Heading Back to the Pacific Northwest

It’s time to hit the road again, after getting home last night from my latest trip. This will be Days Three, Four, and Five on the road of a sixteen-day working stretch! How fun!

I packed my bags and said goodbye to the house. This was just last Friday afternoon of the long holiday weekend. We would return Sunday night, just in time for my eleven-day trip to begin early Monday morning!

Isn’t this fun? I can hardly stand how much fun this all is.

I was in the cabin folding blankets and seatbelts when I noticed that the passengers have a pretty cool view, too. Here I am way in the back two seats looking towards the cockpit. El Capitan is up there, prepping the avionics for our flight to Bremerton today.

Yes, Bremerton! It’s been over five months since we’ve been to Bremerton!

But I had Hubby with me last time…and that was a pretty fun weekend, too. We even went to Seattle together. What a treat!

Because we had six people and one dog in the back for this quick weekend up to Bremerton, Hubby didn’t get to come on this trip. He probably didn’t mind at all, either.

This Navy jet landed while we were getting Gladys ready for our 2.4-hour flight today.

The only downside that I can think of is that it won’t be a relief from the awful Phoenix weather by escaping to Bremerton this weekend. Last summer, I couldn’t get enough of the place! It meant avoiding 120-degree temperatures at home, and enjoying perfect 60s and 70s in the Seattle area instead.

You’ve probably already figured out that I really love that part of the country.

While taxiing to Runway 21 for takeoff, we saw this guy doing an aggressive base-to-final for landing.

And then we were off! Can you see the airport down there? We are already climbing through 6,000 feet and talking to Phoenix Departure.

I think that we have the best controllers in the nation.

But…actually, all controllers are pretty stinking awesome. That would be a tough job!

I took a last picture of some not-covered-in-white-stuff landscapes as we left the Valley of the Sun and made our way to the great north.

Ha! But we didn’t have to wait long to see some snow on the ground. This is the skiing resort mountain near Flagstaff called Snowbowl.

It’s prettier (and warmer) from the air.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you’ll look out the window to your right…

Our next landmark was the beautiful Grand Canyon. It’s pretty from up here, too, but it isn’t too shabby from down on the ground, either!

And this shot, taken from outer space, shows even more of that white stuff down below.

Honestly, what’s the appeal?

(As I type this from freezing Philadelphia…I am reminded at how much I love when I can feel my fingers. Man, I hate being cold).

We had a little headwind today…we were heading 313 degrees, and the wind was coming from 349 degrees at thirty-nine knots.

Please don’t ask me to do that math. That’s why we have arrows on the MFD in the cockpit.

Hopefully this will give some reference as to where Bremerton is located in relation to Seattle. It is just west of Seattle…only a short hour-long ferry ride! The blue star represents the airport where we land, and the Bremerton proper is just seven miles north of that.

Can you see that little water inlet there? That’s the Bremerton Harbor, where we will spend the weekend in the hotel near the water. It’s so pretty!

Man, I love this place. I have missed it indeed.

Of course, we have some pretty mountains to pass as we get closer to the Seattle airspace. After we passed the BERYL intersection and were clear of the military airspace near Nevada, we were given a direct route to Bremerton.

But, as we got closer to the busy Seattle airspace they gave us new routing. Nothing too bad: just direct Olympia VOR, then direct to Bremerton.

That keeps us to the south and out of the way of traffic entering and departing busy airports near Seattle.

I was on the side opposite the sun for our flight today, and being at Flight Level 400 means that some ice is bound to form on my side window. But you can still see a pretty winglet out there.

Hi, pretty winglet!

Man, that view just makes me shiver.

Or want ice cream. I’m not sure which.

Flying towards the Olympia VOR cuts us across the south side of the city of Tacoma. I’ve already told you that I could happily live here in the summers.

And look! They even have an airport! This could be fate speaking…

This is the bridge to Tacoma Narrows. Can you see Seattle way in the distance? What a pretty part of of the world.

How cool! You can see the tiny Tacoma Narrows Airport from this view! I almost went there in a Beechjet once. But, luckily, the boss finally agreed that going into such a tiny place would be foolish.

It’s always a bad idea to be foolish in an airplane.

Because of such a gorgeous day, the traffic pattern at Bremerton was packed. And I mean packed! I didn’t have time to take any pictures because I was so busy trying not to run over little airplanes practicing landings.

One nice little Cessna guy got off the runway just in time for us to touch down. How nice of him! It feels great being fifty knots faster than everyone on final, too…

We buttoned up the airplane and prepped her for two nights on the ramp. We had the passenger’s car battery replaced earlier in the week so that they would have reliable transportation for their short stay!

My heart strings almost ache when I see this building. We were here so much last summer that it became a second home to me! It feels like I’ve come home by returning to Bremerton this evening. What a treat.

Hi, Avian Flight Center! We’ve missed you, too.

Like they always do, the FBO folks took wonderful care of us. They even let us use a crew car for the weekend so we wouldn’t have to rent one! Isn’t that nice?

It’s nice. Trust me.

The perfect ending shot of a perfect flight to Bremerton. It’s going to be an awesome few days here.

Doesn’t it feel great to be back?