Our room had great views of the surrounding red rocks, but not good enough for the sunrise photographer. The original plan was to wake up in time to catch the 5:20am sunrise. I was actually up and ready to take pictures from the patio of our room by 5:15, but it was already pretty bright outside. The sun hadn’t quite broken over the rock formations, but the sky was bright blue. Phil was extremely captivated by the sunlight’s effect on the terrain and the airport provided a beautiful, unobstructed view. We left for the airport around 6:00 a.m. … the time is a little fuzzy since I was sleep walking. Nancy wasn’t awake enough to disagree when I suggested we go out to the airport for better views of the breaking sun. Continue reading Western US Loop: Part 5→
We did some exploring around last night. This morning we got an early start and went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. If you’ve never been, you should put this on the list of places you need to visit. There are many huge tanks with all kinds of marine life, from tiny jellyfish to gigantic sharks. Continue reading Western US Loop: Part 4→
We did some initial weather checking last night and made a general plan to head further south in California. We picked Monterey as our next stop on this flying honeymoon.
The Plan
Our host from the B&B, Don, was kind enough to give us a ride from Eureka to Kneeland for our noon departure. We had a great time at the Samoa Airport B&B, and plan to visit again. Don even stuck around to make sure we got the plane started OK, and had no problems taking off. Continue reading Western US Loop: Part 3→
For the loop around the Western US, our only pre-planned stop is Eureka, CA (O33) and we have reservations at the Samoa Airport Bed & Breakfast, which is a WW II training base that’s been beautifully converted. After Eureka, we’re going to play things by ear and pick destinations based on the weather and the stack of Pilot Getaways magazines we’ve packed along. Pilot Getaways is how we found out about the fly-in Bed & Breakfast at Eureka. Continue reading Western US Loop: Part 2→
Since we’re both pilots, a week-long flying trip seemed like the perfect idea for our honeymoon. Go ahead and take a look, there’s nothing mushy.
Our non-pilot families voiced a concern with our trip and this journal allowed them to check on us and know that we were safe and having fun. That was a much better option than calling Mom from each stop. This trip journal was really the start of our practice of capturing our flying adventures in this form.
Our first stop was Eureka, CA , and this was the only stop we pre-planned. We knew we wanted to spend about a week flying around and exploring. Our mood and the weather would dictate where we actually went. While staying in Eureka, we took time to explore the nearby Redwood Forests.