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?

I Think That He Likes Me

Happily, Hubby and I don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day. I mean, I don’t really need someone else to buy me chocolate, since I seem to have that arena covered. And we both think that spending only one day a year treating someone special is just silly. We’d rather spend every day, all year celebrating our love.

But I must admit…when I walked through the door at 8:00 PM on Valentine’s Day after being gone for work for a few days, I was pretty tickled to see my hunky Hubby slaving over a hot stove to make me a yummy dinner.

Yes, ladies. He cooks, too. And no, you can’t have him. He’s taken.

His gourmet selection for me this particular evening was prosciutto-wrapped spinach-and-cheese-stuffed chicken breasts. And dinner was just as incredible as it sounds.

This is quite the smell to arrive home enjoying.

We started out with salads, which he made with spring mix, tomatoes, feta cheese, Craisins, and olives. I topped mine with Greek feta dressing, and Hubby poured a little bit of ranch dressing over his.

Isn’t this thoughtful? Any dinner is better with salad as a starter!

And it was incredibly yummy. Healthy, too.

Way to go, Hubby.

After searing the chicken, Hubby added a lemon juice sauce to the pan and covered it with the lid. This will help the chicken finish cooking while locking in some moisture.

Did I teach this boy well or what?

We had some apple cranberry fizzy juice leftover from the holidays. Yes, we really are that awesome that we have food left over from Christmas.

Hubby cracked open the bottle to pour in our fancy goblets.

And, to commemorate the evening, a foam heart was formed on the glass. How cool is that?! It’s almost like everyone in this house is saying that I’m loved!

While I quickly unpacked my bag and threw a load of laundry in for my trip the next morning, Hubby started to dish up our romantic, homemade dinner.

It’s safe to say that he did pretty well. This was so delicious!

To accompany his fancy chicken, Hubby pulled these butter-roasted potatoes out of the oven. Did he get that memo about my love for spuds? These were simply heavenly.

And he made them up without using a recipe, so double-bonus.

Yep. That’s melted butter covering perfectly-seasoned oven potatoes. I am wiping a tear away even now as I think of them.

I know that I’m not supposed to have favorites, but these potatoes were pretty up there on my list of things to warm my heart for the evening.

In my honest opinion, this whole dishing-up phase really took too long. I was excited at this point to sit down with a yummy, made-by-Hubby meal with muh man.

Now we’re talking. We are sitting at the table, admiring his handiwork. We even remembered to remove the toothpicks before we ate, which were used to hold the chicken breasts in place while they cooked away.

It looks good enough to eat.

Hubby, you rock.

But now the fun really begins…getting this into our mouths! Hubby made the first cut, and then we oooed and aaaahed over the gooey cheese spilling out.

Can you believe that this entire meal is healthy? Well, other than the butter-drenched potatoes, perhaps. But we all need a little natural fat, too. I would consider the entire meal healthy.

Especially because it was made with so much love. What a great man I married.

My chicken was delicious, but Hubby decided to add a little more of the lemon sauce on top of his. He is a very saucy man. And by that, I mean that he loves sauces.

Sheesh. What did you think saucy meant?!

This man knows me so well. He got a piece of red velvet cake for us to enjoy tonight. He must know that I happen to love red velvet cake. Who doesn’t?

It was the perfect ending to an incredible meal…made just for me by my sweetie pie.

For a couple who doesn’t really celebrate the holiday, it was nice to have such a lovely dinner waiting for me after a long day at work.

He’s a keeper, fo sho.

Short but Sweet

Just a quick note today, I’m afraid. I didn’t get home from work until almost midnight last night, and we have some maintenance items to do early this morning on Gladys. And, while I love to blog ahead so short posts like these aren’t a possible solution, I had such a fun weekend “working” that I didn’t have a chance to get any additional posts ready!

More to come on that soon!

For now, I thought that I would share some treats that I took to our New Years Eve party with friends.

I made Chocolate Cupcakes with a Cream Cheese Buttercream to balance the sweetness. My frostings are never killer sweet…and they are better that way, too! Hubby then helped me sprinkle some mini Ghirardelli chocolate chips on top for a little crunch. I always try to be mindful of texture in addition to taste.

Needless to say, these were delicious! And slurped up by us all as we awaited the magical moment of welcoming in the new year.

I also quickly made these cupcake toppers. This is another part of designing that I would love to explore more, in addition to website design. And now that I have a Silhouette Cameo, I think that some pretty cool things could come out of this little ol’ brain of mine!

More than likely, I’m actually going to have to read the instructions for it before that actually happens. Boo.

This particular flag was my favorite, since the writing was accidentally upside-down. I’m working on overcoming some perfectionism, so leaving this be was a giant step for all Micah Kind!

A veggie tray was also on my list of goodies to bring for the festivities. My sister would be so proud. It was yummy. Around that time of year, I think that our bodies are all just craving something besides sugar and junk!

Alton Brown’s Spinach Artichoke Dip also came along, but I was too busy eating it to photograph it. It was a hit. You can’t go wrong with that recipe and a sliced crusty baguette!

It was such a fun party, and we actually made it all night. Well, at least until about 1:00 AM. I am pretty sure that the fireworks woke us up last year. That’s how awesome we usually are on New Years Eve.

I’ve got some fun travels to share soon! It feels great being back to work after such a nice, long holiday, that’s for dang sure!

Some Sweet Meals for Christmas

Christmas Day wouldn’t be complete without a delicious meal on which to gorge ourselves. Amazingly, neither of us ate too much! It was just Hubby and I for our yummy Christmas Dinner today. And it was so nice.

We had ham. It was in the slow cooker all day, which meant that it was oh-so juicy and practically perfect in every way.

We had cheesy potatoes, which I would have been fine with as the solitary dish of the day. I made a huge batch, and we munched on them for many a day after. In fact, the last meal of these potatoes was used to make breakfast burritos.

Breakfast burritos from made-from-scratch cheesy potatoes. I’ll just sit here to think about that for a few minutes…

Of course, we had to have something fun to drink to celebrate such a wonderful day. So Martinelli’s Sparkling Apple-Grape it was! And it was delicious. Cold grape juice is one of my favorite drinks in the whole wide world.

It was fizzy and grapey. Perfect!

And last but certainly not least for our Christmas Day feast (I could rap!) was bacon-wrapped asparagus. Somewhere along the line, Hubby told me that he actually liked asparagus. So I try to include it in as many fun meals for him as I can.

And the slightly-sweet brown sugar sauce that I made and poured on top made this really incredible. It was such a nice balance of salty and sweet!

Hey, we ate our vegetables today!

A few days later, we still had some ham left in the fridge. Is there any better sandwich than using a giant ham like that?!

Since the ham was still delicious, I decided to make a recipe from my new cookbook to use it up. Hubby gave me this America’s Test Kitchen cookbook for our anniversary a few months ago. I can honestly say that it’s the best cookbook that I’ve ever owned, and maybe the only one that I’ll ever need!

Their recipe for Split Pea Soup just happened to be on PBS when I sat down for a quick bite of lunch. So I watched. And for the first time in my life, I said to myself, “Man, that Split Pea Soup sure looks good.”

I checked my book, which has every single recipe from every single season of their twelve. Yup, it was in there! So make Split Pea Soup I shall.

For some reason, we were experiencing a split pea shortage in Mesa. I went to three stores before I finally found some. Maybe I should have taken that as a sign to not make a green soup. I’m glad that I moved forward with peas and made it anyway.

Of course, making a small batch of their homemade Butter Croutons to top our dinner only made things better.

We ate this thick, hearty, and healthy soup for a few days as well, since the batch was gigantic. But it was so incredibly good!

So that’s a wrap-up of our yummy Christmas (and post-Christmas meals). What was the best thing that you ate over the holidays?