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An attempt to bump Vlad off the front page :)

Darren S

Well Known Member
Hi all,

I do hope Vlad and all those who were affected by Super Storm Sandy are recovering and doing well. Living in Western Canada, all we get to see is the HLN news coverage and pictures. Best wishes to all.

This is a trip I did with my daughter in October. We had a beautiful VFR window on the way down to San Francisco and returning home. The trip took exactly 6 hours flying time going and the same coming.

On the way down we cleared customs in Spokane and topped off the tanks. Then a straight run to Klamath Falls for lunch and fuel. After that we made another straight run to San Francisco. On the advice of several VAF'ers, I landed at Hayward across the bay from San Fran. The BART train took us to our hotel. You'll see the fun we had:)

Returning home we took a slightly different route. Because of active MOA's etc... we left Hayward and made a 3 hour run to a place called Grant County Regional Airport in John Day, Oregon. A beautifully renovated FBO with a courtesy car too. From there we made our final leg of 2.9 hours to Springbank, Alberta to clear Canadian Customs.

My co-pilot slept most of the way, which I prefer. She isn't really a fan of the "70's on 7" on the XM radio:)

Hope you enjoy the video.

https://vimeo.com/52517963

Darren
 
That's a great video Darren, as are all of your earlier ones! You make some great memories with your family. Gives me some good ideas for when I finish up with Phase I.
 
Very nice video and traveling with your kids is the best! San Francisco is where I was born in 1965 and where we had our honeymoon in 1993. Haven't been there since but would love to return. Thanks.
 
Nice

Love it. Especially the "Don't sleep in my plane" signature..:D Keep 'em coming. You should take a trip to Colorado!
 
That is very cool. You have a beautiful daughter. My daughter is 32 years old with a daughter that is 11. Enjoy her while you can. Time sure goes by in a hurry.:)
 
Darren,
I ended up driving through the Jon Day area and past the Grant County Airport last month. Boy there isn't much out in that part of the world! Looks like a fun trip. Im with Mike - come to Colorado next time!
 
Second that

Darren,
I ended up driving through the Jon Day area and past the Grant County Airport last month. Boy there isn't much out in that part of the world! Looks like a fun trip. Im with Mike - come to Colorado next time!

Colorado is a must to visit Darren!
 
Thanks Darren for taking the time to make yet another awesome video. You have the knack man. And yes a beautiful daughter who obviously loves her daddy. Can't wait to see your next video.
 
What a great video!

Darren..great trip and great video. Please consider extending trip further south to San Diego next time. Great bunch of RV-ers here, lots of things to see and your daughter reminds me of mine (who are both now in grad school). Would love to host you and copilot any time.

Suresh
 
Hey Darren, saw your other videos on youtube before and this is another great one. Keep up the good work.:)
 
Thanks as always for the kind words guys and I hope I provided a little motivation for those still building:).

With 5 kids, I have a few co-pilots to choose from, not to mention the nephews/nieces who want to become "famous":) It's all fun.

Next year the cross country plans are for a Boeing (Seattle), Vans (Oregon) tour in May, Century of Flight across Cross Canada group Flight (from BC to Newfoundland) in July and the Reno Air Races in September. Now all I have to do is work a few extra hours to pay off the Mrs.:)

Darren
 
Great Video

Great Video...:):):)

Hi all,

I do hope Vlad and all those who were affected by Super Storm Sandy are recovering and doing well. Living in Western Canada, all we get to see is the HLN news coverage and pictures. Best wishes to all.

This is a trip I did with my daughter in October. We had a beautiful VFR window on the way down to San Francisco and returning home. The trip took exactly 6 hours flying time going and the same coming.

On the way down we cleared customs in Spokane and topped off the tanks. Then a straight run to Klamath Falls for lunch and fuel. After that we made another straight run to San Francisco. On the advice of several VAF'ers, I landed at Hayward across the bay from San Fran. The BART train took us to our hotel. You'll see the fun we had:)

Returning home we took a slightly different route. Because of active MOA's etc... we left Hayward and made a 3 hour run to a place called Grant County Regional Airport in John Day, Oregon. A beautifully renovated FBO with a courtesy car too. From there we made our final leg of 2.9 hours to Springbank, Alberta to clear Canadian Customs.

My co-pilot slept most of the way, which I prefer. She isn't really a fan of the "70's on 7" on the XM radio:)

Hope you enjoy the video.

https://vimeo.com/52517963

Darren
 
Great video! It was nice to see all those familiar sights.

FYI, that was a hectic weekend to be in SF. I heard estimates of up to 1M visitors that weekend in a densely populated city with 750,000 residents. There were various big events that somehow all coincided on the same day.

Jae
 
Footbal Fan

Hi Darren

Real nice video as usual.

I can see that you're a football's Fan and love the game ''specially the ''Blonde'' part of the game..;);)

Keep them coming..

Cheers

Bruno
 
AWESOME!!!

Darren,

That was an AWESOME trip with your daughter!!! What a great memory of photos to the album of life!!!


YOL BOLSON MY FRIEND!!!
 
Thanks for another great video. I have shared your trips with a lot of folks on the internet. Your airplane was tied down on the ramp in front of my hanger at the Hayward Airport, wish we could have met. Glad you enjoyed your stay in the Bay Area.
 
Videos

Darren, you have a nice family & well done videos. BTW I don't know how many kids you have (that I've seen in all the videos you have posted) but... You KNOW what causing that right? :eek: :D
 
Darren,

I'm a fan of yours, too. I've shared your videos with my wife and it always touches her heart, too. Keep 'em coming, my friend. We love it! :)
 
Nice trip, nice video, perfect song for it. I'm sitting in my living room, about 2 blocks from Otis Redding's boyhood home....
 
Thanks as always for the positive feedback:) I hope to make many more videos of my RV adventures. It's just so much dang fun flying the thing......you all know what I mean......or you will soon:)

We got lucky a few times on this trip. First was the weather. There were no problems going down at all. Clear skies, light tailwinds etc.....The trickiest part of the trip comes 20 minutes after takeoff. To get to Spokane I have to cross the Rocky Mountains to the West of Calgary. As you can see from the opening pictures, it was beautiful and smooth. If the mountains get obscured then I have to go through the valleys, which isn't a big deal, just takes longer.

In San Fran the weather was awesome too. The tour guides kept saying how unusual it was to be able to see the Golden Gate Bridge so clearly. Usually it's shrouded in fog, but not the 3 days we were there.

The Fleet Week excitement was pure fluke. I didn't know anything about it. It wasn't until the guy from Hayward Executive mentioned it. He was driving us to the BART train stop and asked if we flew in for the airshow. Airshow?? what Airshow? He said that it was Fleet Week and all the Armed Services would be represented down by the bay area and the airshow would go on each day. Wooohooo !!

We had front row seats too as we were on Alcatraz when it was going on. The jet jockeys would knife edge right around the island. Too cool.

Seeing the Armed Services down by the bay was cool too. The Military pride in America is always something that's pleasing to see. Here in Canada it isn't as pronounced. Not that we aren't proud of our men and women in the Services, it's just not as out there:) Love to see it. I first noticed it when I went to University in Wisconsin.

We also got lucky with the airport we chose. We had no idea President Obama was going to be campaigning in San Fran that weekend. There is a No Fly Zone around him then the TFR starts. When I was planning the trip I thought about landing in Oakland. Good thing I didn't as that was in the No Fly Zone. When we were scheduled to leave the TFR was still active and Hayward was just outside the No Fly Zone. The briefer said to make sure and not turn over the water after takeoff or I'd get to fly formation with an F-18.

I've never been to an NFL game before but I picked a good one:) Touchdowns were coming left right and center. Unreal !! unless you are a Buffalo fan.

As for the cute Blonde cheerleader.........hey I'm married not buried:) Last I checked it was still ok to look at the menu:)

All in all an excellent weekend.

Darren
 
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