by Kenneth Berger

 

My departure time arrived with rain and a tornado. We flew from Monroe to Paine for gas. Two minutes after we landed, the rain blew horizontal with one inch puddles forming. My son Mark, and daughter Jenny (13 & 9 years old), were huddled in the back of the C172 together with 60lbs of video games and DVDs.

 

Matt Stewart agreed to pilot us IFR to the Portland area, so we headed down to McMinnville, OR. Judy and her daughter manage the McMinnville FBO. It was like a social club when we arrived. Judy told me stories of what she has been doing since they flew two Cessnas up to Monroe last October (2003). I shared some of what it was like for me to get my license since I saw her last. She guaranteed me good weather the next day, and sure enough …

 

Going south from McMinnville, I flew up over the clouds at about 11,000 ft. The kids went to sleep and we landed for lunch in Roseburg. Another hop over the clouds had us down to Weed CA, with near open skies.

 

Weed has a nice little airport. There is a credit card gas machine and a rest area for cars and trucks right next door. The views of Mt. Shasta in Weed were great, also.

 

We arrived in the SF area about two hours after our stop in Weed. Our intended landing was at Gnoss Field, Novato, CA. The kids were just a wee bit excited about Marine World the next day, so we decided that we would leave the plane safely parked at the Santa Rosa airport, where the winds were calmer.

 

On our return, we had a delightful breakfast in Willows, CA, in the North Sacramento valley. Nancy's restaurant is right on the field and has a lot of plane pictures and stories on the walls.

 

My daughter got thirsty next, so we landed at Dunsmuir-Mott, South of Mt. Shasta. This was one of those one way in and out operations, with mountains on both sides. No services; oh well. Next try was Montague field, CA. At Montague, we got the full service treatment from Dave Weld, airport owner: fuel, drinks, stories about flying and jokes. There were several old pilots just sitting around waiting to ask us about the trip.

 

The next stops were back to Roseburg, McMinnville, and home to Monroe. There is a really nice dog in McMinnville, named Maggie. The kids couldn't pass her without stopping to have a little fun. She does the usual tricks (shake, roll over, etc) and begs for food with great skill. Just don't leave your plane door open too long, or you might have an unexpected passenger.

 

Happy Flying,

Ken Berger