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RV-10 Bucket List Trip July/August 2015

dmaib

Well Known Member
Mary (aka Rosie the Riveter) and I have wanted to take this trip since retiring back in 2008. However, various family and life issues have intervened until this year. We thought July and August would be a great time to leave the Florida summertime steam bath and head for drier climes. We departed New Smyrna Beach early on the morning of July 12.
Touched down again in New Smyrna Beach on August 5th, 5554 nautical miles and 39.8 flight hours later. Our plan was to be away for a month, but we were forced to cut the trip a week short when we got word that Mary's mother had fallen and broken her hip. We planned to visit friends and family, and visit places we had never been on this trip.

The first day was from FL to Bentonville, AR to spend a couple of days with my brother and his wife. We made a fuel stop at Key Aviation in Meridian, MS on the way. Key Aviation is a great FBO with very good self-serve fuel prices. Then on to Bentonville KVBT where Summit Aviation greeted us with great service and even stuck our airplane in a hangar for two nights just so the airplane would not be out in the heat. Great folks.

Enroute to Bentonville
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Beaver Lake in Arkansas with my brother, Bob.
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High water everywhere in NW Arkansas
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Next stop was Sundance Airpark in Oklahoma City, to visit with one of our oldest and best friends. He hired me for my first corporate pilot job back in 1975. We spent two days with him and his wife and had a great time. Very good FBO at Sundance with a first rate line service. Could not help but notice that the crew cars were Range Rovers! We visited the Federal Building Bombing monument and museum. This is a somber, but amazing place to visit.

OKC Bombing Monument
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Preparing to depart Sundance airpark
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Next stop would be a quick fuel stop in Cheyenne, WY enroute to Bozeman, MT where we would spend the night before continuing to our first west coast destination of Seattle.
 
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RV-10 Bucket List Trip (cont)

Fast fuel stop in Cheyenne, and then on to Bozeman, MT for an overnight rest stop. Arlin's Aircraft Service in Bozeman did a fine job and we were fueled, tied down, 02 refilled, and enroute to the hotel in quick order. Mexican food for dinner and then to bed for an early departure the next morning.

First close view of the Rockies outside of Cheyenne.
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Parked in front of this beautiful F-86 in Bozeman. Turns out the airplane had just completed it's maiden flight after a multi-year rebuild. Gorgeous!! If I ever win the lottery..................
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On the ramp at Arlin's Aircraft in Bozeman.
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On towards Seattle early the next morning. Absolutely stunning flight!

Mt. Rainier and mountain lake with Mt. Baker (?) in the background as we approach Seattle.
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RV-10 Bucket List Trip (cont)

We stayed in Seattle for five nights visiting friends and family in Seattle and in Sequim, WA. Beautiful time of year in Seattle. It actually reached 97 degrees for two days while we were there! Landmark Aviation at Boeing Field (KBFI) is my favorite FBO in Seattle. I used to fly in there when I was flying for a paycheck and it was Galvin Aviation. Some of the same staff are still there, and it is a very friendly place.

Hiram Chittendon locks on Lake Union in Seattle
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Jazz concert on the lawn at the park that is at the locks
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Departed Seattle after five days for the short jump to Hillsboro Airport at Portland, OR. We stayed with one of Mary's college pals and had a fun time. Toured Portland and visited some winery's. A fellow Vietnam vet that I met on a veterans tour of Vietnam back in January, lives just south of Portland and has a small vinyard. We visited he and his wife, sipped a bit of wonderful Oregon Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, and enjoyed beautiful weather.
Mary and her college pal, Debbie
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Mary, Debbie, Me, Jim's wife, and Jim Fischer near Rickreall, OR.
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Next stop was Arcata/Eureka, CA (KACV) to see Redwoods National Park and do some general sightseeing in the area. This airport is definitely the most GA unfriendly airport I have been to in quite a while. You definitely get the feeling that GA traffic is merely tolerated here.

Arcata/Eureka arrival
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Redwoods National Park
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RV-10 Bucket List Trip (cont)

More sightseeing along the coast north of Arcata
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We left Arcata/Eureka after a couple of days and headed for Truckee, CA up at Lake Tahoe. Beautiful flight up to KTRK with views of reservoirs that are drying up and smoke from some of the wildfires burning on the western slope of the Sierra's a couple of weeks ago.

Inbound to KTRK with low reservoir and smoke from the fires.
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We stayed at The Loch Leven Lodge on Donner Lake in Truckee. I discovered this place a few years ago while on a company trip. Very unique little lodge that was built in 1952. It sits on the shore of Donner Lake. The owners have taken pains to keep it as original as possible while providing modern amenities. Each unit has a kitchenette and a deck overlooking the lake and the main deck of the lodge has a couple of hot tubs and a swimming dock. The water was far to cold for us to venture in! I highly recommend this place if you ever find yourself in Truckee.

Mary on the deck of our room
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Mary and I with Donner Lake in the background
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Donner Pass with Donner Lake below us.
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We spent two nights in Truckee and then made an early morning departure (DA gets up there pretty quickly even though the lows were 35 degrees). Next stop was Paso Robles, CA where we visited with some old and very dear friends. Heidi and Hap have a beautiful home on 20 acres overlooking the valley. We spent the first afternoon checking out a couple of local wineries.

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The next day they took us over to Ragged Point on the coast where we got to see some elephant seals doing their thing on the beach. These are BIG animals. Males get up to 5000 pounds!
This is a video of a couple of males sparring with each other to impress their girlfriends.
View My Video

Elephant seals napping on the beach.
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Hap does a lot of woodwork and has a very nice man cave down the hill from the main house. In it, he has a 20 foot shuffleboard game that his kids rescued from a bar that was being torn down. The electric scoreboard even works! Plus, the kids gave him a real old time Jukebox from the bar and he has it loaded with 50's and 60's records. We had a blast both nights sipping wine, listening to the music, and playing some cutthroat shuffleboard. Hap is so good we made him use his left hand.

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RV-10 Bucket List Trip (cont)

Leaving Paso Robles after a couple of wonderful days with our good friends, we flew a short hop down the coast to Lompoc to visit a favorite cousin of mine I had not seen for more than 15 years. More winery visits with Leslie and her hubby, Benny added to the load of wine we were adding to the airplane at every stop in Oregon and California. I'd removed one of the back seats of the airplane before leaving home because I suspected we might be collecting as we went along. Turned out to be a very good idea! We really enjoyed Leslie and Benny and wished we had allocated a bit more time in Lompoc.

Benny, cousin Leslie, and me doing a bit of wine tasting.
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We left Lompoc the next morning for the trip to Sedona, AZ. Neither of us had been there before, so we were really looking forward to spending three days there. One of the very few times we had to dodge a few buildups on the entire trip. The ADS-B nexrad coupled with good controllers made it a non-event. Never even got the airplane wet.

I've heard all the stories and read all the PIREPS about landing at Sedona. I looks a bit daunting as you approach, I must admit. The wind was blowing out of the southwest at about 25 knots, so we were forced to use runway 21. This means a pretty tight traffic pattern and the warnings about downdrafts off the end of the runway with strong south winds were accurate. You are also landing with a down-slope on that runway. It does look a bit like an aircraft carrier sitting up on that mesa! Mary said something like "Holy C***!!" when we turned final. Guess I hadn't briefed her about the approach and it was pretty bumpy:eek:.

Inbound to Sedona (KSEZ)
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Airport just in front of the wingtip
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We toured Sedona the rest of the day on Friday. Saturday we drove to Oak Creek Canyon. Being a weekend, the traffic and crowds were pretty bad. Still, it is an amazing place!
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Sunday was our day to visit the Grand Canyon. I've flown over it countless times over the years, but had never seen it from the ground. We drove up to Williams, AZ Sunday morning to catch the train. The train trip is about 2 1/2 hours and is pleasant, but there is really not much to see until you get to the Canyon. The rail depot is in the National Park on the south rim. We took dozens of photos, but I will not bore you with all of them. Here are just a few of them.
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RV-10 Bucket List Trip (cont)

We left Sedona bright and early Monday morning (DA concerns, again!) and flew up to Monument Valley, UT. I want to give bruceh a shout out here for mentioning this stop a couple of months ago. I probably would not have added it to our itinerary had I not read his trip report. We only spent one night there, but it was a real highlight of our trip. We flew in to the "Gouldings Lodge Airstrip". It is right up against the bluffs and is one way in and the other way out. The lodge is across the highway and is a reasonable short walk if you are not carrying much luggage. We found out later that the lodge will come get you in the van, if the driver is available. We weren't carrying much luggage and the temps were pleasant, so the walk was fine. We had lunch in the lodge restaurant and then got on the 1:30 tour. The tour takes about 2 1/2 hours and is definitely worth it. Our Navajo guide was great and gave us lots of history about the area. The tour actually crosses the border back in to AZ, where most of Monument Valley is located. It is all on the 16 million acre Navajo reservation. Lots of western movies and some memorable commercials have been filmed here. The scenery is just stunning. Their is a small museum that is the house of the couple (Gouldings) that opened the first trading post on the site. The museum has one room that is dedicated to photos and artifacts from many of the movies that were shot there. A small cabin is labeled "John Wayne's Cabin" and was part of the set used for "The Yellow Rose of Texas".
Again, we took tons of photos and here are a few of them.
As bruceh mentioned, no adult beverages sold here, so bring your own if you like to have a little happy hour before dinner in the Lodge restaurant.

Putting the airplane to bed with the lodge on the hillside in the background
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Putting the airplane to bed with Monument Valley off in the distance.
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Monument Valley
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Couldn't resist
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Sunrise over Monument Valley from the balcony of our room at the Lodge.
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RV-10 Bucket List Trip (cont)

Unfortunately, Monument Valley marked an unplanned end to our trip. We were getting ready to leave for Santa Fe, NM when we got word that Mary's elderly mother had fallen and broken her hip back in Florida. We were planning three days in Santa Fe and then three days in Ft. Collins, CO to celebrate Mary's birthday with friends.

So, I changed flight plans and took Mary to Albuquerque so she could catch a commercial flight home. I have to give a special shout out to Cutter Aviation at KABQ. We showed up unannounced and the ladies at the customer service desk immediately went to work on their computers and the phone to get Mary tickets on Southwest to Orlando. In about 20 minutes, Mary had tickets and boarding passes in hand, and they were putting her in the van for a ride to the terminal. She was pretty worried and upset, and those folks really took care of her. Meanwhile I was having the airplane fueled and the windshield cleaned so I could begin the long solo trek home. Cutter is another FBO that I used to use frequently during my corporate pilot days, and they are among the best anywhere.

Leaving Monument Valley
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Shiprock. A few miles SE of Monument Valley
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I filled the mains and tips and headed out for Lufkin, TX. That was a pretty long slog, but a little bit of tailwind, XM radio, and a vending machine sandwich got me through it. I refueled in Lufkin and then headed for Mobile, AL to spend the night. Another good FBO experience in Mobile at the Downtown Airport. I called Signature from Lufkin and told them I was inbound to spend the night. When I got there they had a hotel reservation for me and Ryan and the line crew helped me put the airplane to bed, fueled it, and took me to the hotel. Great service!

Slept in a bit and left for home at about 1030 the next morning. Once again, ADS-B nexrad and really great controllers got me around some fairly significant weather in the FL panhandle. Special hats off to the conrollers at Cairns Approach Control. (any of you ex Army pilots out there will recognize that name! Mother Rucker!) Haven't talked to those guys for about 45 years or so.:)

So, the flight came to an end a week earlier than planned, but left both of us with a desire to do it again. The airplane never missed a beat, the weather was great for 99% of the trip, and seeing this great country this way is a special privilege. I never saw less than 2 ADS-B stations and probably averaged 5 to 10 most of the time. I thought I would miss my WSI weather more than I did. The ADS-B is working great!
 
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David,
Nice write up, but sorry to hear about your mother in law.
Next time, stop near SFO and visit 'the most beautiful city in the world' (okay, maybe just in the US!).
I think Arcata is okay, although I did have an unpleasant experience there. We arrived minutes before the rental car place was due to close, and I ran out the gate quickly to get the car. But I forgot to look at the combination to get back in. Even though the various employees there must have seen me exit, they refused to let me back in. They said to go up to the tower and show them my license. Well, that was back in the airplane! I just walked along the fence until I found a hangar open at both ends, and walked thru. So much for security!
Bob
 
Monumental Memories

Thanks David for good flying memories. I plan to zoom over those woods on the weekend :D


 
Great trip report Dave, quite a magic carpet ride. It was great to see the old F-86 with the Colorado Minute Men Aerial Demonstration Team paint scheme. They initially started out in 1947 with P-51s, flew a few other planes and got the F-86s in 1958. The Pentagon finally shut em down because their popularity was starting to rival the active duty Thunderbirds. http://aerobaticteams.net/minute-men.html

The F-16C with the Minute Men paint job that we did in 2006 can be seen here:



CMSGT Dave Allen
Colorado ANG (RET)
 
What a great trip Dave. I have a couple more bucket trips on the list that I'd like to make in the future. Glad you are enjoying the RV-10!!!
 
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