John & Anne Wiley

2009/10/12

Bah!

Filed under: Aviation,Big Adventure — John @ 20:46

We’re sitting in the airport waiting for the free shuttle in Bah Hahbah. People seem to look at us strangely when we say it that way though. Though it’s beautiful right now, looks like weather will close in tomorrow so we’ll either stay two nights or join the migrating birds low along the coast in light rain in the afternoon, determined by the balance between weather conditions and island fever. We flew over it before landing, and it’s glorious as you’ll see when I have time to process some pix. Nearly everyone on the air traffic frequency was saying Barr Harrborr just like me, except for one guy who elicited silence by saying it correctly. Half an hour before we got here a wiseguy controller in Boston pushed it mockingly, telling the hapless pilot he was clear to dial in the Baaaa HaaaaBuhh frequency. We’ve been saying it with the accent long enough that we might slip up in town and get blacklisted or something. Of course, my current attire has probably already assured that – I haven’t seen anyone else wearing Keen closed-toe sandals (much to Anne’s annoyance). Hey, how else can I shout California tourist?!

Speaking of Keens, we had the most glorious stop in Keene, NH where Beth sweetly loaned us a car. We drove the beautiful mile or two into town with two uber-qualified jet pilots in the back seat, and got great food to go. So many memorable stops along this adventure, we’d do it all again in a heartbeat. Any sponsors? 😉

Well, I’m going to get ready for the bus…

Back In Time

Filed under: Aviation,Big Adventure,Flying,Has Photos,Nature,People,Relationships — John @ 02:58

Today we flew back in time. Taking off from the old airport with history back to the early years of flight we detoured back over Akron, which we’re told has been taken over by the university. Despite our best efforts to get the short distance into town last night, everyone kept nudging us into the burbs by the new airport. Just as well, because it was easily the best hotel we’ve had yet and a great deal (the same price as the motel we’re shivering in tonight but we won’t talk about that). Even if it’s all about students, we still enjoyed it from the air.


As we turned back east toward Clarion, PA I could feel a gentle shift in time begin. I found out three years ago that my paternal ancestors were in that area back into the 1700s. It wasn’t just that this area had the most colorful foliage we’ve seen yet. There was something about flying over ground my fathers had hiked, farmed and hunted when no human had ever seen the long view we enjoyed today. We decided not to land and rent a car for the short drive up 66 to Crown where my grandfather was born. Instead we circled and took a couple of dozen photos to study in detail. I hope to be the first from our line of the family to return and stand at the pond in this century.

We went northeast a ways past Bradford, then turned east at Hamilton to pass Albany. I think NY is the first state we’ve flown over without landing. It was 25F outside the plane today at 5,500′ so we were glad to have a good heater! Since we’re headed for Maine while weather is “warm” tomorrow, we decided to save NY for several of our stops later. Instead we landed at sunset in Bennington, VT. We’ll probably make a Keen stop to touch NH before heading northeast past the White Mountains to the area around Flagstaff Lk, ME. That’s where Anne’s research tonight indicates the best foliage colors. Then we turn SE to Bah Hahbah (Bar Harbor in Maineian) for a stop recommended by our dear Maryellen where she has roots. Maybe we’ll stay there, or somewhere around Portland. Tuesday night we hope to reach our first fixed destination of Waterbury, CT to meet Dad. Hope we get to sleep earlier tonight, so we can get back in time.

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