John & Anne Wiley

2009/10/24

Mad About NYC

Filed under: Aviation,Big Adventure,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random — John @ 03:17
Something we enjoy about flying the way in which we do it, is change. There’s the change it makes to the psyche, somehow altering time and space as we know it. The change in our perspective on this incredible planet of course. Also though, there’s change of plans. It turned out that the airspace was locked up for flyers of our sort (poor), so rather than Linden our best option was Westchester. We connected with an exceptional couple near there who offered two of their places for us to stay, and their many kindnesses enhanced our brief NYC experience exponentially.
Our first night was in midtown in a loft of their business. Dropping our stuff (including the bike which I’d lugged on the subway and partially assembled outside Grand Central to the considerable enjoyment and/or annoyance of thousands), we set off to explore. This scene anticipates our adventures that Herman Hesse might say are best enjoyed by “Madmen Only.”
Dinner at Mario’s got us off to a great start, then we walked. A lot. Mostly up Broadway. Times Square is perhaps the most descriptive in this size of photo, but if time ever catches up again (maybe in a few days?) I’ll post some larger pix on the Photo link.
Meanwhile, there’s one detail from the Square that conveys what substance helped us stay so awake at 1am with little sleep and many travails.
Next day with the bike fully assembled we rode from 36th up to the park. Don’t do this if you are a fearful person, because the bike lanes are considered hunting preserves. We survived, and actually enjoyed it. These two outcomes might have been partly due to what we were riding: my custom bicycle for two, consisting of two seats and double-wide pedals on a cheap old standard mountain bike. People laughed, did double-takes, stared, took pictures, and perhaps decided to spare us as unique specimens of bike riders. It was also delightful to be riding rather than walking or sitting in a bus or subway, and being able to actually converse about what we saw. The park of course, totally blew us away. There’s simply no way to describe how amazing our time was there, as we rode around and through it all the way up to the Reservoir. Lots of pix of course, but here’s one I especially like for the size of pix on this blog (remember this from any movies?):

The day continued getting more magnificent as evening approached and our friends joined us for a truly breathtaking flight. With the Hudson now open to us, we four flew down and back. From all the pix, here’s one I like in this size:
Here’s another, of the Lady who symbolizes so much.
Wish I had time to write and to process/share more pix, but instead I’m going to sleep for the first time in three days (not counting truncated dreamtimes). Tonight we’re in Wilmington (change brought us here rather than the several other options we’d planned). Tomorrow we’re on Amtrak into DC for at least one night. At least that’s the plan tonite…

2009/10/21

Vineyard, Nantucket, Cape and Long Isl.

Filed under: Aviation,Big Adventure,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People — John @ 01:34
Our ride back to Providence airport offered the opposite of last night’s driver. Joe has led a long and fascinating life. “I like the seasons,” he offered. He loves living and working in Providence, and going dancing with his girlfriend. He also seemed to enjoy flirting with the desk gals at the hotel, so there’s life in Providence after all.
After much discussion we decided to fly out and have lunch at Martha’s Vineyard. Along the way, RI offered some intricate interactions of wind, sand, sea and hardy plants. We wondered what would cause the shapes in the lagoon.

It turned out the airport is a long ride (when you can get one) from the tourist areas, so we grabbed a sandwich to go at the airport restaurant and then became captivated with the WWII memorabilia and stories from the days when this was a stalwart guardian of the north Atlantic and a training base for pilots. Now it seems to have become an outpost of the FedEx flocks from Providence, and a stop for tasteful tourists.

Then after more discussion we decided to go out and have a quick look at Nantucket. “It’s probably just like the Vineyard.” On the other hand, “It’s so close and something we’ve heard of since childhood.” Turns out it was completely different, and the rewards for our excursion were many. The lighthouse seems the epitome of courageous guardian, standing on a spit clearly overwhelmed by storm seas flashing its warning to seafarers.
Cruising back over the Vineyard, their light seems tame and protected until you contemplate the ferocious storms.
We crossed over to Woods Hole, and went up Cape Cod to Hyannis before turning into the wind for our dash to Islip before dark. None of our photos over Long Island came out due to smog and sunset, but the images sit sweetly in our memories. We were surprised at how few houses there are in the East Hamptons, until we realized they’re all cut directly into little squares of the forest.
Tomorrow we plan to skirt any TFRs and all the myriad airliner playgrounds, and slip into Linden, NJ for the Staten Island Ferry into Gotham.

2009/10/20

Rest, Martha & Bohemia

Filed under: Aviation,Big Adventure — John @ 15:33

We’ve decided to take a day of rest. What that means to people with “big eyes” wanting to see the many wonders of this area, is going at a slower pace. What that means for people with a small plane like Flash, is only covering a few hundred miles (remember, when we fly slow it’s about 100mph).

So the current plan is get organized and fly from KPVD over to KMVY for lunch. By the way, that’s Martha’s Vineyard(!). So fun to see from the air, and in this case visit, places we’ve heard about for so many years.

Then fly Nantucket, Cape Cod, and maybe take another distant glimpse of Boston from the southeast. After that, climb offshore near Block Island and cruise Long Island to our hotel reservation in Bohemia, NY. Well, it’s actually Holtsville near KISP (Long Island Mac Arthur Airport, motto: “Easy to leave.”) in Islip, NY. I thought it would be cool to stay in Hicksville, but we couldn’t find anything affordable there. Tomorrow a short though complicated hop through busy airspace to Linden for the Staten Island Ferry into Manhattan.

It turns out our decision to delay NYC for a day means we’ll probably miss our President whom we’ve heard is there today. That’s probably fortunate, because anywhere any President goes, nobody else does. That is, trying to get anywhere is greatly complicated. Trains, planes and automobiles are all instantly thrown into Thanksgiving mode as if it were a major holiday. I just looked at the TFR (air restrictions), and we’ll just miss the edge by staying “in” Bohemia rather than Hicksville tonight. This trip has been so filled with synchronicities! As if weather, impromptu choices, Presidential visits, and the rest of the known universe are all in harmony with our happiness. But enough about me, what do you think about me. 😉

So onward…

Providence

Filed under: Aviation,Big Adventure,Has Photos — John @ 03:45

We took off from Meriden, CT early in the afternoon, stopped at Minuteman Airport near Boston to visit pilot friend Zubair and family, and skirted Boston snapping away (see Photo link). We headed for Newport, RI but nearing the airport at sunset it looked like we might have trouble finding a place to stay (still too cold for camping). So we diverted to Providence. The helpful Tower controller told us to turn right at the end of the taxiway for parking. In that direction all we could see was big jets, while to the left we saw a few planes Flash’s size so we went there and parked.

It was after dark by the time we finished getting everything buttoned up. We lugged our pack and bag each over to what looked like the old terminal and tower where we’d seen people inside. “Oh, you’ll have to move it to the other side by the jets,” they said.

Hike back out to the plane, talk to the ground controller who gave directions vague enough that we taxied toward jet taxiing toward us on the other side of the field. So at Flash’s urging (and Anne’s) I did a 180 and headed toward where all the jets were parked. Going slowly along a row of hangars and buildings, everything was dark until we reached the end. Turning in there it soon became apparent that was part of a cargo jet operation so we turned and even more slowly started back along the row of buildings. Now we see on the side of the next building, facing away from where anyone coming in from the runway could see it, “Northstar” (the name of the Flash size parking operation).

Turning in there, a guy came running out to direct us to a spot. The moment I shut off the engine he ran away. “Oh no,” I’m thinking, “he changed his mind!” He’d run to get chocks for the wheels, so again we buttoned up and trundled our gear in. This time a shorter distance than before, and to be greeted by a helpful gal who arranged the hotel I’m sitting in dreaming of sleep.

Before going in to join Anne who had abandoned me for the warmth of the office, I snapped this pic from under Flash’s wing and over the top of her engine. It all felt like a scene from the movie Castaway somehow.
Riding to the hotel, when we asked the twenty-something shuttle driver (a native Providencial) he said, “There’s nothing to do here – we’re an airport town.” They’re building a cool link from the fast northeast corridor trains direct to the airport, and when it’s done in a year or two he says this will be one of the closest major rail/air links in the country.
Tomorrow, NYC!

2009/10/17

Riding Norwalk

Filed under: Big Adventure,Has Photos,Nature,People,Relationships — John @ 01:16
This morning the snow was gone, the clouds thinner, and everything smelled fresh. Ed & Dad decided to take us on the drive from Waterbury to Norwalk, to see all the places from their earlier years and Anne’s childhood. Being the first outside I took a few minutes to study a leaf dotted with droplets of rain.

We saw the church where her grandparents were married and our friend Dave was a priest, and the cemetery that little sister thought was half named for her. As we stood out in the street snapping a picture of the front porch of the “Union house” where she was snapped as a small child, a warm woman appeared at the door and after hearing the story invited us in. We’d been by some years ago, and wondered what the back yard looks like now. It was an instant journey down memory lane to see the stair bannister and the backyard. We’ve promised to send the new owner some photos of the place as it was years ago.
In the neighborhood where they lived later, we encountered a group (gobble?) of wild turkeys perusing the manicured lawns.
After stopping on the drive home for dinner in Westfield we rode much of the way home in gathering darkness and silent reverie.
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