John & Anne Wiley

2011/03/08

Here & Back

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,White North Adventure — John @ 06:46

 

Snug in our home, it’s tempting to just cozy in for a few days. It’s probably good that we’ve had little errands to take care of around town, because getting out helps us feel even more here. Among today’s stops was a nostalgic visit to Tripp, since strong winds were forecast and we wanted to check her tiedown lines. Walking back to our fun and friendly FBO (Atlantic) we paused to admire the new KSBA terminal building that’s gone from a frame to a building shell in the month we were gone.

1741 New KSBA Terminal

1741 New KSBA Terminal

If you click to see the larger version, you can make out the copper balls astride the main entrance that complement the copper dome atop the building. When we left for Edmonton, that dome was shiny copper and now it’s already wearing a “penny patina.”

Looking further back, I found more pix from the trip home to share. First our quick tour of Spokane on our morning drive back to the airport.

5817 Snow Remnant

5817 Snow Remnant

Guess I’m used to beauty, because the thing I noticed most looking at this just now is that tiny lump of snow at Anne’s feet. Such a contrast to where we’d been the day before! This was the first of several bridges we paused to look at in downtown Spokane, that make it such a river-connected city. This bridge crosses just below a power plant and striking rapids, with a great view of several more bridges upstream.

5819 Water Power

5819 Water Power

Here’s another view of that bridge, from a little upstream. On the large version you can see the gondola rides that are probably great for people with no access to small planes, or who just like being close to white water while keeping dry. I wonder if the windows get all covered with the spray, since it got on my lens when I walked out on the bridge.

5825 Gondolas Under Bridge

5825 Gondolas Under Bridge

Just a little further upstream there’s another view we liked, that offers an eclectic mix of things to look at. We hoped to find the bridge that’s in the moving last scene of the film Smoke Signals, with a version of Dick Lourie’s powerful “Forgiving Our Fathers” poem that evokes for me so many feelings and memories about my father and daughter.

5826 River City

5826 River City

Standing on this spot I felt closest to what spoke to me in that film. Protected by the broken fence with my feet in the slumbering grass of generations. Just a few minutes later, the kind folks at the main airport’s Tower let us get amazing views of the same spots. Slivers of the moment captured above still lingered when we were above it moments later. There is a magic about flying that simultaneously remembers a mouse in that grass and a hawk in the sky.

5833 Spokane's Heart

5833 Spokane's Heart

I love how the bridges radiate out from the small island, as if connecting the entire world to the secret heart of this magnificent city.

5861 City Surround

5861 City Surround

I’d thought of Spokane as a small city, but it stretches for miles in every direction. Well, enough for tonight. Tomorrow I’ll look for some interesting snaps from our flight toward San Jose.

2011/03/07

Lucky Path

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,Random,White North Adventure — John @ 03:39

Going over photos from our flight to Spokane, we recall both the gradual shift from “black and white” frozen landscapes to color and our good fortune. The water at Sandpoint, ID was starting to thaw, and hints of color appeared. You might notice also the fuzzy skies in the distance, that kept us continually alert to our flight. Several times as the skies grew more fuzzy like this we considered turning back, landing at an airport, or continuing. Maybe it was just the slight difference made by cars and trucks on the highways we followed, but we were always able to comfortably continue even though sometimes the skies on either side were more overcast.

5810 Sandpoint Idaho

5810 Sandpoint Idaho

The patterns in the ice were intricately beautiful, but we were glad that skies continued to improve ahead so we didn’t need to stop there and wait for more Spring-like weather. The route we’d flown North through Boise, Helena and Lethbridge would have been blocked by low clouds.  We’re happy to have chosen the correct path home, and to have left on a good day for the flight.

2011/03/06

Colors

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region,Tripp,White North Adventure — John @ 04:27

It started when Anne looked out the window this morning in San Jose and shouted “There’s so much Color!” Then she turned to me, and pointing to her eyes said  “My rods and cones are flooding!” She was talking of course about seeing bright colors for the first time in weeks, because snow covers and dims colors as do overcast skies. After a warm time with sisters, brother-in-law and niece in San Jose, we got a late start and flew Tripp relatively fast (120kias) and high (7.5kagl) to arrive abeam Lompoc just as the sun slipped into the relatively warm Pacific.

5906 Sunset Welcome

5906 Sunset Welcome

Coming out of San Jose, ATC asked me to make a rapid climb to help another pilot, and Tripp so easily obliged he was startled (not knowing when I told him she’s a 172, that she’s a Q model and that makes a big difference when we want to go up quickly). Most people familiar with planes have never heard of a 172Q, so it’s fun to show her off. Two pilots casually looking her over at the Spokane airport asked about the “Cutlass II” logo on her side. “Isn’t that a retractable?” “No, the nickname for that type is ‘Gutless’ due to all the extra weight of the landing gear mechanism.” It was fun watching their eyes get big when I quoted them some of Tripp’s performance statistics. Then they looked at her again with admiring expressions, imagining having that performance and the 172’s frugal operating expenses.

Now our Trusty Tripp (as we sometimes call her) has brought us home to SBA. Driving home from the airport felt familiar, as if today’s flight were just around town. It was great to see our place all tidy and welcoming thanks to friends. We’ve turned the gas, water softener and assorted electronics back on, the fan’s running to air the place out, and we’re having fun doing the first round of unpacking.

Though tired we’re energized with an inner glow. Our hearts, minds and eyes are overflowing with colorful memories of people, places and flying. Now the notion of flying into hard Winter no longer seems exotic. Like having flown from San Diego to Maine to Florida and back on our Big Adventure, or from here to Sault Ste. Marie to Alaska and back on our NxNW Adventure, such things seem almost as familiar as a hop over to look at Neverland Ranch.

Which is better: to go on an adventure, or to arrive home from one?

Seems to me each is made more wonderful by the other, and both gain immensely from sharing with the Perfect Partner. 🙂

2011/03/05

Change

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,Tripp,White North Adventure — John @ 17:59

Sometimes things turn out differently than we imagine. We start the day dreaming of a stop in Boise for lunch with our precious friend, and an interesting easy flight to San Jose. Looking out the window of our Spokane hotel, noticing the gathering clouds we begin to wonder what will come from this difference from the forecast. Looking online, it soon became clear the day would involve some change.

After a quick tour through beautiful Spokane on the way back to the airport, we changed to a nearly direct route to San Jose.

5864 Farewell Spokane

5864 Farewell Spokane

We soon discovered another change from the forecast: strong headwinds. Flying at our normal speed we weren’t going much faster than cars on the freeway. Of course, they had to bend many miles this way and that while our route was a straight line in most places. When we went through mountains, I more closely followed the highways as an extra safety measure. In that terrain with lots of snow and trees, it adds landing options near helpful people and most airports are dotted along highways. Sometimes I imagine what it was like for barnstormers whose planes weren’t so reliable and when highways and airports were very rare. Unlike the forecast, we only saw the sun a few times. But we did of course see lots of spectacular sights from a vantage point those cars on the highway couldn’t imagine.

5868 Lake Abert

5868 Lake Abert

We started off with ample fuel to reach San Jose, because Tripp gets great mileage and has large tanks. The headwinds of course changed that, and we decided to stop in Alturas, CA near the Oregon border just South of Goose Lake at the eastern corner. Opening the door my vision of warm California instantly changed to remembering Winter in high desert is not warm (15mph wind blowing across snowy fields at 35F). A shortcut we planned from there through Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Forrest changed when I noted the road wasn’t plowed, so we didn’t turn direct to San Jose until near Redding. By then it was getting dark, so the brilliant lights of I-5 were a welcome sight.

This morning waking in San Jose, the sun was out. What a change this is! Balmy air and brilliant colors! Anne was literally jumping up and down when we opened the window in our sister’s cozy home. Change makes life interesting. 🙂

2011/03/04

Closeness

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships,White North Adventure — John @ 15:17

When we were in Edmonton, the closeness we enjoyed with our delightful daughter and her new little family was heartwarming. All the conversations, activities and just hanging out were a treat. Maybe all that closeness is why California seemed so far away, and even relatively nearby Calgary seemed far. As we approached that city, it looked much smaller than we’d imagined.

5767 Tiny Calgary

5767 Tiny Calgary

In that expanse of snowy prairie it looked as far away as Edmonton had seemed before we got up close. Our plan had been to fly by it at some distance, over Springbank airport, but ATC routed us closer to keep us out of the way of airliner traffic at the international airport.

5799 Calgary Closer

5799 Calgary Closer

I’d forgotten that Calgary has a “space needle” and noted that like all the great Canadian cities we’ve flown so far it’s nestled next to a river.

Even as the hours and miles increased the distance from my daughter, we savored our increasing closeness. Yesterday there was a special warmth in the hum of Tripp’s engine as we flew over the frozen landscape, reminding me somehow of the safe warm feeling of a small child in the back of the family car on a long trip passing through King City where we flew just days ago. Today we take another long flight, with our goal being San Jose to visit my sisters and share more closeness. Flying and family are an excellent combination. 🙂

 

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