April was filled with dreams of flying. It all started when I heard Tony Robbins say, "Dreams do not happen on their own. Every day, you must take steps that lead you closer to your dreams." With this in mind, steps were taken down the path to a professional flying career.
April 1
Made arrangements with Pan Am International Flight Academy to tour their facilities in Phoenix, Arizona on April 25.
April 3
Made arrangements with Westwind Flight Academy to tour their facilities in Phoenix, Arizona on April 24. Picked up Alaska Airlines tickets to Phoenix.
April 6
Mowed front yard, worked on hole from first stump.
April 7
Jeremy Brown called from Pan Am; he's my new contact. Dick ground my remaining stumps.
April 8
Home Owner's Association meeting; only 39 show up. Mariners win home opener against Anaheim 5 - 0.
April 9
Marines pull down Saddam statue in down town Baghdad.
April 10
Doctor appointment; start taking blood pressure pills for 1 month to see how it works. Won $3 on the Washington Lotto Plus!
April 12
Took Infiniti for emissions test, bought Arizona tour guide and map, finished reading Lord of the Rings series, mowed the front yard.
April 16
Chat with Patti reveals Kelli's latest wedding plans... tomorrow!! Mom and Ray called to see if we were going the wedding!
April 17
Kelli marries Bryan at the courthouse.
April 18
CPR/TAC training with 90 minute presentation, beers at Jalisco's afterwards.
April 19
Mowed the front yard, scraped moss off the roof, started hauling stump grindings out of the yard.
April 20
Easter Sunday; church with Susan, washed the Honda, ate lunch with the Days, drove to Ice Caverns trail at Big 4 Mountain.
April 21
Bought 4 pairs of slacks, 2 shirts at JC Penney.
April 22
Bought more shirts at Fred Meyer, packed for Arizona trip.
April 23
The day of our grand adventure to Arizona finally arrived. First, I had to wrap up some tasks in the office. Once those were complete, it was just a matter of time before Susan called to say she was passing the McDonald's on Broad Street - my sign to start shutting down the computers and go meet her by the first floor door.
I jumped in the car and we drove towards Sea-Tac airport. We were hungry so we stopped for a bite, then parked the car at the off-airport parking lot. The shuttle whisked us to the airport.
While talking about the emergency rows, he also mentioned flying the MD-80. Here are a few of the comments he made:
- For those into group floating, he has good news. The three forward escape slides can be used as liferafts.
- When discussing oxygen masks: If you have more than one child with you, decide now which is your favorite. Position your mask first, then help your favorite child before helping your other children.
- After some time in the air, he said he had an announcement from the front of the plane: Although he did not have any navigational equipment, radios, charts, or other, he was sure we were closer to Phoenix.
- Before landing checklist included: "Flight attendants, prepare your hair for arrival."
- Please remain seated speech contained comment about cleaning crew having the evening off. He'd like to thank the first six volunteers who stand before the light is extinguished for staying behind and cleaning the plane.
April 24
Met Mike Mosier from Westwind Flight Academy, met Patrick Ryan from Arizona OSHA, drove the Apache Trail.
April 25
Mike Mosier, from Westwind, took me and Susan on a tour of the facility, and ended it with a one hour flight around the valley in a Cessna 172. Jeremy Brown, from Pan Am Academy, showed us the campus, but didn't take us flying. Even so, I was more impressed with the professionalism at Pan Am. If I had to choose right now, I'd probably sign up with Pan Am. Of course, I still would like to check out the flight schools in Florida before coming to any conclusions.
After touring both Westwind and Pan Am, we headed north toward Flagstaff. The drive was pretty amazing. Phoenix is about 1,000 feet above sea level, whereas Flagstaff is about 7,000 feet above sea level. The landscape along I-17 changes gradually as you gain elevation along the route from barren desert to alpine forest. Also amazing is the climate difference. It was around 90 degrees in Phoenix, but in the 60's in Flagstaff.
Along the way, we just had to stop in Sedona. From everything we read, we had great expectations, and we were not disappointed. Sedona is stunningly beautiful. It lies at the base of a series of canyons that carve their way to the north and east. It's main attraction - at least for me -is the large red rock outcroppings that stand high up above of the ground level.
Once in Flagstaff, we ate at an old diner along the famous Route 66. Then we went up to Mars Hill to see the observatory before calling it a night. We had big plans for the following day and needed our rest.
April 26
Toured the Grand Canyon, drove back to Sedona for sunset.
The Grand Canyon is amazing. Like Sedona, it lives up to - check that - it exceeds expectations. I shot at least 100 pictures, so it was hard to pick just one for this blog.
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