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Geoff Departs Ruth in Olympia
Ruth dropped off Geoff at 6 am at the shuttle for Seattle, and then continued south with Judy to rejoin the gang. Ruth and Judy drove this morning from Olympia, where we had stayed since Sunday night with Ruth's warm and generous cousin Margie Taylor and family, to Aurora airport to link up with the other pilots. We dropped off Geoff Hornseth at the airport shuttle for Seattle -- he had been traveling with the group since May 4th -- has to get home and can't wait for the uncertain arrival of C2C.
Irregular low ragged rolls of maritime scud slurp up the hilltops on the left as we drive south. Bright yellow broom -- flowers -- pop out low along the road edge amidst the lush green forest and ground cover. For a while the air smelled of evergreen Sap, incredibly fresh in the cool humidity. Now we're smelling downwind aromas of pulp and paper. Scud is a bit higher.
Dick called us from Aurora, Oregon about 15 minutes' drive south of Portland. They're in a motel near the Denny's just off the highway -- and Dick Strock gave them driving directions to reach them. He didn't say whether they planned to fly today, and Judy didn't ask. To stave off the only serious potential consequence of that kind of
The Planning Never Stops
On arrival at the SnoozeInn, Ruth gets busy checking out possible accommodations near Walla Walla, where we hope to get to, and talks to Wilma Cheney at the FBO in College...Martin Airport uncertainty, Judy located a source to top up her dwindling supply of critical pharmaceuticals within walking distance and she and Ruth and Janice had a pleasant walk to secure some other essentials (you know, like chocolate, tylenol and cash).
The maritime scud has been rising slowly and for the last two hours there's a been lifting ceilings here at Aurora airport in Oregon. The locals, who are familiar with terrain and conditions, regularly fly a 20-mile long, 2-mile wide stretch of the Columbia River Gorge to get from Troutdale -- about 15 miles northeast of us and set at the mouth of the gorge -- through to Walla Walla at around two thousand feet in conditions like those that prevail today, even if mountain tops are obscured. AS0S from an airport at The Dalles, halfway along the gorge, is reporting scattered at 10,000 feet -- a lot higher and drier than here. Here, conditions have improved to scattered at about 2900 and broken at 3200. It's a bit gusty.
Differences in personal minimums and risk-taking thresholds create an interesting dynamic. Dick Strock was plenty ready to roll at 1 pm, when Bob and Janice had just taxied past
Everyone Helps Plan
AirBear helps with the flight planning in the 172, the Cardinal was in runup, and Bill Hughes cranked the engine and got a big fat nothing.
"Welcome to the trip," smiled Janice as Judy got out of the plane again.
"I'm not letting you go up there with a weak battery that's already crapped out three times," Hawkins declared to Bill as Judy queried the FBO about whether they had another battery -- which they did. The quest to acquire, charge and install it is currently underway. Bill has come back with the news that the battery ought to be sufficiently charged in another 90 minutes, around 3:30 pm local to start...if not depart. That will take us back to the beginning...another discussion about weather.
Judy can see why everyone here continues to say brightly that they are learning a lot.
This From Judy...
After all the drama of getting the battery replaced and haggling over weather, we finally took off around 4 pm. I was still wondering whether I personally would have chosen to depart in that weather if it had been just me, but we gathered a lot of local intelligence on how people who live in this area
fly through the Columbia River Gorge even when mountain tops are obscured by clouds...and the local advice turned out to be sound.
I admit that I flew today as flight photographer and provided some piloting backup to Bill Hughes, Pilot in Command of N15624, the Cherokee. After seeing today's collection of photos and being able to share them before dinner with the other pilots, I was perfectly glad about that. It seems odd to enjoy the flight more by looking at pictures of it than perhaps I did at the time...but it all goes by SOOO fast in the air. With the photos I can savour the images time and again. Bill was relaxed and great to fly with; he and I both like the Cherokee.
We flew a couple hundred miles, amidst some light rainshowers and some virga, the ceiling were scattered to broken and while it wasn't perfectly smooth air, it was pleasant flying and the scenery was splendid. Not the Grand Canyon, but a whole different kind of unforgettable.
After hours of botched batteries, belated breakfasts and battling banter about weather and who wanted to fly in what, the couple hours' flying itself managed
Why We Plan...
So as not to end up like this...a whimsical display above a flight school at the Aurora Airport, perhaps to discourage the faint of heart to scrub out a lot of the tensions that the lead-up to the flight entailed.
NOW I could finally see why I took the time to do this.
NOW I could appreciate how lucky we are to be ABLE to do this, at any time, at any price.
My fellow pilots recounted more than a few conversations in airport lounges along the way as they chatted with career pilots driving skeds or hanging out waiting for charter passengers: each one of the pro's was green with envy. "You get to see a new airport and fly over new places EVERY DAY! We wake up in the morning and fly the same plane to the same places all the time."
Returning to the General Account
The gang kept in periodic contact by radio, letting each other know about conditions ahead, sights to see, relative positions, and when to expect our zippy groundspeeds of nearly 150 knots to slag back to 125. Visual features included several hydro-electric dams on the river, richly contrasting greens, reds and browns in the folds of the mountains lining the gorge, and, as things smoothed out, staggering jagged lines of white power-generating windmills
Another Honorary Dragon in Aurora
The FBO's leading ladies were EVER to helpful in meeting our needs for a battery, parts, and general good cheer! They might even have been sad to see us leave... undulating over rolling hills and vivid green irrigated crop circles laid out like giant polka dots below the wing.
We landed around 6 pm. The FBO at Martin Airport, outside Walla Walla, was Dick's choice because it had the best fuel prices. We couldn't have done better! Ruth had talked to one of the owners earlier in the day to check out how late we could arrive...and when we did, we not only got great gas prices, but FBO owners David and Wilma Cheney came and ferried us and our bags in their brand new van into town to the Comfort Inn. David had flown for American Airlines, and their son now flies for Southwest. They bought the place about ten years ago when it was very run down, and have created a cosy nest including knotty pine wood paneling, well-appointed pilots lounges and classroom space, and a flight school too. Their yellow labrador retriever would have followed us home if we'd let him...
Ruth had negotiated a special rate of $111 a night for two double-queen suites with a pullout. Six pilots, two rooms, great price. Judy, having learned from Geoff's stories the importance of getting good
Passing the Paper, Passing the Time, Passing the Weather
The comfy leather sofas in the Aurora Aviation FBO were our hangout as we mulled weather and waited for the battery to charge... restaurant recommendations, focused on that right away and found out that the newly-opened Elmer's Restaurant, mere steps from the motel, was a good bet, and so it proved to be.
This Comfort Inn is well-equipped with a pool and gym, as well as the hot tub Ruth and Judy enjoyed yesterday evening and the fine lounge well-stocked with local varieties of good wine that the group enjoyed before going to dinner. Judy showcased her day's take of photos in the bar as pre-prandial entertainment, and the group trooped off to dinner by around 8:30 pm, just catching a spectacular Walla Walla sunset before we went in. A merry and moderately-well-behaved crew enjoyed some Columbia River Merlots and Cabernets, and finished up by passing around and slivering off successive slices of something called a "Chocolate Eruption" -- homage to nearby Mount St Helen's, we eventually figured out.
Weather Thursday is supposed to be good...and, if we do get to Billings, Montana, we will have traversed some fairly rugged country. Take a look on Googlemaps at the stretch between WallaWalla Washington eastward via Missoula and Helena to Billings.
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Geoff Hornseth
non-member comment
great update
Judy- You write well enough to make it seem I am still with the group on the trip. The photos really nicely supplement the story. Great job. Geoff P.S.--Riding home on a commercial airliner is just plain B-O-R-I-N-G and a literal pain in the butt. What a drag.