What a Way to Start a Week

I woke up on Monday morning at 4:00 AM and had a hunkering to go fly. Luckily, Big Boss was up for it! I headed to the airport to prepare the airplane. Four passengers arrived, and we were wheels-up shortly after 6:00 AM.

Our first stop of the day was San Diego. Just as we were landing, a huge fog bed rolled in! We landed just in time as the visibility dropped to less than a quarter-mile just after we touched down! We could see it moving across the runway as we got closer to the airport...such a weird (and apparently rare) phenomenom! After we taxied to Landmark Aviation and got our passengers on their way, Terry and I drove to a breakfast place for a quick bite. Because I don't think eggs and hash browns were the healthiest option I could have picked, I didn't take any pictures of what I ordered. But it was delicious. Don't you worry.

Not long after we arrived back at the FBO, we got a call that Big Boss wanted us to pick him up further north at John Wayne Orange County Airport. We lucked out and got to fly right over Disneyland! Oh, how I long to go to Disneyland. We got fuel and coffee for the airplane and then played the hurry-up-and-wait game while anticipating the arrival of our passengers. An hour later, we were on our way to the mountains outside Los Angeles to San Bernardino. We were just here a few weeks ago, so I didn't mind a return trip to the beautiful Million Air FBO. Our passengers were only gone about an hour, and we were soon hopping up to Whick's neighborhood to Modesto (hi, Whick!). The Sky Trek FBO here is outstanding...letting my passengers borrow a crew car instead of asking them to pay $80 for a rental used just two hours. 

After a short stay on the ground in Modesto, we continued a little further west to Napa, California. I've never been here before, but it isn't too far from Oakland. I could tell that from the dreary weather! It drizzled the entire stay. After getting fuel and not daring to get dinner (since they said they would be very quick), we stayed at the FBO and waited for their return. I was keeping my fingers crossed that this next flight would be our last, since we were already on City #6 and it was after 9:00 PM. No such luck. When Big Boss arrived, he announced that we were headed to Bakersfield...which we had flown over earlier in the day. Back-tracking 45 minutes isn't so bad unless you know it still isn't your last flight of the day!

While in Bakersfield, we made a mad dash for some dinner. It's an awful moment when the only thing open is a Taco Bell! We ate quickly then returned to the Atlantic Aviation at the airport to wait for our passengers to return. I called to arrange some hotels at our next destination...Seattle-Tacoma Airport. We flew 2.5 hours and landed around 1:30 AM. I had already been up for a while, and I don't know that being done for the day had ever felt so good. By the time we arrived at the hotel, a Fairfield Inn really close to the airport, it was after two o'clock. 

I worked 22.5 hours and flew to eight cities. The word "exhaustion" doesn't do it justice!

Phoenix - San Diego - John Wayne Orange County - San Bernardino - Modesto - Napa - Bakersfield - Seattle/Tacoma