December 2002

December is the holiday season and as such, we kept ourselves busy preparing for our visit with family back East and enjoying the season. We visited Susan's family in Virginia and my family in Ohio.

December 6

On August 5, I started my four month rotation on the CPR team at work. Today was the last day. Woo-hoo! The experience of working through problems with customers was good, but I'm pretty sure it's not something I want to do on a full time basis.

December 10

The CPR team manager gave me a CAP award for my tour of duty on the CPR team. That's nice.

December 13

When I was a kid I loved getting mail. One of my favorite items to get was a new cassette from Columbia House (unless I didn't order one and had to either cough up the money or return it). Now that I'm older, I don't like getting mail as much because more often than not, it's just a bill. Recently, I thought it would be fun to relive a little of the childhood excitement by signing up for the Columbia House DVD club. I placed an order for four DVD's through a friend (so he'd get two freebies; and give me one of them). My DVD's arrived today. Only four more to go.

December 15

To get in the Christmas spirit, Susan likes to attend some type of formal celebration. This year, we went to her church's Christmas Celebration. The performance included singers, dancers, and musicians doing their thing.

December 18

Once again, the time has come to pack our bags and fly home. In the past, we scheduled the first flight of the day. As a result, we had to roll out of bed at 4:00AM to ensure we'd make it to the airport in time for our flight. This year, we decided to catch a later flight. The alarm went off at 6:00AM, signaling the beginning of a long day of travel. We loaded the Honda and drove to Seattle Sea-Tac Airport Parking. We found a nice spot, transferred our bags to the shuttle van, and were whisked to the airport.

We checked in at the American Airlines e-ticket counter and passed through security. What a change they've made here over the past twelve months. Last year, we stood in a line that weaved back and forth in a rat maze, then stretched down a long hallway and half way back to the three or four X-ray machines. This year, there was no long line and there are now sixteen scanning machines!

We found our gate and were informed that the flight was delayed one hour due to weather in the Chicago area. We found a nice spot with a view of the runway activity and waited for our flight to start boarding. The delay soon extended to an hour and a half. Eventually, we boarded the MD-80 around 11:45AM and were on our way. The final thirty minutes of the flight were the most interesting due to the turbulence generated from the thunderstorms in the area. On the ground, the taxiways and aprons were covered in standing water and the wind was driving the rain nearly horizontal. Sure makes you appreciate covered gates.

Once inside, we hurried to our next gate, only to find that our flight was not listed on the board behind the desk. We asked the attendant and she informed us of the gate change to G14. We stopped and had a Chicago-style pizza to kill some time and hunger pains; American Airlines gave us a small sack lunch four hours earlier and it had long since wore off.

After our little snack, we started walking towards G14. As we proceeded down the corridor, the numbers incrementally increased until we realized that we were now adjacent to G16. We stopped and looked at each other questioningly, wondering how we walked past G14 without noticing it. We turned around and walked back the way we had just came and soon found G12. What? Where is G14? We walked around to the back of the desk, yet G14 was nowhere to be found. Susan asked to attendant and she pointed to a stairway across the hall. Sure enough there was a small sign indicating that G14 was down the stairs.

Once again the flight was delayed due to weather. Susan called her friend Gina, who lives in a Chicago suburb. They chatted it up for awhile and I searched for a pair of seats. I sat across from a couple from Seattle who had arrived on an earlier flight than ours, but were still waiting for a flight to Cleveland. Apparently their plane had a mechanical problem. At 8:00PM, they were still waiting when our flight started to board.

We arrived in Richmond around 11:30PM. Susan's parents were waiting for us beyond the security checkpoint. We walked down to the baggage area and waited for the belt to start feeding out luggage. A few minutes went by then the buzzer sounded and the machine sprang to life. Susan thought she saw our suit bag, but a man on the other side of the belt picked it up and walked away. Then three of our bags came down the belt. Eventually, the bags stopped coming and the area was deserted. We were nearly alone with three of our four bags. We found an AA baggage claim agent and described our bag. She collected contact information from us and told us that our bag would be delivered if it showed up. We somberly thought about what was in that bag and how we would replace everything.

December 19

American Airlines called and told us that our bags had arrived - hallelujah. And even better, they would deliver them later today. Alisa in the hospital after car accident.

December 21

Saturday was set aside specifically to be with our nephews, Gabriel and Caleb. Our initial plan was to go to the Science Museum of Richmond and see the Titanic exhibit, but the day dawned bright and beautiful. We decided to save the indoor tasks for a rainy day and instead decided to go to Colonial Williamsburg instead. Colonial Williamsburg is a well preserved fragment of the 19'th century surrounded by modern life. It is the perfect place to get submersed in history, and get some fresh air and sunshine at the same time.

We picked up the boys around 10:30AM and started our adventure. We soon discovered that neither nephew had enough film, and that one of the cameras had a dead battery. A pit stop was in order, so we swung into the nearest Walgreen and bought film, batteries, and some cold drinks for later. Back on the road by 11:00, it was smooth sailing east on I-64 to Williamsburg, Virginia.

We arrived at the visitor's center and parked the car. To be sure we could find the car later, I took a picture of Caleb pointing out our location on a map of the facilities. As we gathered our drinks and backpacks, Caleb noticed that I had a thick book in my backpack and asked me if I was carrying around a Bible. The "Bible" was in fact a book about software security techniques that I brought along to review while on vacation. Caleb couldn't resist the urge to tease me about it the rest of the day.

Inside, we debated the need to buy tickets and decided there was plenty of free things to see. Across the bridge we went and were transported back to the 19th century. We pulled out our map and agreed on a plan. First we'd go to the right, then find something to eat, then head back down Main Street to the other end, then back to the starting point.

Along the way, we stopped for pictures - most of the one's of Caleb were of him doing one silly thing or another. At the courthouse, Susan and Gabe walked in and took a seat. I was left outside with Caleb wondering where they ran off to. We peaked in the window and saw them taking in a presentation. Later, I informed them that they needed tickets for that location - oops!

The boys soon grew tired and sore from all the walking, so we decided to head back to Richmond. The plan was to meet the Pearces downtown to see the lights. We were hungry, so we grabbed some food in Yorktown, then headed west on I-64.

Once in Richmond, we explored the reindeer display and looked at the giant ginger bread house.

December 22

Sunday didn't start off as planned, missed Susan, Fuddruckers, met Gina & Ed at TGIFriday's for lunch.

December 23

With one day remaining before picking up our rental car from Alamo, we decided one last time to see if Enterprise had a Jeep Liberty available. Previously, we had tried the Internet and we tried calling -- both to no avail -- so we thought we might have better luck trying the old-fashioned method; stopping by in person. We pulled in their driveway and were pleased to see a Liberty on the lot. We went inside and Douglas told us that the Liberty was currently available and it had no reservations on it for the next week. We pulled out the plastic and placed a reservation on the spot.

With reservation papers in hand, we pulled out our Alamo reservation information and gladly cancelled our Alamo rental. After several failed attempts, we were very pleased to know that we were going to be driving the vehicle that we had been trying to rent for weeks.

Later that evening, we met Susan's friend, Kathleen, and her adopted daughter, Daphne, for dinner.

December 24

Soon after picking up our Jeep Liberty, I noticed that the interior temperature was still pretty cold. I fiddled with the knobs, but could not make any heat come out of the vents. I waved down Susan and turned around. Back at the rental office, they took a look, but couldn't get the heater to work, either. We knew we would freeze driving to Ohio, so we canceled our rental and rented an Infiniti instead.

As usual, Christmas Eve was held at the Haksch house.

December 25

On Christmas day Susan and I woke up early with great anticipation -- not to see if Santa Claus left us goodies, but to begin our journey to Ohio. Christmas at Patti's.

December 26

Shopping with Mom, in search of picture framer, bought DVD's for us, Mom, Ray, Herb, ate at A&W.

December 27

Went shopping for infusers, deep-fried turkey dinner, bought computer with Patti.

December 28

Pittsburgh picture framer with Mom, Station Square.

December 29

Breakfast with Patti & Kelli at Bob Evans, Church with Susan & Mom, computer speakers with Kelli, visit the Francy's.

December 30

Return to Virginia, late start, visited Carolyn and John (and Brandy) in Morgantown, West Virginia.

December 31

Returned rental car.

November 2002

November brought the first GA experience to my niece, a new piece to my home entertainment puzzle, a memorable Thanksgiving flight, and more home projects completed.

November 2

Ever since my niece, Kendra, could talk and understand that I fly airplanes, she's wanted me to take her for a flight. For years, I was too nervous about her reaction to the sight of the earth dropping away below the wheels on takeoff. I kept telling her that she would have to wait until she was older. This year, Kendra turned eight years old. I talked to Tom about taking her flying, on the condition that he go along - as a security blanket - and that both he and Lanna agreed that she was ready.

Susan and I flew down to Chehalis and met Tom and the kids at the airport. We asked Kendra if she wanted to go flying and she said yes. Lanna wasn't sure at first, but she came around after some discussion with Tom. We put Kendra in the back seat by herself, but close to Tom so he could keep a watchful eye on her to evaluate her state of mind. We gave her headphones so we could talk to her and point out sights for her to see. After the normal preflight procedures, we took off to the north towards Olympia.

As we climbed, I asked Kendra how she was doing and she said she was fine. As we flew, we pointed out landmarks that she knew, as well as pointing out farm animals and other tiny objects. Nearing Olympia, I asked the tower for permission to do a touch-and-go and continue to the north. The tower said yes, so I descended, landed, then took off again to the north. We flew past the state capitol building and on to the Puget Sound.

Eventually, we turned around and headed back to Chehalis. On the way, I circled over Kendra's house, but she couldn't recognize it among all the other houses in the neighborhood. I turned back towards the airport and prepared for landing.

Once on the ground, Susan and Kerissa met us at the airplane and we took victory pictures with Kendra. Later, we presented a certificate to Kendra, congratulating her for completing her first flight in a General Aviation airplane.

November 3

Hiked to the Carbon River Glacier

November 16

Ever since that evening in September, when I first witnessed high-definition TV up close and in person, I've been thinking about buying an HDTV. My old 20" RCA was still in fine shape after 11 years of faithful service, but I was ready for something a little bit bigger. There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted the Sony model that I saw earlier; the only question was when to buy it.

I finally built up the nerve to go ahead and spend the money (sometimes, it's hard to separate the two of us). Susan and I drove to Video Only and wandered back to the HDTV section, past all the miniature kitchen models and the round screen models. There it was, gloriously displaying high-definition scenes from HDNet. We found a salesman who eagerly agreed to sell us that model, but unfortunately, he was out of stock today. He said he could have one delivered the following week. That was fine with us.

Since the Sony is so wide (16x9 ratio, rather than the standard 4x3 ratio), there was no way it would work in our current entertainment cabinet. Even if it would physically fit, it weighs several hundred pounds and would destroy our existing cabinet. Sony makes a custom stand for the TV, but it isn't included in the price, of course. We decided to get the Sony stand and we found a nice gray entertainment center for our stereo components in the next aisle.

To expedite the delivery process we took the entertainment center and TV stand home and assembled them in preparation for the arrival of the star attraction. In the mean time, we set the (quite puny looking) RCA on the new stand in the living room.

November 17

Drove to Washington Pass to see the snow.

November 18

To help fill the huge hole in my checking account created by the purchase of the Sony HDTV, I placed a sell order on 200 shares of Cisco stock at $15.

November 21

The sell order on 200 shares of Cisco stocks went through.

November 22

The big day has finally arrived and I anxiously await the arrival of the Video Only delivery truck. The truck arrives and two large guys wrestle the TV out of its Styrofoam and cardboard cage and into the living room, where the matching stand awaits. The TV slides into the slots on the stand and is strapped down in the back for safety. You really wouldn't want that monster dropping on your toe!

November 24

Cleaned gutters, drove to Snoqualmie Pass for lunch.

November 25

While browsing the internet, I stumbled across Classmates.com. Just for fun, I started entering data for some old friends I knew back in Ohio when I was still in college. Surprisingly, I found the step-sister one of my college girlfriends. I hadn't seen her (the step-sister; or the girlfriend, for that matter) for over 12 years and we had somehow lost touch with all of my moves since then. I couldn't resist the urge to sign up and drop her a line.

November 28

One of the reasons for getting my pilot's license was to avoid automobile traffic on holiday weekends. Thanksgiving weekend has some of the worst traffic I've ever seen. One year, it took us six hours to go 100 miles. Every year I think, "Wouldn't it be great if we could fly down to Chehalis?" This year, we made that dream come true.

After collecting the weather reports, the flight was iffy at best. The sky was clear in Seattle, but a low fog was covering the majority of the flight route. The reports called for clear skies south of Chehalis with clearing throughout the day. We decided to go to the airport and make our decision from there. Heading south on I-5, we could see some fog off to the west, over Elliott Bay. Going around a bend in the highway, we could see Boeing Field and it looked clear. We decided to make the flight.

In the plane and climbing to the west, we could see the huge expanse of fog to the south, but well below our altitude. The rules for flight require that I stay 500 feet below, 2,000 feet horizontally, and 1,000 feet above the clouds and maintain at least 3 miles visibility. That was no problem; I could clearly see the mountains in all directions and I was 3,000 feet above the fog. Even so, I was starting to get nervous. I told Susan that we'd turn back if the fog layer didn't break by Olympia. I flew on in silence, debating with myself whether to continue or turn back.

As we approached Olympia, we could see a line of clearing ahead of us, so we continued our trek south. From the GPS, I knew I was crossing Centralia and that the airport was 5 miles in front of me, but I couldn't see it yet. Looking straight down, I could see the ground, but there was just enough fog remaining to obscure my vision at that angle. A few minutes passed and I could see the big number "33" on the end of the runway. I entered the pattern and descended to the runway. Phew, we made it safely and avoided the highway traffic.

After dinner with the family, we were dropped off at the airport for the return journey. The weather had improved, as predicted, and the flight home went smoothly. The fog was still blanketing the Puget Sound, but we were up high in the clear dusk sky. As we landed and taxied back to our parking spot, the sky erupted in one of the prettiest sunsets I've ever seen.

November 29

Continuing the shed project, we filled in dirt behind the new wall and cut down two trees small trees.

November 30

Our back yard has several small and ugly trees that like to reach out and poke me in the eye when I mow the grass. Well, I'd had enough of that, so I decided to cut a few more trees down and plant grass. Meanwhile, we started moving boxes to the shed. For my birthday, Susan bought me a bug deflector for the Honda. I finally got around to installing it. Checking the mail, I found my check for the Cisco shares that sold.

October 2002

October marked a milestone in my life - the shed is finally complete... mostly, but it wasn't all hard work; we had a great mountain photography adventure this month, too.

October 5

Every now and then while we're out gallivanting, we like to stop at a furniture store and dream about replacing are old, hand-me-down furniture. Things we look at include a dining room table and matching hutch, sofa, love seat, and recliner. We stopped at the Oak Barn and found ourselves staring longingly at a beautiful oak dining room set for about $1000. It was just so nice! Even so, we decided to pass this time.

October 6

Painted the shed, started painting the trim.

October 12

Some days you just know that you need to grab the camera and run as fast as possible to the mountains. This was one of those days. The weather was incredible - warm temperatures and crystal clear skies with unlimited visibility - a perfect fall day. One of my most sought after mountain shots is of Mt. Shuksan reflected in the calm waters of Picture Lake, near the Mt. Baker ski resort in the North Cascades. I've seen this shot gracing several Northwest calendars, and it was even on the cover of the old Rand McNally road atlas that Susan bought me back in 1991.

Susan packed a lunch while I collected my photography gear and off we went. Once in the park, we took a small detour to investigate a waterfall that was a short ways off the main road. It was quite nice, but I couldn't get any great pictures of it because it was fenced off. I don't even remember what it is called.

Back on the road, we continued all the way to Mt. Baker ski area and circled Picture Lake. Mother Nature was calling - loudly - so we took care of that business first. While waiting for Susan, I found a trail that lead down a hill, across a creek, and into a small meadow with a pond. The fall colors were erupting all around me and reflecting off the water. Susan emerged from the building and wandered about, wondering where I went. She finally saw me and I hurried back to meet her.

The next order of business was lunch. We drove back around to the other side of the loop and parked. From the rear of the Honda, under the carpet, we pulled out our little portable table and set it up at the edge of the parking lot. We pulled out our collapsing chairs and cooler and had ourselves a nice little picnic.

We stowed our table and chairs and began the photo mission. Heather Meadows surrounds Picture Lake and has a nice, paved trail. Since it was such a nice day, lots of people had the same idea and we could see people walking all around the lake. Susan took the Canon and I carried the old Minolta mounted to the tripod. Around the lake we went, stopping every so often to snap off a picture or two. I ended up shooting two rolls of film and at least 50 digital pictures by the time we made it around the lake.

With the primary mission accomplished, we loaded up and headed for Bellingham. We stopped at a nice Italian restaurant for dinner. We felt a bit under-dressed, since we were in our hiking clothes, but there were few other customers, so we let the feeling go. After dinner, we drove to the waterfront and watched the sun set along scenic Chuckanuck Drive.

October 13

Finished painting the trim on the shed, added gutters, downspouts, drainage ditch.

October 19

It's time for another Honda tune-up; 37,500 miles already. Afterwards, I drove to Kirkland to look for a nice pair of sunglasses. I recently read a review about Scheyden sunglasses in AOPA Pilot magazine and I wanted to see them first hand. The only retailer in town is Kirkland Vision. When I stopped, they said that they didn't carry that brand. Disappointed, I browsed their showcase to see if I could find something similar. In the corner, I saw a nice pair of gray-framed glasses and asked to see them. Wouldn't you know it - they were Scheydens! I asked if I could try them on and the saleswoman handed me two pairs to take outside and check out. First I tried the amber-lensed pair. Although the sky was overcast, these glasses made it seem bright and sunny. Then I tried the neutral gray pair. These were very nice, without the bright glow of the amber pair. I chose the amber pair with the thought that they would be better for flying.

October 21

After only two days with the amber Scheyden sunglasses, I returned them to trade for the gray lenses. The amber was just too bright and I don't like glasses that change the color of the world. I prefer to see it the way it was intended.

October 24

The Four Square church in Everett occasionally hosts live performances of Christian music. Susan heard that Sara Groves was going to perform, so she bought us tickets. Never before have I sat so close to a performing musician with a record contract! And talk about a fabulous voice. Wow.

October 27

A few weeks earlier, there was a book sale in our building at work. I bought Susan (and myself) a Crock Pot cookbook as an early Christmas present. My first venture into the book was the pot roast recipe. The recipe was very easy to follow - just chop up some carrots and potatoes, throw in a large chunk of meat, and turn on the Crock Pot. How easy is that? The next morning, the house had a wonderful aroma and we enjoyed the pot roast for several days.

October 28

In an attempt to remove the Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) from our house loan, I contacted our mortgage lender to see what needed to be done. For those who've never bought a house before, PMI is required for all loans that are greater than 80% of the home value. For example, if you were to buy a house for $100,000 (not in Seattle, that's for sure) and you borrow more than $80,000, you must pay PMI fees monthly as part of your house payment. Let's assume you only have $10,000 down payment so you borrow $90,000. After several years, you pay down the loan and now owe $81,000 on the loan. PMI is still required because you still are borrowing more than 80% of the house value. During this time, the house increased in value and is now worth $125,000. Redoing the calculation, 80% of $125,000 is $100,000, and you are financing $81,000, which is less than 80% of the value of the house, so PMI can be dropped.

To see how much our house increased in value, an appraiser was hired by my mortgage company to evaluate our house. He came up with a nice number that, when combined with our current loan amount, would indicate that we were financing about 76% of our updated house value, so PMI could be dropped. Unfortunately, there was the small print that I had overlooked. The small print said that if you refinance within the first five years, the loan percentage cutoff drops to 75%. We were off by a percentage point from being able to drop the darn PMI. Argh!

September 2002

September saw two more area flights with friends, two concerts, more progress on the shed, and some new toys - thanks to a bonus from Cisco.

September 7

For some late summer fun, Todd and I planned a kayaking trip to Roche Harbor, in the San Juan Islands. We decided to rent a Cessna 172 and fly to the island with our wives in the morning, rent two kayaks, paddle for a couple hours, eat lunch, and fly home. Everything started according to plan. I arrived at the airport early to prepare the flight plan and ensure the fuel load was low enough to compensate for the weight of four adults. Todd & Danielle arrived and we were on our way.

When we arrived over Roche Harbor, I descended and approached the narrow uneven runway. Roche Harbor has a paved runway, but it is short and narrow. As I approached, I realized that I was too high, so I decided to give up on Roche Harbor and fly to nearby Friday Harbor instead.

On the ground and ready to eat, we walked into Friday Harbor and ordered lunch. While waiting to eat, we investigated the local kayak rental scene. We found a place about a mile out of town and decided to walk there after lunch. The walk was pleasant, as it passed one nice house and garden after another. Life on an island seems so incredibly peaceful.

We finally arrived and quickly signed the required paperwork. We found life preservers that fit OK and headed for the beach. Todd & Danielle picked a nice blue kayak and Susan & I went with yellow. The owner advised us where to go and we were on our way. We paddled out into the bay and circled around a small island inhabited by hundreds of sea birds. Then we crossed back towards the main island and cruised along the shoreline of some very nice houses. Along the way we found a cave carved into the bank and we couldn't resist the urge to paddle into it. Our two hour rental was quickly nearing an end so we paddled back to the rental shop.

After walking a mile and paddling for two hours, we were not in the mood for another mile walk back to the airport. Lucky for us, the owner offered to drive us back into town. She dropped us off and we headed for the ice cream shop for a nice treat. As we ate our ice cream the tourist began lining up to catch the ferry back to Anacortes. We finished off our dessert and walked back to the airport for the short flight back to Seattle.

September 10

For our 8'th anniversary, Susan and I went out to dinner at Emory's Lakefront Restaurant on Silver Lake in Everett. Afterwards, we decided to go window shopping at Video Only. The store was lined with TV's of all shapes and sizes -- and price ranges. We decided to start on the row with the tiny kitchen appliance models and work our way up to the huge, wall-mounted, jaw-dropping plasma screens. As we passed the 20" models, which is what we currently own, we were surprised at how small they look compared with all the other TV's nearby. We turned the corner and entered the HDTV (high definition television) row. One look at these flat screened beauties and all of the old curved tube TV's with their low resolution screens looked obsolete.

We continued on until we reached one that was showing the Kentucky Derby in high definition. Susan and I were mesmerized by the quality of the picture. It felt like we were actually in the grandstand, watching the horses being led to the starting gate. I could almost smell the grass and feel the breeze. After 10 minutes, we broke out of our trances and continued past the big screen TV's to the gorgeous plasma models on the wall. Plasma TV's are only four inches thick and are very light, compared to TV's with picture tubes. They can easily be hung on a wall, or even on the ceiling. We were quickly turned off by the price tag, which was in the $10,000 range! If you haven't been to a store that sells the latest TV's, stay away or else be prepared to be impressed. You may end up buying something you can't really afford!

September 13

One 'bonus' of working for a strong networking company, which Cisco Systems is, is having the opportunity to receive bonuses if the company is profitable and meets its customer satisfaction numbers. Luckily for me, that happened and my check was direct deposited into my account. Like it often does, the impatient money found a way to heat up my pocket. With an anniversary present for Susan in mind, Susan and I stopped at Best Buy and started shopping. Susan likes to enter notes and dates into her Compaq iPaq computer, but writing everything by hand and waiting for the recognition is time consuming. I decided to get her a collapsible keyboard to attach to the iPaq.

With the primary mission accomplished, we went our separate ways. My wonderings lead me past the computers to the color printers. I've wanted a photo quality printer for years, but the industry hadn't produced anything that I liked -- or was willing to pay for. Even so, I was hopeful that I might find something nice and affordable. To my delight, I found the Canon line of printers and was impressed with their quality. My overall favorite was the Canon S900. I decided that I couldn't live without it, so I put it in the buggy. A printer is useless without paper and ink cartridges, so I stocked up on those items as well.

Meanwhile, Susan was exploring the telephone aisle and found a nice Panasonic phone/answering machine on sale. Our phone had been misbehaving, so we decided to go ahead and get this one. With our buggy full, we headed for the checkout line and were on our way.

September 14

One of my all-time favorite rock bands -- RUSH -- was in town to promote their new Vapor Trails album and we had tickets. The concert was at the Gorge Amphitheater in George, Washington - about 150 miles east of Seattle. Even though the distance is long, many people from Seattle make the journey because the amphitheater is situated in such a stunning location, on the edge of the gorge overlooking the Columbia River.

On the way we stopped and bought two dozen assorted Krispy Kreme doughnuts to munch on after the concert and share with our friends in Moses Lake. We also took a brief side trip through Ellensburg to check out the airport and Central Washington University. They have a flight program and I was curious to see how the campus looked. We then continued on, past George, to Moses Lake to find a hotel to spend the night.

Susan suggested we stop at the Best Western, since she had stayed there during a seminar in the past. We were given the key to our lake front room, where we dropped off our luggage and headed back to George to meet Todd & Danielle. We met outside the amphitheater and drove in together. We parked, had a doughnut, and headed for the entrance. As I walked over the knoll, I caught my first glimpse of the stage below, backed by the vast open desert gorge with the mighty Columbia River - small from this distance - flowing peacefully in the distance.

The concert started as the sun set behind the Cascade Mountains. The show was excellent and made up for several below-my-expectactions shows from the recent past. The band came on stage and played for two hours while three commercial laundry drying machines with glass doors tumbled clothes behind them. At some point, we hoped for an explanation of the dryers, but it never came. After the encore, each band member reached into a dryer and pulled out T-shirts and threw them into the crowd.

After the show, we returned to our cars and ate Krispy Kreme doughnuts. After about an hour, the majority of the crowd had left. We got in the Honda and headed back to Moses Lake, while Todd & Danielle left for Ellensburg.

September 15

Since we were already in eastern Washington, we made plans to visit the Weeda family. Susan arranged for us to meet at the Presbyterian church in Moses Lake. After church, we went to Perkins for brunch. Then we followed them back to their house in Ephrata for a little socializing. Eric showed me his amazing landscaping project and we got to meet the newest member of their family; a very cute little mongrel puppy (I can't remember his name). Have I mentioned lately that I want a puppy, too?

September 21

Dana Carvey, an old favorite of mine from Saturday Night Live, came to Seattle to do a show at the Paramount Theater. He had been out of the spotlight for several years due to a heart problem, but was back on tour with a new movie playing at the theaters. We bought tickets and had high expectations for an amazing show. Unfortunately, his show was mostly rehashed material from his HBO special several years back. He seemed uncomfortable on stage and even his hilarious old stuff wasn't quite as funny this time around. I wouldn't recommend this tour to anyone.

September 22

With winter approaching quickly, the shed painting project looms larger in my view. Making progress, the back of the shed now has two coats of paint.

September 25

Part of the fun of being a pilot is taking other aviation enthusiasts for short scenic flights. Suman, the co-worker I went with to see the Blue Angels with in August, was interested in going for a flight. I scheduled a plane for after work and we met at the Boeing Field. I flew him up to Paine Field to see the Boeing 747/777 factory and to do a practice landing, then we flew along the Snohomish River valley, where we saw two hot air balloon preparing to land in a small field below us.

My normal payment request for taking someone flying is for that person to pick up the bill for lunch or dinner. Suman and I decided to go to the new Cheesecake Factory at the Bellevue mall. I called Susan to see if she could meet us for dinner. We all met in the parking garage and had a nice dinner. If you haven't been to the Cheesecake Factory yet, you probably won't believe me when I say there at least 50 varieties of cheesecake on the dessert menu! Choosing one was the hardest decision I had to make in a long time.

September 26

Met Tom & Lanna at South Hill mall in Puyallup.

September 27

Due to all of my hard work resolving problems on the Unity system in New York City, I was presented another CAP award.

September 28

Back in August, Tom and I picked up some landscaping blocks to build a wall around the shed. Now was the time to build the wall. Tom & the kids came up and we started building the wall. The construction went well, with the first row being the most difficult. Once that row was level and straight, the other rows fell quickly into place. In fact, the other rows went up so quickly that we soon discovered that we were out of blocks. So, we drove down to The Home Depot and bought 60 more blocks. Back at the shed, we continued the wall down the south side and around the corner to the east side. We could have kept going, but I knew that I'd need to tear it apart later to put the downspout drains through.

September 29

With the exterior of the shed in great shape, it was time to spend some energy and money on the inside. To maximize the space, I decided to go with an adjustable shelf system. Each stud has a metal rail with slots for shelf hangars attached. In the rails I've inserted metal shelf brackets. The brackets hold white metal shelves. The shelves run the length of both sides of the shed, with the back wall still unshelved for future installation of a work bench and peg board.

August 2002

August started with fast jets and a scenic trip in a small airplane. As it progressed, it saw visits from relatives from both sides of the family. On the work side, it marked the beginning of my journey with the CPR team.

August 2

The first weekend of August is my favorite weekend for Sea-Fair in Seattle. That is the weekend that the US Navy Blue Angels demonstration team performs over Lake Washington. They usually arrive in midweek and practice Thursday and Friday for the weekend show. This year my friend, Suman, and I took a long lunch and drove to Boeing Field to watch the Blue Angels take off and land.

The Museum of Flight is the epicenter of all Blue Angels non-flight activity. This is where the planes are parked when they are not performing, so it is the best spot to witness the pre- and post-show performance of the pilots and the crew. We drove past the museum and the large crowd that had already assembled. At the south end of the airport, we pulled into a potential viewing area, but were not satisfied with the view. We jumped back into the Honda and drove north past the museum to a small parking lot a quarter mile further up the highway. We gathered our cameras and binoculars and quickly walked back to the museum. We squeezed our way as close to the fence as possible and Suman started snapping shots at a blazingly fast pace. The pilots marched out along the tarmac and each saluted his crew chief and boarded his plane. On a signal from the leader, each pilot started his engines.

The preflight continued until all planes and pilots were ready to go. One by one, each pilot taxied his plane past the admiring crowd to the end of the runway. The first four planes arranged themselves in the classic diamond formation. As one, they all increased throttle, turned on the smoke, and started rolling down the runway. Shortly after the formation took off, the soloists (planes 5 and 6) taxied into position and departed.

As the show progressed, the team occasionally flew directly over us as they rejoined for the next maneuver. Since Suman was busy taking snapshots, I decided to shoot videos with my camera. In one shot, the diamond formation flew directly overhead with the soloist chasing from behind. As I tracked them they flew through the sun, making an excellent picture. The sound of the screaming jets going by thrills me to the bone. Unfortunately, the videos are much too large, so I did not upload them. You'll just have to come visit me if you want to see them ;)

After 45 minutes of flying the team returned to Boeing Field in formation. One by one the planes peeled out of their formation and turned 180° to the left to enter a downwind pattern to land. If you think this sounds interesting, go catch a Blue Angels performance in person. It is certainly worth it. If you're like me, you will be filled with pride as you watch how gracefully F-18 fighter jets can be controlled by the skilled hands of United States Navy and Marine pilots.

August 3

After several years of longing, I finally planned and scheduled a trip to McMinnville, Oregon, to see the Spruce Goose museum - formally known as The Evergreen Aviation Museum. For this trip, I scheduled the Cessna 182 that I was recently qualified to fly (see July 19, 2002). Todd & Danielle were touring the Tillamook, Oregon area and we planned to meet at the Tillamook airport and fly to McMinnville together. Before we left for the airport, I downloaded the latest weather reports for the route and was disappointed to see that the coastal mountains of Oregon were in the clouds and the coastline was under a thick layer of fog. The forecast called for improving conditions, so we decided to check one more time before taking off.

At the airport, I finished preparing for the flight. The weather was no better on the Oregon coast, so we called Todd and told him that we'd see how it looked from the air and call him again from McMinnville. We left Boeing Field and climbed to the southwest along a flight path that crossed Olympia, Chehalis, and Longview, Washington, then Hillsboro, Oregon before reaching McMinnville. The 182 climbed like a rocket - compared to the 172 I normally fly - into the clear morning air. Around Olympia puffy cumulous clouds began to build and congregate in a scattered fashion along our flight path, so we continued to climb to 8,500 feet - as high as I've ever been in a small airplane. As we passed Hillsboro it was apparent that flying to Tillamook was out of the question. The coastal mountains reach up to 3,500 feet and the clouds were less than 1,000 feet higher. I tend to avoid situations that require me to flirt with mountaintops.

As I neared McMinnville, I started to descend to the pattern altitude of 1,200 feet. The problem with descending is that your range of sight is diminished. Having never been to McMinnville - by land or air - it was difficult to find the airport. The GPS said that it was 3 miles in front of us, but we couldn't see it. I turned the plane to enter the traffic pattern at 45° angle to where I believed the runway to be when I finally saw the numbers. I flew the pattern, landed, and taxied to an open parking spot near an old hangar.

I shut down the plane and climbed out into the cool morning air. As usual I was wound up and hyper from the exhilaration of flying. We locked the doors and tied the plane down, then walked to the Fixed Base Operation (FBO). On the way we called Todd and let him know that we were not flying to Tillamook today. The FBO was a cute little building - more like a resort cottage than an FBO. Inside we met the owner and asked about getting the 182 topped off with fuel and transportation to the museum. She sent her lineman out to the plane and called the museum to rouse the courtesy van driver. Within minutes our ride arrived and we were on our way.

Riding along toward the main entrance, the museum continued to grow in stature. It is a large building, no doubt, but it just kept getting bigger and bigger as we approached. The entire front of the building is glass, but the reflected sky and clouds obscured our view inside. We could see a giant gray mass with tiny objects moving about around it. The gray mass turned out to be the Spruce Goose and the objects were people. At that moment I knew the years of longing were not in vane. This was going to be an amazing day and I was not going to be disappointed.

I was hungry, so I ordered a taco salad from the little deli inside the museum. Susan didn't eat because she needed to wait a certain amount of time after taking her medication. I ate outside on the patio and we enjoyed the fine weather. After eating, Susan decided that she had waited long enough, so she went inside and ordered a taco salad for herself. She came back outside to eat and I enjoyed the fine weather even more.

To get the most educational bang for the buck, we signed up for a guided tour. As we waited, I talked airplanes with a museum volunteer. Our guide showed up and we began the tour with the Wright Flyer replica, naturally. It was hard to concentrate on the small planes with the hulk of the Spruce Goose looming near and above us. Our tour guide did a wonderful job explaining the history of the plane; including the original design goals, the construction process, the testing, and the eventual failure of the concept. The Spruce Goose was only "flown" one time, and that was during a high speed taxi test. I highly recommend visiting the official web site. The most memorable thing our guide told us is paraphrased below.

The Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. has the original Wright Flyer; we have a replica. They have the original Spirit of St. Louis and just about every other aircraft of historical importance. But we have the original Spruce Goose. If they want one, they'll have to build a replica.

excerpt from The Evergreen Aviation Museum web site

First designated HK-1 (Hughes/Kaiser), later changed to H-4 when Henry Kaiser withdrew from the project, The Hughes Flying Boat is commonly called the "Spruce Goose". The aircraft is a cargo-type flying boat designed to transport men and materials over long distances. Originally conceived by Henry Kaiser (famous for the production of liberty ships) the aircraft was designed and constructed by Howard Hughes and his staff. The Hughes Flying Boat is of a single hull, eight-engine design, with a single vertical tail, fixed wing-tip floats, and full cantilever wing and tail surfaces. The entire airframe and surface structures are composed of laminated wood (primarily birch). All primary control surfaces except the flaps are fabric covered. The "Spruce Goose" hull is divided into two areas: a flight deck for the operating crew and a large cargo deck. Access between the two decks is provided by a circular stairway. Below the cargo deck are fuel bays divided by watertight bulkheads.

Time passed and before we knew it, it was time to fly back to Seattle. We arranged for a ride back to the airport with the courtesy van driver. Back at the FBO, we asked to use a phone to call the Flight Service station. The owner pointed across the drive and told us we could just walk over and talk to a briefer in person if we wanted. That was a nice change from the ordinary process. We walked over, were buzzed in, and met with a real live breathing briefer and we talked about the weather along our route. After a few minutes, our flight plan was entered into the system and we were on our way. We paid the owner for our gas and she commented about how lucky we were to be flying a new Cessna 182 - and she is right; I certainly feel that flying, let alone flying new aircraft, is something far too few people get to enjoy.

We left McMinnville and pointed the nose towards Seattle. As we entered Boeing Field airspace, I was told to do the standard Vashon approach over West Seattle, then turn right downwind to land to the north. While I was turning right and flying downwind, I noticed two jets flying parallel to me on the opposite side of the airport. When I reached my turning point, one had already landed and I informed the controller that I had an F-18 turning base and flying straight towards me. How cool is that?! He said, "Cessna 965 Charlie Whiskey, extend your downwind and follow the aircraft on short approach. You're cleared to land, number two, following the F-18 on final." You never know what to expect when you fly into Boeing Field. What an excellent treat to conclude a great day of flight-seeing and museum touring!

August 5

All companies that write and sell software have support teams in place and on call to handle customer emergencies. At Cisco, we have a frontline team called the Technical Assistance Center (TAC). Customers call TAC with large and small problems every day, 24 hours a day. When TAC cannot solve the problem themselves, they call our Critical Problem Resolution (CPR) team here in Seattle. I started my four month rotation on CPR on this day.

Due to the around the clock support that TAC provides, CPR must also be available around the clock. This is handled by rotating pager. Each engineer on the team gets the pager for a few days every couple weeks. It's not all bad, though. The engineer gets paid to carry it, even if it doesn't go off. If it does go off, that is extra pay. So, I don't look forward to the pager, but I don't mind the thought of a little extra in my paycheck.

August 8

For the first time in a few years, both of my parents came to Washington to visit for more than just a long weekend. My mom wanted to stay for two weeks, whereas my step-dad wanted to stay for one week. They compromised and come for eleven days. With my brother living about 100 miles away in Chehalis, my parents have to split their time between us. This time, the plan was to start in Seattle, then visit my brother's family for about 6 days, then return to Seattle for the remainder of their time.

August 9

For the first day of the visit, I mapped out a nice Seattle area park tour. All the parks were within five or six miles of each other, making for short trips in the car from one to the next.

We started the tour in Edmonds, along the waterfront next to the ferry dock. The tide was low and there were several scuba divers making their way into and out of the water.

The next stop was Richmond Beach. This park is also on the water, thus the word "beach" in the name ;) We continued on past Golden Gardens Park and Shilshoe Marina to the Chittenden Locks in Ballard. Before entering the locks, we stopped for lunch at the local fish stand.

The locks are one of my favorite spots to visit and enjoy the weather. The locks connect Lake Washington and Lake Union to the Puget Sound, thus separating the fresh water from the salt water. In the summer, they are always busy, with boats ranging from 12 foot fishing boats all the way up to commercial fishing vessels hundreds of feet long. The coolest part of the locks, though, in my opinion, is the fish ladder. Over the years I've seen the ladder both completely void of fish and overflowing with fish. On this day, there was a good number of returning salmon in sizes up to four feet long passing through.

The next stop was Volunteer Park, which is located on a hill above Seattle. According to its description, it has a tower that offers the best free view of Seattle. The view from the Space Needle is without-a-doubt the best, but it's certainly not free. We arrived at the park and found the tower. We hiked up the hill to the entrance, only to find that the tower was closed indefinitely for repairs. What a bummer.

We continued our tour by meandering through the Arboretum, the across SR 520's floating bridge to Kirkland. We picked up Lake Washington Boulevard and followed it along the lake to Bothell. In Bothell, we stopped at the Yakima Fruit Market and picked up some fresh corn for dinner.

For some reason, it was decided to wrap the corn in aluminum foil and cook it on the grill. After what seemed like the proper amount of time, the corn was removed form the grill and passed around. Well, it wasn't quite done yet, so we decided to throw it in the oven for a while. Before long, we started to smell something burning. Sure enough, our corn that was undercooked was now burning in the oven!

August 10

The day dawned cool and cloudy; not what we had in mind for the Logger's Jubilee in Morton, Washington. The plan was to go to the jubilee, then to Tom & Lanna's house, then back home, leaving my parents at Tom & Lanna's for the week. We loaded the Honda with everything my parents needed for a week visit down south and drove to Morton.

When we arrived, the weather had not improved much. We met my brother outside the local drug store where Lanna's mother, Nadine, works. We all went inside and Susan bought a sweatshirt in hopes of keeping warm. We set up shop on the edge of the street in anticipation of the big parade.

The parade is always a big hit with the kids. Last year, Tom drove his log truck in the parade with a load of long poles. Susan, Mom, Kendra, and I sat on the back of the load throwing candy while some other friends of Tom's sat on the front. It was a lot of fun, but it sure felt odd watching the parade as a participant instead of as a spectator. This year's parade was full of the usual displays: fire trucks and emergency vehicles, and logging industry equipment. There was plenty of candy for the kids, too.

After the parade we wondered through the fairgrounds and ate the usual fair food. By now the weather had improved immensely and it was starting to get hot. We finally decided it was time to head over to Howard & Nadine's house. Howard let the kids ride his horse for awhile, then we all climbed into the back of Howard's truck and he drove us up a logging road to a landing overlooking the valley. After returning, we continued our trip to Tom's house and spent the night. The next day, Susan and I returned home, leaving my parents to entertain the kids.

August 16

My parents time down south was up and it was time for them to come back to Seattle. Rather than have us drive down to pick them up, they decided to ride the train. They gave us the details and we agreed to meet them at the King Street Station. An hour before they were scheduled to arrive, we left for Seattle. We thought it would be fun to wait for the train along the tracks near Boeing Field, then race the train back to Seattle. I found a nice observation point with a clear view of the tracks and the airport. After a while, an airport security vehicle pulled up on the inside of the fence to see what I was up to. I told him I was waiting for a train. He told me that this wasn't a train stop (No, really?). Rather than argue, I decided to just move further up the road, away from the airport.

The arrival time came and went with no sign of the train. Finally a light began to grow along the tracks. Could it be the Amtrak train? Yes! I started the Honda and the race was on. The train had momentum on its side and it blew past us like we were standing still. I accelerated to decrease their lead as it slowed to enter Seattle. Susan waved frantically to the passengers on the train, but we didn't see my parents. The road climbed to cross the tracks and we lost site of the train as it passed underneath us. We hurried on to the station and tried to find a place to park. We realized with dismay that the late arrival of the train was coinciding with the ending of the Mariners game a few blocks away.

Susan left to find my parents while I tried to maneuver in the massive crowd. Ten minutes later they returned and I hadn't moved an inch. They loaded the Honda, then I fought to get back out of the parking lot as others were still trying to get in. Eventually we escaped and made it home.

August 17

Today's plans involved driving to Seattle to meet Todd & Danielle at the Tall Ships show on Lake Union. Tom & Lanna were planning to come later, so we had plenty of time to tour the ships and still make it home before they arrived. We arrived pretty early - for us - and parked in my office building. The walk to the show was longer than I expected, especially since the temperature was already on the rise. When we arrived, we were dismayed to find throngs of people standing in lines going to and fro with no apparent form. We walked along one of the lines and found Todd & Danielle less than half way from the entrance to three ships. We debated about the decision to join them, then decided to go ahead and jump in line with them.

On board the shipmates stamped our 'Passport' book and we toured the nooks and crannies of the wooden ships. The ships were not only beautifully maintained, they were also being used as educational tools. Each ship had a crew young adults, traveling the world and showing off the ship.

After touring these ships, Todd & Danielle headed home and we toured a ship with a short line. After this tour, we gathered around a picnic bench under a shady tree and discussed our plans for the day. At this time, we realized that it was much later than we thought. We called Tom & Lanna and learned that they were already in Bothell! Oh no!

We hurried back to the car, but on the way, Susan decided to get a souvenir for her dad, Mom decided the get a fresh-squeezed lemonade, and Ray and I decided that we needed ice cream. When we finally reached the Honda, we jumped in and raced home to meet my brother. On the way, we took another little detour to the Yakima Fruit Stand in Bothell to pick up some veggies for dinner and strawberries for dessert. We called Lanna to let her know we were getting close and to ask if she could buy some hot dogs and burgers for dinner. We finally arrived -- several hours late -- and found my brother's family making themselves at home in our back yard. Dinner was cooked on the grill and strawberry shortcake topped off a great day.

August 18

With a house full of people and my brother's truck available for hauling, we decided to spend some time working in the yard. Tom, Mom, and I went to Home Depot to find landscaping blocks. The blocks were for a small retaining wall around my shed that I plan to build someday. While we were away, Ray found the weed eater and began whacking my assorted weed collection. Lanna and Kerissa found the garden hose and started squirting my trees and shrubs. Susan and Kendra went next door to play with the Days.

When we returned, Tom and I unloaded the blocks and loaded the leftover wood from the shed construction. Time wore on and eventually Tom & Lanna went home. We rented a DVD and relaxed the rest of the day.

August 19

In an interesting timing arrangement, my parent's flight was scheduled to depart twelve hours before Susan's parent's flight was to arrive. In order for my parents to catch their early morning flight, they needed to leave the house at 3:00am. Since this was a work day for us, they allowed us to call the Shuttle Express to pick them up. I vaguely remember my Mom saying goodbye, as I fell back to sleep. After work that evening, Susan's parents arrived at 6:30pm.

August 20

Since I'm not a top management VP with gobs of vacation hours to burn, I decided to save some of my remaining vacation hours and go to work. Susan -- although not a top executive, either -- took the day off and took her parents on the Boeing Tour at Paine Field in Everett. The tour takes visitors inside the 747 production building, where they can see several 747's in various stages of completion. Unfortunately, the view is from an elevated room far from the action, but it is still amazing to see all those enormous planes under one roof.

August 23

Susan and I took the day off work and took her parents to see my favorite mountains; Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens. We got up early and headed south. On the way, we stopped for a quick snack at the Taco Time in Auburn. We drove past Mt. Rainier, but didn't spend too much time due to the low clouds. Continuing on towards Mt. St. Helens, we stopped again at Bear Meadows for another snack. Continuing on, we stopped again at the logger's burnt out car.

After many miles of twisting and turning highway, we finally reached Windy Ridge. We all started the long hike up the ~600 steps to the ridge. The combination of elevation gain and thinner air was too much of a challenge for the parents, who called it quits about half way up. Susan and I continued to the top and enjoyed the peace and solitude of being seemingly alone in the vast volcanic blow down zone that was once an endless evergreen forest.

August 24

After yesterday's driving marathon, we decided to stick closer to home today. Our first destination was the Arboretum in Seattle. We packed a nice lunch in the cooler and drove to Seattle. At the Arboretum, we stopped at the Japanese Gardens.

The Japanese Gardens are absolutely spectacular. Every inch of the garden is filled with some type of landscaping. The large pond in the center is crossed in several places by decorative bridges. In the pond, the large Koi (giant goldfish) swim around with turtles and ducks. Tucked away in various locations are small ornamental decorations or monuments. Note: these probably have some important symbolic meaning, but to me, they were just interesting objects to be photographed. In one particular object, a square hole was carved completely through and people left pennies inside.

After walking through the gardens, we found a covered picnic table near the top of the hill and broke out the picnic goodies. From the hill we could see the parks beauty all around us. All fueled up, we packed our cooler and headed for our next destination - the Pacific Science Center.

The Pacific Science Center has several IMAX movie theaters and one was showing Space Station 3D, a three dimensional space documentary. To enter the theater, we followed a descending spiral path inside a huge domed building. At the entrance, the ticket taker gave us each a pair a futuristic goggles. Inside we found seats near the middle and waited for the show to begin. When the show started, we donned our cool goggles and looked at the screen. The images that were fuzzy without the goggles became crystal clear and it felt as if we had entered the action. The objects on the screen appeared to be around us - we could almost touch them. If this show comes to an IMAX theater near you, go see it - you will be amazed!

Even after all that, we were not quite ready to return home. I suggested that we drive up Queen Anne hill and visit Highland Park. This park offers great views of the city, from a northern point of view. On a clear day, Mt. Rainier can be seen in the distance, magically hovering above the horizon. Mr. H and I snapped one photo after another, while Susan and Mrs. H tried to stay warm. Once we determined that the skyline was not going to get an prettier, we loaded ourselves back in the Honda and left Queen Anne.

For some reason, I still wasn't ready to go home, so I drove south to a golf course south of Sea-Tac airport that has a great view of approaching aircraft. After watching planes land for several minutes, they finally convinced me that it was time to call it a day and go home.

August 25

Russian submarine tour.

August 26

Susan's parents leave.

July 2002

July was filled with outdoor activities. Air shows and flying endorsements topped the list, with a nice day hike and overnight camping trip thrown in for fun.

July 4

Deciding what to do on the fourth is always a challenge. This year, we decided to go to the Freedom Fair in Tacoma, Washington. The ad mentioned free transportation from the bus stop, so we drove to the bus stop and waited for the free bus to come by. Actually, there was no wait at all; the bus was already there and a long line of people were waiting. The bus took us through downtown, then along the waterfront to the town of Ruston.

We got off the bus and walked a block to the edge of the fair. The fair stretched for about a half mile along the waterfront and featured many food concessions and booths selling arts and crafts. We saw a pair of jugglers entertaining the kids, a couple bands playing for the older crowd, and the usual local fire and law official's displays. In the parking lot of one restaurant was a classic car display. We bought something to eat, walked down to the water's edge, and watched the air show.

The weather was less than perfect and Susan didn't feel well, so we headed back up the hill to the bus stop. When we arrived at the bus stop, we found a line waiting for the next bus, which was just pulling up. In our rush to get on we didn't realize that across the street was another bus stop - and it was heading in the direction we wanted to go. This bus was not heading back to the same bus stop. We ended up miles away from where we wanted to be. We told the driver our sad story and she called up headquarters and they gave her the OK to drive us back across town. There we were, just Susan and I, alone in this big bus. The driver was very friendly and we talked the whole way back and had a nice chat.

July 13

Before the house was painted this summer (see June 11, 2002), our painter, Dan, power-washed our house to knock off the years of grime and mildew that had built up, thanks to our damp climate. In the process, the windows were left covered with residue. Having a beautiful, clean house with dirty windows just wouldn't do. Susan put together a cleaning concoction of water and corn starch and I grabbed the ladder from the shed and headed for the front corner window. Susan cleaned the windows and I rinsed them with the garden hose. We continued from window to window until we worked our way all the way around the house. While cleaning the bedroom windows, I noticed some odd streaking below the living room windows that we had just finished cleaning. On closer inspection, we determined that the streaks were coming from the run-off from the windows. The thought of repainting under all the windows put me into a momentary state of shock. We tried to clean the streaks, but they wouldn't come off. The harder we tried, the more streaks we created. Finally, to our relief, we realized that the streaking was just from the water and that when dry, the streaks vanished.

July 14

Today we made our nearly yearly trek to Arlington, Washington to attend the Northwest Experimental Aircraft Association Air Show and fly-in. I say nearly yearly because for a few summers in a row, the air show fell on the same weekend as our vacation, so we were out of town. In the past, big name air show performers have entertained the crowds, both in the air and on the ground. The most famous performer/pilot I saw was test pilot Bob Hoover. His flying career began back in World War II, where he flew P-51 Mustangs with Chuck Yeager.

This year, we planned to meet Todd & Danielle and watch the air show. On the way up I-5, I noticed a truck up ahead the looked very familiar. As I pulled along side to pass, sure enough, it was Todd & Danielle! Wow, what amazing timing. With luck like that, you'd think it would be easy to meet up and enter the grounds together, but somehow that was not the case. We stopped to grab some cash from the ATM but they continued on to the airport. We drove over a few minutes later, parked, and walked to the entrance. They were nowhere to be seen. We called their cell phone, but got the messaging service. After awhile we decided to just go in and look for them along the flight line.

Along the way, we stopped and bought some typical air show junk food and looked at the vendor exhibits. One of my favorites was the Cirrus Design truck with a full size mock up of the SR-22 inside. Being a Sunday afternoon, they were preparing to leave, so they hurried us through and out the other side. Needless to say, I didn't buy a new airplane while I was there.

The air show was about to start, so we walked to the flight line and found a nice spot on the grass to set up camp. We spread out our blanket, set up our camping chairs, pulled out the binoculars and sunscreen, and waited for the show to begin. Every few minutes, we scanned the crowd in hopes of spotting Todd or Danielle. Eventually we did and waved for them to join us. The show began and we watched in amazement as the performers did impossible and impractical maneuvers in their airplanes.

After the show, we walked the flight line and enjoyed a close-up look at all the old and new aircraft on display. One that caught my eye was the old B-25 "Super Rabbit". The "Super Rabbit" was featured in the July 2002 edition of AOPA Pilot magazine, so seeing it in person after just reading about it was a nice treat.

excerpt from AOPA Pilot, July 2002

Super Rabbit, a reference to Bugs Bunny, is a North American TB–25J Mitchell Bomber that began life in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1945 as an orphan — it never went to war, it went to storage. Nobody wanted it. After that, its life improved little. Sold to foster parents in Venezuela, it was finally left to rot in La Paz, Bolivia.

Time can be a friend as well as an enemy. As the years passed, enthusiasm grew for the restoration and preservation of warbirds. The twin-engine bomber was found and given enough attention to fly it home to the United States. In 1987 it returned to American airspace, but could fly no farther. Near Cocoa Beach, Florida, an engine quit; 10 minutes later the second engine failed. Out of engines and options, the bomber safely belly-landed in a swamp and finished its journey to a Florida airport on a truck.

The rough times weren't over. After extensive repairs, the aircraft made its way to California where the present owner, Jim Morgan of Salem, fell in love with it. During the flight to Oregon, Super Rabbit proved it still had one violent burst of bad luck left to exorcise. Near Fresno, California, the left engine erupted in flames that threatened to burn off the wing. The pilots that day were Jeff Wright and Wayne Cartwright, two of several pilots still flying it for Morgan. But that was the day the bomber's luck changed: Cartwright and Wright got the engine shut down and the fire out. After extensive repairs and restoration, the aircraft is flying the airshow circuit today.

We were all hungry, so we decided to meet up again for dinner. We got to choose, since we were more familiar with the area. We decided to go to the Everett waterfront and watch the sunset over the Puget Sound. The hostess showed us to a table on the deck. Since Todd & Danielle had recently "tied the knot", we picked up the check. After dinner we walked along the waterfront and found a little shop that sold ice cream. By this time I could already feel the first sign of sunburn on my forehead. We had sunscreen at the air show, but I hadn't bothered to apply any, so I had to pay the price.

July 17

One of my all-time favorite classic rock bands was on tour and chose Seattle as the first stop on their tour. The band Yes was playing at the Paramount Theater in Seattle and we had tickets. I bought the tickets online an hour after they went on sale and was counting down the days to the concert. The day finally arrived and we drove to the city early to eat dinner before the show.

With great anticipation, we entered the theater as soon as the doors opened and waited for the show to begin. The band took the stage and gave us a nice show. The sound was great, the singing was perfect, the lights were mesmerizing. But in the end, I have to say that I was completely disappointed. I vowed that I would never spend that much money on a concert again. Why was I so disappointed? In the two hours they performed, they played only two songs that I've ever heard, and one of them was the encore. I had considered myself a pretty good Yes fan, but I guess I was wrong. Even so, I think they should have at least played a few of their biggest hits.

July 19

One of the motivations for a pilot is the challenge of learning to fly bigger and better aircraft. In all my years of flying, I had only flown four different types of airplanes: Cessna 150, 152, 172, and Piper Cherokee. All of them are simple training aircraft. The next rung on the Cessna ladder is the 182. It is considered a high performance aircraft and the FAA requires a special endorsement in the pilot's logbook to fly it. A high performance aircraft is any plane with an engine of greater than 200 hp.

I was planning a big flight to central Oregon and I wanted to fly the 182. I signed up for a checkout flight with an instructor at Galvin Flying Services on Boeing Field and today was the day to take the next step. When I signed up for the plane, I picked up the required open book aircraft knowledge form that is required to fly any Galvin airplane. I also bought an Operator's Manual for the Cessna 182 to help with the questions and to study the aircraft systems before my checkout. The checkout began with a discussion of the various aircraft systems. The majority of the talk involved a thorough explanation of the inner workings of the constant speed propeller. The rest of the 182 is very similar to a 172, so there wasn't anything new to discuss.

The checkout flight came next. The flight involved all the usual maneuvers; slow flight, stalls, steep turns, and touch-and-go's. The maneuvers felt very similar to those of a 172, but doing T&G's in the 182 is much more challenging. The plane is considerably heavier and therefore requires more force on the control surfaces. It is also considerably faster, so you must be prepared to slow down before entering the traffic pattern else you will carry too much speed and float half way down the runway instead of landing on the numbers. Then there are the cowl flaps to keep in mind. These are openings in the engine cowling that are controlled from within the airplane. They must be opened during takeoff and closed during approach. And the trim settings must be adjusted while on the ground else the plane will quickly climb and approach a stall situation on takeoff. I've heard that it takes 60 pounds of force to push the yoke forward if the trim is not set properly on takeoff. That's quite a lot of important things for a guy to remember.

After many T&G's at Tacoma Narrows airport, we flew north and I learned how to use the autopilot to control the airplane. Yes, you read that correctly - this plane has autopilot. The autopilot can control all three axes of rotation, so the pilot can sit back and enjoy the scenery, or more likely, prepare for the next phase of the flight, look out for other traffic, and talk to air traffic control.

After two hours of tooling around over the Puget Sound region, we returned to Boeing Field and parked the airplane. My instructor was sufficiently impressed and I was sufficiently wore out. We went inside and he endorsed my logbook for high performance aircraft. Be on the lookout for future articles involving the Cessna 182.

July 20

Todd & Danielle had planned a camping trip with a hike to Stuart Lake and they invited us along. They left after work on Friday afternoon to set up camp. They wanted to start hiking pretty early the next morning, so we had to meet them before they left the campground.

We woke up early, gathered our gear, and loaded the Honda. Our destination was the Upper Johnny Creek campground outside Leavenworth, Washington. We left Bothell and headed east to Highway 2, then followed that across Stevens Pass to Leavenworth. Once in town, we stopped at the Forest Service office to buy our park pass. They only accept cash, so we went for a walk through town to the nearest ATM. With cash in hand, we returned and bought an annual pass. We called Todd to let him know we were in town and to see if he needed any supplies, then we crossed the road to buy some groceries and snacks for the hike. With pass and food, we were set for our 24 hour forest adventure.

We headed out of town on the Icicle Creek Canyon road that wound its way up a long, slender valley that clearly showed the signs of recent forest fire activity. About twelve miles in, we reached the Upper Johnny Creek campground. We found Todd & Danielle's lot and began to unpack our stuff. Danielle greeted us with, "Look, clean people." We finished getting organized, then piled into the Honda and drove to the trailhead of the Stuart Lake trail.

View Larger Map

The trailhead is at 3,500 feet above sea level, and the elevation rises to 5,100 feet at the lake. The trail is relatively flat for the first mile or so, then begins to climb steeply. Along the way, we crossed a stream on a nice wooden bridge. At each resting point, we were swarmed by small flying creatures of unknown type, so it was in our best interest to keep moving. Eventually we left the forest and entered a marshy meadow that offered a fantastic view of the distant mountain peaks. At the end of the meadow, the trail began to climb again. At this point we were all ready for the lake to come into view.

At the top of the rise, the lake came into view. We continued down the trail to the edge of the crystal clear water and dropped our backpacks and enjoyed the splendid scenery. We ate lunch, then I went off alone in search of the perfect picture. We hung out on the large rocks beside the lake for what seemed like a couple hours, then decided to start back before it got too late.

The hike back was much easier, since it was all down hill. Susan led the way, and seemed to be in quite a rush. I was able to keep up, but Todd & Danielle fell behind. We stopped to wait a few times, but then decided to just carry on without them and join up at the trailhead. When we finally arrived at the trailhead, the reason for Susan's pace became apparent, as she dashed for the outhouse.

Up until this hike, we felt the most beautiful spot on Earth was the mountains outside Banff, in Alberta, Canada. We were pleasantly surprised to find this gorgeous location right in our own back yard.

We all lumbered back into the Honda and drove back to the campground. We were all tired, hungry, and most definitely sweaty. The first task was to find a way to get clean - or at least cleaner. The girls pulled out the Wet-Wipes, but Todd and I weren't interested. We grabbed the soap and towels, jumped back in the Honda, and headed upstream until we found a bridge across the river. We parked and walked down the bank to the waters edge. We slowly walked into the water and our feet immediately began to ache from the chill of the mountain stream. I thought I'd never be able to wash myself in that cold water. Considering the alternative, I walked out to knee level and washed my lower half. That wasn't so bad. Then I started splashing water on my chest and I just about fell over from the shock of it. Whoa, that will surely take your breath away. I quickly washed my upper half and headed for the safety and warmth of dry land. We dried off as quickly as possible, being careful not to fall off balance into the river. Back at camp, Todd cooked dinner and we sat around the campfire and stared at the stars. What a beautiful day it had been.

July 21

On the way home from Leavenworth, we crossed Stevens Pass on Highway 2. As you cross the pass and drive down the west slope, you can see a long covered railroad bed on the opposite side of the valley. I've always been interested in seeing them up close. There was a documentary made about an incident that occurred along those tracks years ago, and I wanted to see it up close. Susan was interested too, so we took a right turn of the highway onto Old Stevens Pass Highway and started back up the pass. The road took us along the railroad tracks and past the modern tunnel entrance. We followed the road for about a mile and a half before we came to a section that was apparently washed out at one time. The highway crew replaced the bridge with a narrow walking bridge, for some reason, so we were at a dead end. Not knowing how far we might have to walk, we decided to try to find the other end of the road at the top of the pass.

We turned around and drove up the pass again on Highway 2. At the top we found a somewhat hidden road to the left and turned onto it. Sure enough, it was the old highway. We followed it for about two and a half miles when we saw a very small sign pointing down a narrow gravel road. We figured that the sign must be there for a reason, so we followed it. Within a minute we arrived in a nicely maintained park-like setting. We stopped and read the sign and realized that we were now standing in what was once Wellington, Washington. Looking around we saw no sign that there was once a town at this location. How could a whole town just disappear?

excerpt from The Iron Goat Trail Home Page

The story of the Iron Goat began over 100 years ago when the last spike of the Great Northern Railway was driven, completing one of the most remarkable engineering feats of the nineteenth century. It marked the crossing of the Cascades at Stevens Pass which helped open the Pacific Northwest to settlement and trade with the rest of the world. This feat was recognized by establishment of the Stevens Pass Historic District in 1976.

The Great Northern route was the best engineered of the transcontinental railways. The original route over the pass consisted of an intricate set of switchbacks cut into the mountainside. While the switchbacks were an engineering triumph, they had serious disadvantages.

The Cascade Tunnel, completed in 1900, bypassed the switchbacks. Several snowsheds were also added for safety, but winter conditions still presented serious hazards. Trains were often stopped for days in winter storms.

In 1910, snowslides delayed two trains at the town of Wellington. A vast section of snow on Windy Mountain broke loose and crashed down, sweeping both trains off the tracks into Tye Creek below. Rescue efforts were quickly organized, but nearly one hundred lives were lost.

Wellington was the site of one of the worst railroad disasters in the nation's history and also the most tragic snow avalanche. This prompted more improvements to avoid such tragedy striking again. As rail traffic increased, a "new" Cascade Tunnel was completed in 1929. This eight-mile tunnel is still in use today by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. The opening of the new tunnel made the old grade obsolete and it was abandoned completely. It is this abandoned stretch that comprises the Iron Goat Trail today.

We followed the trail west and soon came to the opening of the Cascade Tunnel. We then turned around and followed the trail east and soon arrived at the first at the first showshed. We followed the rail bed for another quarter mile when we came to a lookout point, overlooking the Tye Creek below. It is very chilling to think that on this spot, many passengers lost their lives to a killer avalanche nearly a century ago.