I'm trying to get better about the updates, I promise. So without further ado, I'll tie up the loose ends with summer, since I know winter is on it's way quickly and then the dark stories of winter will start to flood in with the snows. After hiking Johnson Pass and Wolverine Peak, summer didn't exactly take a break. It may have ended, but it was nice while it lasted... sweet and fleeting!
Shortly after the big hikes, we welcomed Dean, Karen and their teenage daughter from Boise. Chris got to see plenty of Dean when he was still commuting to Boise for work, but I hadn't seen any of the Jenning's family since 2006 when we moved away. It was a real treat to have friends come up for a visit. The last friends we had visit were Kevin and Shaunna, more than a year ago, so we were feeling a little homesick for "the good old days" of Boise beer drinking and random flights around the Northwest for no particular reason. Their trip to Alaska signaled that fun was going to be had...
First, I'll catch you up on the whole flying thing. Back in Boise, when I was just barely a licenced pilot (really just barely) and still needing to build hours, I was running regular trips to Jackpot, Nevada and it's main casino, Cactus Pete's. Why, you might ask? Well, it wasn't the gambling that took me to Jackpot. It was the runway. Jackpot sits at about 5,000 feet, making density altitude a huge factor in summer. In addition, there's a bluff at one end of the runway that if you don't take off properly, could be the last thing you see out the front window of the cockpit. There's a sign on the airport gate that says something to the effect of "Pilot's, make sure you clear the bluff before turning north!!!". Well, for a novice pilot, Jackpot is a real test of skill and when you couple it with random desert thunderstorms, hot temperatures, and a fairly short and narrow strip, it's nearly the perfect training tool. The last added bonus of Jackpot (again not including the casino) is that from Boise, it just qualifies as a cross country flight, and can be done in almost exactly 3 hours round trip. Okay, the Jarbridge mountains are pretty darn spectacular, too. Getting back to why that matters and how it relates to the Jenning's family's Alaska visit, a few years back, Dean mentioned to Chris that he just happened to have a gig at the casino, and wasn't exactly sure about being able to make the drive on time or something to that effect. Chris all but volunteered my services, and told Dean that I needed the hours. It was a sweet deal! Dean got a mostly free flight to Jackpot and back, and I got not one, but TWO round trip, cross country flights to one of my favorite strips at a huge discount. Dean was brave to trust me with his life. REALLY brave!
Again, how this relates to the visit here? Well, that particular set of flights was in the spring if I remember correctly. Spring in the desert equates to BIG thunderstorms, nasty winds and VERY, VERY turbulent flights. The day we were scheduled to go, the weather was basically fine, except for a few scattered storms, and what was supposed to be LIGHT turbulence. In other words, the weather was supposed to be fine. I think somewhere after Mountain Home, the clouds started to form anvil tops off in the distance. There weren't any significant bumps until we got closer to Jackpot, but as long as I adjusted my course appropriately, the weather was fine. But, nearing Jackpot, one particular cloud started building almost exactly on top of the runway. It didn't look too menacing, and it appeared that it was moving away just fine. As I approached the airstrip, I noticed the cloud was rapidly building and becoming more stationary. I should also mention that a somewhat concerned Dean, was experiencing what might be considered "moderate to severe" turbulence in our little Piper Warrior- not exactly a 727. He kept a good poker face while I told him to just let me fly the plane and concentrate. We had to land, and very soon! So with a few radio calls, and a quick flyover to get the wind direction, I made a steep descent to the landing, over the bluff and crabbing into a rather stiff cross wind, "kicking out" the crab just before touch down, setting the left wheel down first, then the right, then the nose. We bounced lightly, swerved a little in the wind, and just as I turned off to taxi to the parking and tie down area, all hell broke loose with the storm! We got lucky. In retrospect (now that I'm a little more seasoned), I probably would have turned back to Twin Falls or some other nearby airport to wait out the storm. In the end, it was fine. I learned a good lesson. Perhaps Dean did, too.
The following Sunday, I made the second trip back to pick up Dean. The weather was much calmer. I could see Dean from the air standing in the airplane parking lot with people from as I approached final landing on the runway. Apparently, he was being treated like a rock star, and the fact that he had his personal plane and pilot flying over right on cue, made the two ladies that were following him swoon. It was very funny. When I taxied up to him and opened the door, he practically ran to the plane. He launched his sax and gear in the plane and basically fled from the his new fans. He plainly did not share their affections. I still laugh about that!
Well, about a year after that, I took his wife Karen on a trip to Portland to celebrate my new Instrument Rating. The weather in Portland was calm enough, but it was socked in with dense fog so I had to fly instruments for real. This also included an instrument flight plan for leaving after the weekend since the fog hadn't really lifted much. Karen, who is always very calm, was an excellent co-pilot, and the two of us had a great time bar hopping and shopping in Portland for the weekend. Flash forward now to this year....
When I offered to take the family flight seeing (now that I'm a commercial pilot and much more experienced than I was in Boise), Karen was instantly for it. Given their different experiences, Dean not surprisingly, politely declined the glacier tour and flight seeing trip. Instead, he went mountain biking with Chris. When given the choice of riding with grizzly bears in the Alaskan mountains or taking flight to see a dying glacier, the grizzlies won. Apparently, Dean's desire for self preservation decided that the odds of running up against Yogi were less than the odds of crashing to ground like a dart on a bumpy flight. Go figure! It's also no secret that Chris doesn't much care for small planes, either. Needless to say, when I took Karen and daughter up, we had a great flight! The air was calm and still. We flew north along the Chugach, turned east back up the Matanuska Valley to check out the Matanuska Glacier, then hooked southward to overfly the Knik Glacier and inner Lake George. We continued south until we could almost see Prince William Sound and then turned back Anchorage.
For me, the time in the air is the most precious. The feeling of being suspended by a cushion of atmosphere, the sound and feel of the engine, the view out the window are all unmatched by any earthbound activities. That is my "happy" place and getting to share it with Karen and her daughter, or share with anyone for that matter gives me great pleasure. So, for anyone reading, consider this to be a standing invitation to come visit Alaska, and take a discounted flight seeing trip with a pilot who really LOVES to fly- seriously. Any time. I will happily volunteer to share the skies with you.
Post flight, we went to dinner. I had nearly forgotten that I had aged an entire year while our friends were here. Yes, my birthday was in August. I'm now officially in my mid thirties. Yikes. Chris took me out to dinner that night- just the two of us, and we met up with the Jenning's for drinks and desert later that evening. I also have to mention that for the first time in more than 10 years, I finally got what I asked for, for my birthday. No, not a plane (but it doesn't hurt to wish). What did I ask for? Simple. Flowers. Nothing fancy, nothing expensive. Just flowers. Flowers. Humble, fleeting and temporary, simple, beautiful flowers. They showed up at my office mid day ON my birthday (another first) and I was beaming for the rest of the day- really for the rest of the month!
Dean and Karen got to hear me rant and rave about the dinner, the flowers, etc... We had a great time. At least, I had a great time. But with all visits, they do come to an end. Although we did much more than fly, including a great bike ride along the coastal trail, the real prize was getting to see our friends. It was great to see how Genevieve has grown up in only three short years. She's a fantastic kid- smart, funny, polite and talented. I was just as sad to see our friends head back to Boise as I was happy to see them arrive. Perhaps next year, we'll be the ones to visit Boise... Yes, there's another update for that line. But, I'll save it for later.
For now, I'll give a hint at what's to come next time. The fall and winter riding season is nearly here. The Frigid Bits series has started and there's a few funny stories to tell about that. Chris is training for the next big race in February and will be stocking up on arctic gear between now and then. We're traveling for the holidays- all of them. The dogs haven't eaten anything too bad lately and aside from some minor furniture destruction a few weeks ago, they're all well behaved. I'm still designing books. Still flying when I can. A new plane made it's way to Anchorage and I'm in love!
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