. It sounds easy, but it isn?t, and as soon as you forget to hold on, you are drifting away. We also were put in a harness that carried most of our weight. This simulated walking, weightless, on the moon. The interesting thing to me was that you have no weight with which to push off. I thought I would be able to "leap tall buildings," but in fact, could only jump a little further than I can here on earth. There is simply no way to push off! We simulated a flight, each person with a different position. I found that very interesting. I was the ?CapCom? person, and had to keep everyone on their schedule and make sure that everything got done in the allotted time period. I can?t remember all the interesting things we did, but it was a wonderful experience.

Yes, I know about the Mercury 13. I know several of the gals, and think they are terrific. Their treatment was awful, and I put most of the blame for that on John Glenn. He was the one who came up with the idea that required an astronaut to have been a jet test pilot. He knew no woman had had the chance to fly a jet, and that would disqualify all of them.