Stevens Pass from 20,000 Feet

The flight from Detroit to Seattle's Seatac Airport was pleasant and uneventful. I checked in on-line the night before and discovered Northwest had me seated in a middle seat. I changed the seat selection to Seat 40A on the Northwest 757. That is the next to the last row and the window seat on the left side of the plane. Back in my days with DOJ, this area of the plane, which is separated from the main cabin by a bulkhead, was the smoking section. I recall Dave Monson used to like sitting back there to puff on cigarettes on the short flights back from Detroit to D.C. Those days are long gone, as are the days when I could leave home at 7:30 am for an 8:10 flight out of National Airport to Detroit and be seated well in time for my flight.

Back to the journey back to wine country. The women next to me, in 40B and 40C were excellent seatmates. I rarely enjoy talking a lot with strangers on airplanes and today was no different. Luckily, neither of my seatmates wanted to engage in any extensive conversation and we all slept off and on most of the way across the country.

The day was sunny and the Cascades were magnificent. I could see Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams to the south. It was not clear enough to pick up a view of Mt. Hood. No doubt Glacier Peak and Mt. Baker were in view from the right side of the plane.

This truly is a wonderful, beautiful state with a lot of variety in the landscape. The approach to Seattle took us past Wenatchee, and I could pick out Rt. 2 below and to the south. I watched for the Stevens Pass summit and sure enough was able to pick it out. It's easily identifiable from the air with the parking areas on either side of Rt. 2. We followed Rte. 2 and I was able to pick out Gold Bar (I think. Might have been Sultan). We tracked in to the North of Redmond, likely right over your house and then turned south once we were over Bothell or Lake Forest Park and flew over Seattle.

I was on the left side of the plane, so did not get a view of downtown Seattle, but the view of Lake Washington was wonderful. I even got a little nostalgic that I don't live in the area anymore.

Had a burrito at Qdoba at Seatac and caught my flight to Pasco. Shortly before I left, I watched an exchange between a woman, probably in her mid-70's, who reminded me of my mother, and the Horizon staff. Apparently the woman had been sitting there at the gate for 2 hrs waiting for a flight (to Missoula, I believe). She want up to check on the flight status and the woman at the desk told her they'd paged her 30 mins. before and she didn't respond. Apparently, her gate was changed (a frequent occurrence with Horizon - they did it to me) and the flight had left 10 minutes before. My heart went out to this woman, and I hope the airline made it right and got her on a flight to her destination.

Unfortunately, I found my battery was stone dead when I got there, so had to call AAA for a jump. Got home around 6:45 pm.

The weather in Walla Walla is snowy, cold and damp, about the same as in Michigan. I'm ready for a Mexican vacation.

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Placeholder 1/17/2008

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Off to Michigan

Up at 3:30 am to finish packing and the cold drive along a deserted US-12 to Pasco for the flight to Detroit, by way of Salt Lake City. My mother, who lives in SE Michigan, near Ann Arbor, has been feeling fatigued since at least spring. Her doctor was convinced her history as a long-time smoker (since the age of 14) required a diagnosis that involved pulmonary problems. He was wrong. She had an angiogram in mid-December, and significant occlusion of the coronary arteries was identified as the culprit. So, January 15 found me headed to Michigan to be there to help out and possibly for one last good-bye in case she did not make it through the surgery. After an uneventful flight from Salt Lake City on Delta, I arrived at Detroit Metro Airport at 2:30 EDT and was picked up by sister Martha and her husband Ike.

Day 14 - Townsend, MT - Sisters on the Fly!!!

We’re back in the heat. Last night in Miles City was hot and humid. Lightning signaled a major storm to the south, but nothing materialized in the way of rain except a light splattering overnight. Erika is doing much better now, having had a couple doses of Amoxicillin for the strep throat she developed in Jamestown, ND. On the road at 10:00 am, headed for Townsend, MT, north of Bozeman.

We left I-90 east of Livingstone, MT, and headed up US 89. Amazingly, the speed limit on many secondary roads in Montana is . . . 70 mph!!! That, of course, meant we cruised at 74, same as on the interstate. Wouldn’t want to do that at dusk or after dark, given the number of deer around these parts.

US-89 dead-ended at US-12 (which, if we stayed on headed west would take us within a mile of our house). A left turn took us into the Helena National Forest for 30 miles or so. Simply beautiful. We headed for the Townsend KOA, which turned out to be a mistake. Out in a field with immature cottonwoods (come back in 10 years) and plenty of sun. At 100 degrees, the heat was… well… just like being home, except we have air conditioning at home. The Palouse Caboose, however, is not air conditioned.

The real surprise when we pulled in however was, we landed smack dab in the middle of a gathering of Sisters on the Fly! There are about 16 of the sisters here, and of course I had to go meet them and check out their trailers. My favorite is Diane’s trailer, a 1950’s vintage Aloha. She has it decorated with a western/cowboy
/cowgirl motif, with boot stencils, a hide of some animal or other, and various western artifacts and older pictures. Diane’s trailer is a wonderful example of what can be done to restore a vintage trailer.

Another favorite was Julie’s trailer. It’s aluminum skinned 13 footer, built on an older trailer frame. What is amazing is she built it herself!!! Julie is an engineer, and designed the trailer along vintage trailer lines and then had a shop cut the aluminum to her specs. Diamond plate on the front (Diane’s Aljo had diamond plate as well). The floor is a wood laminate of maple and another darker wood. Beautiful. The roof is reinforced in case she later decides to add an air conditioner unit.

The sisters are having a salmon bake for dinner. They do seem to enjoy themselves (Maureen, are you listening?).

Day 13 - Miles City, MT - Placeholder