Showing posts with label NYC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NYC. Show all posts

Monday, May 13, 2013

Bremerton…A Nice Finish to a Long Day

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Soon we were off again.

Wait, did I start too soon? I’ve already flown from Teterboro near New York City this morning. We landed in Denver for a quick fuel stop before continuing on our journey home. With not enough time to run home to see Hubby, I just stayed at the airport for our next flight an hour later.

We were headed to Bremerton for a long weekend, and I couldn’t wait to spend a few days in Seattle!

Wow, New York and Seattle in the same week. Can it possibly get any better than that?! They are definitely my favorite two cities to explore!

So…now we’re off again.

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We waited for this Citation to land on our runway before we were cleared for takeoff.

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What a gorgeous view just after we were airborne!

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Ah, Spring in the Valley of the Sun. Things are green and nice this time of year. I’m pretty sure that it was seventy-four degrees when we took off.

Perfection!

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Do you want to know what isn’t perfection? Nightmares about work…

I just woke up from a terrible dream this morning. I was back in my old job and had just found out that we were headed to Belgium. The real kicker was that I had been attending a day conference out of town and had no luggage with me. And all of a sudden I had to go to Belgium for three weeks. Instead of being thrilled to finally go to Europe, I was worrying about how expensive it would be to buy a toothbrush while there!

No warning. No clothes. No communication. I think this pretty much sums up how I always worried about that old job!

I don’t miss it one bit, in case you’re wondering!

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Anyway, back to the wonderful flight…

This was a late Thursday afternoon of the Easter weekend when we were trucking north towards the Seattle area. The skies were packed with airplanes, and we saw lots go over and under us on their flights.

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My window was facing away from the setting sun, so a little frost started to develop on the inside to my right.

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We were waaaaaaaay above the clouds down there, and thankfully, they were not convective.

I’ve been up since 3:00 AM local time, so I don’t really think that any more challenges during this flight would work out for me!

It’s going to be great to land in Bremerton in a few hours!

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Another blessing? Almost no headwind at all. Usually, flying northwest like we were, we have a nice little headwind around eighty knots keeping us from zooming along even faster.

Tonight? It was from 005 degrees at three knots. Can you believe it?! What a blessing!

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Another airplane flying over a pretty mountain as we got closer to Bremerton tonight.

Airplanes in a picture just make everything better. Don’t you agree?

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Well, OK…this picture is pretty, too. But it would be way better with an airplane in the shot.

I’m just sayin’…

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We descended just over Tacoma and came up to Bremerton almost from the south. Seattle Center does this to keep us away from their busy airspace. We are just across the Puget Sound from them!

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It was a pretty gorgeous flight…especially admiring the sunset for almost our entire evening!

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That’s Tacoma directly underneath us, and Seattle is in the distance by that pretty cloud.

Are you as excited as me to have two whole days off to explore Seattle?!

Man, I love my job.

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There were clouds all over as we began our final descent into Bremerton tonight. They were painted purple, orange, and pink with the setting sun working its magic.

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This is a terrible shot of the Bremerton airport as we flew on a forty-five degree angle to enter the traffic pattern.

There were a few other airplanes in the pattern tonight, so we had to play dodge ball to make sure that we could fit in for our landing.

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As we turned for our base leg of the approach, I could see the town of Bremerton just north of us. Those beautiful lights were welcoming me home!

I love this place. I’ve probably already told you that a thousand times.

But it’s still true.

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We landed and taxied to the ramp. We always get spoiled rotten at Avian Flight Center, and this evening was no different!

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We got our passengers and their luggage loaded up into the car and on their way. Then I got to enjoy the gorgeous evening at the airport while prepping Gladys for three nights on the ramp in Bremerton.

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Is she smiling?!

Yes, she is.

We all love coming here.

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Goodbye, pretty girl! I’ll see you in a few days! On Easter Sunday, to be exact!

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Once in the parking lot to borrow the crew car, I took a parting shot of the FBO hangar.

These trees always remind me of something straight out of a Dr. Seuss book. Don’t you think so?

They are all over in this part of the world.

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A surreal shot of forest blur as we made our seven-mile journey from the airport to town.

I can’t wait to get to that hotel room. It’s been a very long and fun day, but I’m definitely ready for some rest!

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We eventually made the final corner before coming into view of the Bremerton Harbor.

Ah, Bremerton. You have no idea how much I love you!

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I stayed at the lovely Fairfield Inn by Marriott. I had a goal to get a certain amount of nights at Marriott so I could use some points to get free rooms while at Disneyland.

It worked! We got four out of five nights paid for by Marriott points. So stinkin’ awesome!

Thank goodness that I’ve stayed in a hotel room almost constantly for the past three months, huh?

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I was grateful for the microwave, too. I still had some healthy food in my bag, in case it was needed.

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And this was the beautiful view that greeted me from my hotel window. Through these two apartment buildings, you can see the Puget Sound.

I am so happy to be here for this entire weekend! But, more importantly at the moment, I am so happy to fall asleep!

Prepare for lots of Seattle. I couldn’t help myself!

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Leaving Denver in the Dust for Home

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After a long but fruitful flight from Teterboro, it was time to grab some fuel at Denver Centennial’s Denver Jet Center, our favorite FBO.

The ramp was packed. But I would totally come here today, too, since it was a gorgeous sixty-two degrees.

Did they know that we were coming or what?!

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Our passengers were happy to stretch their legs after four hours of flying, and they headed upstairs in the FBO to The Perfect Landing Restaurant for a quick bite while Gladys got some love from the fuel truck.

I’ve eaten here a few times. It’s pricey delicious!

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From the top of the entrance door, I always get a nice view of the surrounding area. Gladys is so tall that I can see for miles and miles!

No exaggerations, of course.

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This King Air 350 rolled up to the ramp.

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And this pretty Citation Excel also arrived while we were waiting for the fueling to finish.

This place is busy! But look at those skies! It’s perfect flying weather!

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Soon, we were on our way home! This last flight of our New York City trip was only about an hour and a half. It’s the shortest that we’ve done in over a week!

We headed towards Runway 17L for departure today.

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And we were soon in the sky!

It looks like Denver could use a little Spring lovin’…what do you think?

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Over the mountains were clouds and some virga (rain that doesn’t reach the ground). We dodged a few bumpy clouds on our climb away from Centennial this afternoon.

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Because she is a rocket, we were on top of the clouds in no time. Now it’s smooth-sailing to our home airport!

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Snow-capped mountains peeked out from below.

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And then we entered the high desert of southern Colorado and northern Arizona.

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For mid-March, lots of these places had already started to get rid of that nasty white stuff.

Isn’t that meandering river pretty?

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And then some pops of bright orange and red as we flew over some rock formations during our descent into home today.

This always reminds me of southern Utah, where I spent a lot of time as a kid. We hiked and hiked and hiked, and then we hiked some more. In formations that looked just like these!

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As we got closer to home, we realized that it was going to be one of those hazy days where finding the airport is a little tricky.

Aren’t these mesas and plateaus so pretty?

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This is one of my favorite pictures from today…

Apparently, Spring likes us more than it likes Denver. Just look at those beautiful green fields!

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Somewhere down there, in all that haze, is our home airport.

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And when we got close enough, it finally came into view!

Luckily, we’ve been here a few times. So we know where to look, even if we can’t quite see the runway yet.

It feels good to be home, even if for just an hour!

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We passed this pretty hangar with a pretty Citation X in front. Look at those winglets!

Actually, this same airplane used to be based at Swift Aviation when I flew a Beechjet out of Sky Harbor Airport.

It looks like they have grown wise in their old age because they moved to this airport, too.

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I think that our wonderful line guys are ready for us. What do you think?

And it seems that we landed just after this Pilatus, since they didn’t even have time to move him out of the way before we came in to park.

That’s OK. Gladys can fit anywhere!

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We loaded up the car and got the passengers on their way. They’ll be right back with new slothes in their luggage.

Then we fueled Gladys and re-staged her from the starting spot on the ramp. In just an hour, we will be on our way again for three nights in Bremerton!

Yippeeeeee!

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I am sensing a Pilatus theme today. We didn’t get that memo.

But I wouldn’t trade Gladys for a Pilatus. Not ever. Huh uh.

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Just above the hangar at which we are based, you can see the antennas of the control tower. I always wave to them, though I doubt that they can see me through the necessary sun shades.

We love being based here at this airport. Everyone is so good to us! The controllers are fantastic.

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This little biplane is quite often doing touch-and-go landings when I am at the airport. He was busy in the traffic pattern today.

Can you imagine just flying every day like that? Just because you want to and can?

Fun!

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Now that Gladys is ready for our flight towards Seattle around 5:00 PM, I have enough time to run about a mile away to grab a healthy late lunch at Pei Wei. Perfect!

It’s been a long day, since we left NYC around 6:00 AM this morning. I’m hungry!

After a heavenly five days near New York City, I am incredibly excited to get two whole days off to explore Seattle, too!

Stick around. It’s going to be good!

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