John & Anne Wiley

2010/08/26

Merry MariTimes?

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,MeriTimes Adventure,Random — John @ 09:30

Well, tonight we started talking about another trip! It’s remarkable given that we’ve been mostly holed up, haven’t even done any of the short regional or SoCA flights we’d imagined, and haven’t completely unpacked from NxNW. On the other hand, it’s very handy having lots of stuff from the trip still piled together where we can use it as a starting point for a hopefully much lighter load for the next big trip. Will this be it?

When I lived in Canada for a few years everyone seemed to always be talking about The Maritimes. That’s the eastern part of Canada, and having lived only on the west coast for a while it seemed far off, exotic and a bit romantic – especially after adding years of hearing about that region since. I’ve seen a few intriguing articles about it recently, including one in an aviation mag. We also want to visit the two remaining continental states we’ve missed: AR & CO. We’re also itching to spend more time in NYC and DC, and would like a return to FL with lots of other ideas along the way.
Tonight we sketched out a potential vision of mostly “fly-camping,” with the nights numbered and increasingly “flexible” as the list progresses:
1 GRAND CANYON
2 CO (probably through Denver)
3 NB (Omaha) or Iowa
4 & 5 Chicago (hotel?)
Dayton, OH?
6 London, ON
7 Ottawa, ON
8 Montreal  (hotel?)
9 Quebec City
10 New Brunswick
11 & 12 Newfoundland?
13 Prince Edward Island
14 Nova Scotia
~~~
15 & 16 MAINE  Bar Harbor & other areas?
17 & 18 Boston – Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard?
19 New Haven
20-22 NYC (NJ?)
23 Philadelphia
24 & 25 Pittsburg – Dayton?
26-28 DC
…..
WV, KT, TN, MS, AR, AL, GA, FL (incl. Keys & Bahamas)??
Home via??
Help us! As you can see, the flexibility gets really squishy by the time we leave DC. We could be home in a day or two direct, or meander for weeks. Weather, exhaustion, mood, and perhaps most of all money would all be factors. So tonight we begin to dream about it.
Any comments, suggestions, ideas??

2010/08/24

Shadows On The Land

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,NxNW Adventure,People,Random — John @ 07:48

There is magic for me, in revisiting another hop on our NxNW Adventure each day. Tonight I’m moved again by snapshots of the landscape passing serenely beneath our wings across Manitoba. The clouds we were navigating between cast enchanted shapes across the fields.

0087 Shadow Shapes

0087 Shadow Shapes

I see also the transient shapes traced by a meandering stream and by shallow creeks. Centuries of land use tell their stories, with the most recent chapters on top. Trees and other life planted or wild are slow dancing with structures, paths and roads. All of these things pass quickly in earth time, just more fleeting shadows gone forever, never seen by some future eye. Only in this brief moment of passage from this particular angle did a finger push a button to create this pale reminder. I was here.

Exploring around our hotel in Winnipeg that night of July 30th, the moon cast a shadow of our passing and complemented the city lights.

0055 Moo Moon

0055 Moo Moon

Walking “home” after our fun meal and a brief wander in the blinding fluorescent lights of a supermarket to find Anne’s new fav yogurt, we paused to admire the fresh concrete curb outside a new mall being built. Vandals left a mark. A vain attempt to cast a longer shadow perhaps? Was it rubbed out in the morning, will it survive a few years until eroded by the severe seasons, or might it last a decade or more before being crushed to dust making way for something new?

0057 Curb Enthusiasm

0057 Curb Enthusiasm

We See UC

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 02:21

Yesterday we finally went for a short flight, but aside from some local interest pix I sent to Edhat this was the best photo we got.

0916 UCSB Gate

0916 UCSB Gate

Such an incredibly beautiful setting for a university, eh?! It’s impossible to really capture the beauty, representing SB’s setting so well as it does. Mountains, ocean, wetland, and all the myriad human attractions ranging from arts and sciences to humanities and (one of my personal favs) education. This town of 150k or so boasts a dozen or so renowned higher education centers, with UCSB standing as a prime example. Can you tell I love living here? Especially when I get to fly! 🙂

2010/08/23

Reprise OSH, Soo & TBay

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,NxNW Adventure,Random — John @ 04:10

Following further my theme of reviewing pix from our NxNW adventure, I like this shot of AirVenture and am surprised not to have taken more than a few.

1324 Old Birds

1324 Old Birds

I think this is a formation of WWII “Texan” trainers. They were flying around a lot, and the sound of their engines gave an extra and decidedly aviation aura to the event.

I found this extra shot of Sault Ste. Marie that shows the locks well.

0041 Soo Locks

0041 Soo Locks

I don’t like the exposure, but you can make out the car traffic parked on the bridge with U.S. on the right and Canada left. Between the locks is a cool green area, and the remaining rapids with the old power station just to the left of that. Even with the ubiquitous smoke during our trip, and whatever caused the overexposure, it’s a nice perspective on where we’d been strolling the locks at the far left just an hour earlier.

Last today is this shot of Thunder Bay soon after our takeoff toward Winnipeg on July 30th.

0035 Thunder Bay

0035 Thunder Bay

Haze added to the smoke that day, but we still got a better glimpse of this sprawling city than we had on approach to landing at dusk the night before. This is a name familiar to anyone who’s had some time in Canada as I have, so I’m glad to have finally seen it even if only for such a brief visit. I wonder which of the places we discovered we’ll ever get back to again. How many remarkable and fascinating things we surely missed!

2010/08/22

Large & Small

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,NxNW Adventure,Random — John @ 05:36

We didn’t fly today after all, though tomorrow’s another day. Meanwhile, more scenes from the early days of our NxNW flight. I like the long view of South Dakota from flying high to get over and around clouds and avoid storms that would be hidden (embedded) if we’d flown below the cloud layer (thicker ahead, than in this shot out the side). It was much lower than airlines, but much higher than our usual view.

8526 Middle View

8526 Middle View

Approaching our rest break in North Dakota we saw farms with long stories to tell. How many generations worked this place before it finally fell to weather and “progress?”

8529 Silent Story

8529 Silent Story

Ellendale’s quiet little airport was so refreshing! Wonderful to smell the earth after flying so high above it. We could hear the breeze, the bees, and this tiny frog.

8543 Frog World

8543 Frog World

We were kids again taking turns gently holding it, feeling the moist skin and the gentle touch of cool little toes. How is it faring how? Closing my eyes, a slow quiet descends in my mind and once again the grasses are rustling around me.

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