by Deborah Shirley
Every year my husband, Tim, gets very anxious about making plans for Valentine’s Day and my birthday, which falls just ten days later. When I suggested getting away for a few days this year, he balked. The reason? He was taking flight lessons, and wanted to use his time off of work to get in some extra hours. I have to say I was slightly offended. But then he redeemed himself and came up with a great idea. His plan involved an airplane, a CFI, and reservations at a resort on Orcas, one of the San Juan Islands.
We asked my parents to come stay with our two boys, and started getting ready for our trip. My job was to make sure the house was clean (remember, my parents were coming over), the laundry done, and to pack plenty of clothes and snacks. Tim, however, had his own work to do. The first thing he did was contact Eric, a flight instructor from Monroe, to see if he was willing to be the co-pilot/instructor during the flight. Eric would also have to fly back to Monroe on that Tuesday, and then come and pick us up on Thursday. Fortunately, Eric was willing to do this for us. (We paid for the instructor and flight time, of course) Meanwhile, Tim diligently watched the weather reports, studied his maps, and created a flight plan. As the day for our trip was approaching, we were both getting very excited about the trip. There were people that asked if I was nervous, but I was happy to tell them that I was not. Knowing that Eric would be in the plane helped, but I have lots of confidence in Tim’s knowledge and ability.
Tuesday finally came. We made the fifteen-minute drive to First Air Field in Monroe, and I left Tim and Eric to get the plane ready while I got some lunch. I was warned by Eric to eat light and not drink anything carbonated. That was a little disconcerting, but I think his experience told him that we may encounter some rough weather and he didn’t want to have to clean the plane. At about 2 p.m. we were ready for take-off. It was exciting to see Tim in "pilot" mode. I felt very proud of him. He started the ground school portion of his training about twenty years ago, while in high school, but was unable to continue for financial reasons. So seeing him fulfilling a life-long dream just makes me happy. I had my own headset so I could hear all the communications, but mostly I just looked out the window and enjoyed the scenery while trying to spot familiar landmarks (like Wal-Mart in Marysville and the Deception Pass Bridge to Whidbey Island). Our flight to East Sound Airport on Orcas Island took about 45 minutes. We loved getting to our destination in such a short amount of time, bypassing traffic, ferry lines, etc.
Once we landed, we waited at the small, friendly East Sound Airport terminal for the van from our resort to pick us up. We later ended up renting a car from the airport so we could drive to the top of Mt. Constitution and do some other sightseeing. Our time on the island was relaxing and wonderful. We enjoyed eating out, looking at wildlife, sleeping in, reading, and not having to go to work. I have to say, though, that Tim did spend quite a bit of time studying and practicing radio communications for the trip back. I was OK with that because I brought a good book to read.
When Thursday afternoon came, we made our way back to the airport to meet Eric. We decided to take a detour on our way back to Monroe since the weather was gorgeous. We left Orcas and flew to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island. We walked from the private airstrip across the street to the Sculpture Garden and Tim and I enjoyed walking around trying to guess what things were while Eric took a nap on a bench. After about an hour we were ready to leave and proceeded to fly back to Monroe, detouring over our house on the way to First Air Field, where Tim made another good landing.
So, this is my story of our wonderful, romantic get-away this year. I don’t know how Tim’s going to top it next year . . . .
-DGS (2004)