With great optimism, I always take with me the tools I need to blog on the road. However, during a week with Big Boss where even sleep is a luxury, blogging doesn't always happen. When I get to my hotel room at 1:00 AM and have to be awake in just five hours, the last thing on my mind is firing up the tiny work laptop to update with a post. Sorry, but my sanity must come first in some situations.
Sooooooo, today I shall catch you up on some of what happened last week at work!
It was a doozy, that's for dang sure.
We left Monday evening for Oakland, California. Though this is one of my favorite stops in the Beechjet, I knew there would be no time to explore town during this visit. We followed a gorgeous sunset all the way to Oakland, where we landed around 9:30 PM. El Capitan and I borrowed a crew car for a quick bite at Applebee's, and I managed to eat dinner for less than 400 calories while getting a few servings of vegetables in me! It felt good to crawl into bed, but I knew it was short-lived since Big Boss wanted to be gone by nine the next morning. That meant waking up around 6:30 to be at the airplane in time to prepare everything for the next flight...to wine country!
Santa Rosa was next, and it was gorgeous. If it wasn't in California, I would put it on my list of places to live! I finagled the crew car for my passengers so they wouldn't have to rent something for just a few hours. Then I walked around some wonderful, old airplanes on the ramp and took pictures. They actually do Albatross restoration at this airport, and the one on the ramp was immaculate! Sitting next to it was a B-26 from WWII, but it wasn't in as pristine condition and apparently hadn't flown in years. They were both fun to see.
Next came a trip to Redding. We've been here before, but this time we had a chance to walk next door to the airline terminal and get a bite to eat. Apparently, people fly in from all over to eat at Peter Shu's Mandarin Chinese Restaurant. After eating some broccoli with beef, I totally understand why! We finished lunch just in time to head on to our next airport...McKinleyville near Eureka.
The runway was right on the coast. I'm glad we have good brakes and thrust reversers! Since there wasn't an FBO at this tiny airport, we walked a few minutes to wait in the passenger terminal. Places like this never disappoint in people-watching potential. Soon, our passengers were back and ready for our next hop north to Medford, Oregon.
This was my first visit to Medford, which is where my college roommate grew up. We were only here for an hour, so I didn't have time to call her up. By the time we got fuel, coffee, ice, and newspapers, we were on our way to the last stop of the day...Portland, Oregon.
Day One was our busiest of the week. Seven cities in one day. Three of these stops were to new airports for me (Santa Rosa, McKinleyville, and Medford).
Phoenix - Oakland - Santa Rosa - Redding - Mckinleyville/Eureka - Medford - Portland
Oh. my. goodness. Just saw the word "Santa Rosa" on your blog and I hope. hope, hope you took pictures of it. That's where I grew up, ya know! My dad had his very own hangar at that airport and we even stationed a go-cart there that made for some fun while dad prepped the plane. Love, love, love that place. There ya go... now you've made me homesick! ;-)
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