Its almost summer and we are starting to put the time machine to good use! The Little Dude has tee ball on Saturday mornings until July so were down to just over nights for the next few weeks, minus Memorial Day weekend coming up! We love the weather in the summer; it makes planning so easy!
After the Tee ball game we go home and pack the smallest amount we have in months! We then head to the airport and load up the car seat and a few bags, get gas and take off south to Bend. On the drive to the airport, mama pilot calls Leading Edge and requests a rental car. We decide to go to Redmond instead of Bend for just this reason. Our plan is to land about 3 hours from the time of the phone call. With the terminal and Avis super close, it is easy for the FBO to accommodate our last minute rental car request. After we do the run-up and we are almost ready to go, we get out the Hilton app and book a room at the Hilton Garden Inn in Old Mill. The new hotel apps make it so easy to have all of your information stored and just click, click, book! Mama pilot has already looked online at a few places before leaving home, but we wait to book because most hotels have a cancel fee and even though we have been super lucky about not getting grounded due to maintenance or weather, it is always a possibility.
We have a tail wind on the way down and make it to Redmond in 1:05! Awesome!!! We land right about 3pm, Little dude can’t wait to get out to ride his strider bike all over. He is a good listener and stays in the area we ask! He also really likes Leading Edge because they have a popcorn machine and they always have super great popcorn! The car is ready to go when we land and we head to downtown Bend and towards the hotel.
Little dude can’t wait to go to Gramies house though! Shortly after a disappointing spot for bubble tea at Townshends (were they were out of boba; again) we go to Dutch brothers and then to Gramies. Little Dude loves the sun and riding his strider bike like a dirt bike! Little Dude gets a sleep over and Mama and Papa spend the night at the Hilton Garden Inn in the Old Mill. We only sleep at the hotel but they do have a nice indoor pool and a hot tub that is open 24 hours! The Hotel is also in a retail district that has shopping and restaurants and its on the Deschutes river and there is a nice path along the river.
Mama pilot has to be at work later in the afternoon so there isn’t a lot of time to relax Sunday morning. We catch a quick breakfast at Chow before heading back to Gramies. Chow is located in a small house across from Newport Market and their food was great. Food in Bend is constantly good though, I think a place would go under if it didn’t have good food in this town. We have been to most of the super popular breakfast places so it is always fun to try something new. Since we are there at 8:30 in the morning we don’t even have to wait. Super life perk of being awake early for work and with kids every day is you don’t have to wait if you are there early!
Back at the FBO and loaded up in a flash. A quick stop at the bathroom and the popcorn machine and we are ready to go! Before we can leave the receptionist must let us out the door. Papa pilot is settling the gas transaction and Mama pilot and Little Dude are ready to head out to the plane. Mama pilot asks if we can go out. The receptionist hesitates then asks Mama Pilot “do you have a pilots license?” “Yes, I do” She says. Such a nice feeling to be able to say yes. Mama pilot has never been asked if she has a license to enter the ramp at an FBO before.
The most interesting part of this trip was the TCAS RA we had with a United Jet in the Portland area. We requested flight following from Seattle Center to S50 on the way home. About half way back, we get a call from Center about traffic on the arrival and if we can avoid them. We are so confused! How can we avoid him when we don’t know the altitude he is descending to? We decide to turn to go behind the A320, wery of wake turbulence. It is hard not to leave opinions here with Mama Pilots profession, but these are just facts. The United never saw us and responded to an RA and climbed up. We had the Airbus in sight the whole time, but it was still strange to be involved in such a moment. The rest of the flight was mundane and we landed back at our home airport just in time for Mama pilot to go to work.
