A Day Trip to Portland

Ah, the Pacific Northwest. It’s one of my favorite places on earth.

For years, I’ve been selecting future summer home residences from the air! Someday, it would be great to escape the Phoenix heat each summer by running away from home to another less-sweltering home somewhere else. Portland has always been my runaway city of choice, simply because of all the wonderful things held by this beautiful part of the country.

 

Beaches are within an hour’s drive. Great mountain hiking and camping are found just outside of the city proper. The summer temperature is mild and doesn’t see triple digits. And everywhere you look is green green green. But it is also a bustling city complete with an airport…that is a requirement for a dream city of mine, after all.

I got to spend just a few hours in Portland this past Friday. Since Terry’s replacement is still in Beechjet Initial Type Training, I got to fly the day with a contract pilot. I met Tim at the airplane at 7:00 AM for our 8:00 AM departure. He was very nice, and I was relieved that he knew a little something about the Beechjet.

   

The five passengers arrived, and we had a nice 2.5-hour flight to the land of the Sasquatch. No, I haven’t personally seen him up there. But if I was a tall, hairy beast, Portland is certainly where I could prefer to call home.

I expected from rumors to be here all day. I pulled up their rental car and tried to get a word from Big Boss before they drove away into the sunrise. He surprised me by telling me what to expect! They would only be about four hours and then would come back to the airport for a flight home.

I spent those few hours ensuring the fuel was on the airplane and properly balanced. I got to “oversee” the servicing of our lavatory, which just means some poor line guy has to discard of some bodily fluids in a not-so-nice manner. Not a pretty job, and it’s only been used once before in all my five years with this company.

Yep. Five years next month. Isn’t that crazy?

I received a call from Big Boss (another shocker) to let me know they were half an hour out, and coming back with an extra passenger for the flight home. With six passengers and enough fuel to make the trip, we took off at full gross weight of 16,000 pounds. Even that full, My Baby lifts off and climbs like a little rocket.

 

Nope. Not biased in the least. I have yet to find an airplane I didn’t really like.

After a chilly flight home at 41,000 feet (who goes that high, honestly?!), we landed at Phoenix Sky Harbor twelve hours after we left. Due to some technical difficulties, I froze the entire flight home. It felt great to open to cabin door to 74-degree weather! It was minus-88 at altitude!

Even for just a day trip, it felt wonderful to get out and enjoy the sky. Best office ever.

Video Proof That He’s a Cute Kid

See? I’m not lying. He really IS adorable.

A Cutie Comes for Lunch

Any excuse to spend time with this little monkey, and I’m all over it. Evan came over for a few hours yesterday. We had such a nice afternoon together. Most of that time was spent looking at all the fans in our home. This boy loves him some fans! We also found time to eat lunch, show off muscles, and kick around a ball.

  

I have about a million Clementine's in my house. I am addicted to the miniature oranges and love that I can actually peel them myself! It’s always degrading to ask your husband to peel an orange for you…hence I simply don’t buy them. But when I discovered that Clementine's are easy enough for kids to peel, I figured I couldn’t lose by trying. I peeled a few for Evan and I to enjoy yesterday. After giving him a segment, I would eat one, too. I asked if I could have some of his, and he smiled and shook his head no. Then he would hold one up for me to eat. Just as I got close enough, he would laugh and pull it away and eat it himself. Who is this kid?!

Evan is getting really accurate at his kicking. We kicked the ball back and forth in the living room, and he is now good enough to get it to me every time! When we usually play ball, I discover that underneath my couches could use a good dusting! But he did better yesterday, and the ball stayed away from the unseen crevices in the house.

       

We may or may not have watched a few minutes of Sesame Street online. Evan loves Elmo and asks for him every time he sees my computer. I hate to give in, but he is so cute when he asks by saying, “La la la.” And Sesame Street never hurt anybody, right?

When he sees my radio, he starts dancing and pointing so I’ll turn some music on for him. Today’s selection was the Frankie Valli station from Pandora. I love the Oldies and find myself dancing to them all the time. It was much more fun today with an almost-two year-old. Evan just makes everything more fun!

I was sad to see Evan’s mama pull into the driveway again. Luckily, she stayed for a few minutes to help me design some new daily dockets for organization. Evan hadn’t eaten much for lunch, and I think that’s why he was a little grumpy. I get grumpy when I’m hungry, too! Eventually, it was time for them to load up and head home.

     

It’s such a blessing to live close enough to family that I can see them whenever I want. I love being able to babysit. And not just because I know they’ll return the favor someday.

But they will. Right? Are you guys there?

I’ll share a video of him tomorrow. What a cute kid! I love being his Aunt!