Yellowstone National Park Visit and stay at Old Faithful Lodge
2021-06 BDN (Bend, OR)
Bend!
2021- 05 Flying south for spring
S50-TVL-TRM-S21-S50. Nice spring weather and a quick annual allowed us to cancel our airlines tickets and fly to Palm Springs. Our favorite air museum is hosting a 25th anniversary party and we embrace the opportunity to get dressed up and socialize. We start the journey by leaving Auburn with a plan to stop in Tahoe for the night. The full trip is 866 miles. Or 6 hours. We could probably do it non stop with oxygen on, but the little people wouldn’t keep their masks on. After we take off from Auburn, we notice the #3 cylinder temp running hot. It’s 3:30pm and were pushing it a bit to get to Tahoe before dinner time. But safety first! We pull over at KPLU and our awesome mechanic Mike checks it out. Slightly clogged fuel injector plug. Cleaned up and runs good a new. The flight to Tahoe is nice and smooth. We’re able to get a rental car delivered from enterprise. Tim, the employee was on his game as the FBO we were flying into, Mountain view aviation closed at 5, and our new ETA was closer to 7pm. He coordinated with the FBO for our car to be waiting at the airport when we arrive.
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Have fun!
2019-11 KUAO (Aurora, OR)
We have decided it it time for a new interior. After looking around at a few shops we decide that Aerometal International will complete the work.
Mama and Papa Pilot get a date day to fly the plane to Aurora to pick out colors and samples. We arrived with a photo on our phone of an idea of what we should do. The team took off with our idea from there, offering swatches, leather, Carpet designs, it was like picking out a whole new house, I mean plane.
We picked out all the items to get a whole new plane and flew home. Papa pilot would fly it back down at a later time for the interior.
2019-10 KBDN (Bend, OR)
Fall Day Trip to Bend!
Gramie got a new puppy and The Plane Kids were so excited to meet him. The weather was forecasted to be clear, but in the fall there is always the possibility of fog.
We started the day with our preflight check at home. We start with weather: look out the window then, Windy Tv App, Aeroweather App and then webcams. We have learned that we can look out the window at our home but by the time we get to the airport we find it is fogged in.
There is of course this exact scenario in play, but we know its just thin fog and will burn off. With the flight planning complete, We get our gear ready to take from home to the plane.
It’s getting colder and some snow has already fallen over the mountains. We keep this in mind as we pack for the flight. Even though we will only be flying down and back, we makes sure to bring our survival gear with us! We already keep some gear in the plane, but we need heavy coats, blankets, beanies, gloves, water and food for everyone too.
After we land in KBDN and grab some FBO popcorn from Leading Edge, We head to downtown for a Quick walk and lunch at The Beach hut deli.
The Deli is in downtown and right off Drake park. The food was so fresh and quick. Bonus was that there was a shuffleboard table, darts and they had cups of crayons and coloring books to keep the kids busy while we waited for our food. Before we left we spotted a sticker wall and added our sticker to their collection.
Then it was time to return to the airport and head home. An hour and 20 minutes later we landed back in Auburn and tucked the plane into its nice warm hanger.
2019-07 KPSP (Palm Springs, CA)
Its the middle of the summer and the weather is nice to fly. It’s the weekend of July 4th. We fly to Palm Springs for the weekend to do a photo shoot for the Palm Springs Air Museum and Mama Pilot and Little Dude tag along.
We stopped in Bend on the way down for a quick overnight and to drop Plane Girl. Then we had the first instrument malfunction we have had since getting the new engine in 2016. The EGT monitor was inop! It had worked just the day before. We tried a run up and nothing. The taxied to the end of the runway. Nothing. We decided to taxi back to the FBO and see if a mechanic was free to look at it. Of course the moment that Mike from Leading Edge Bend touched the plane the gauge illuminated.
It did stay on and passed all the checks so we were off to Palm Springs. Palm Springs in July is really really hot. We landed a little later than we intended and parked at Signature. We have tried Atlantic in the past and thought we would try the other FBO. It was basically the same. We went inside and The Little Dude got the last chocolate chip cookie of the night. Our car that we ordered from AVIS was ready to go and we loaded up to the hotel.
It’s about a 3 hour flight and instead of just letting The Little Dude play on his ipad the whole time, we brought along battleship! It was pretty easy to play in the plane through the headsets.
We normally stay with family but decided on the JW Marriott since Papa Pilot was going to be working and Mama pilot was only 2 weeks out from knee surgery. The JW is a very large hotel with a few pools and restaurants. It was a great base to relax while Papa Pilot was out doing his flying. Mama Pilot and The Little Dude enjoyed the pool, mini golf and fun extras at the hotel. The evening of July 4th we got to enjoy the fireworks of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley from the golf course.
Since Papa Pilot was working with the Air museum we spent some time there visiting Too. His Grandfather was a pilot in WWI and the P47 the Palm Springs Air Musuem owns is painted In his insignia. The museum has a great collection of airplanes from WWI, WWI, and the Korean War.
Once the photo trip was complete, we loaded up and headed back to Bend for Plane Girl.
2019-06 E45 (Pine Mountain Lake, CA)
Sometimes life has a different plan than the one we had made. The Little Dude has just finished Kindergarten and its time to take a trip to celebrate. We had plans to go international, but Mama Pilot injured her knee and cannot walk very well.
We scan our list of where to next places and Yosemite sticks out. No way were going to be able to plan a trip to Yosemite same week with a hotel. The weather was good for the week and the California wild fires hadn’t begun yet. Amazingly we were able to book 3 nights at a resort just outside of the park.
The next logistical challenge; which airport could we use within a reasonable distance and rent a car. We must have a car to see the park.
The airports closest to the park are: MMH: Mammoth, MPI: Mariposa-Yosemite, E45: Pine Mountain Lake, O22: Columbia, or FAT: Fresno.
All the airports are open and big enough for landing, but it was impossible to find one with a car. MMH? Tioga pass closed. MPI? sold out of cars. O22 and E45? Hertz no longer delivers cars to those airports. KFAT? They have cars, but it is also 2:40 to drive to the resort we found. (The flight is about the same from Bend, OR) but it looks like that’s the only option.
But fate stepped in! Our good friend Baker was going to the area too and his dad had a Jeep at Pine Mountain Lake we could borrow- did i say it was meant to be? Pine Mountain was only a 25 minute drive from Rush Creek Lodge.
We left home and spent one night in Bend and the flew Bend to Pine Mountain. Like previously mentioned the flight was about 2:45, not to bumpy for leaving mid day! At the airport we grabbed the Jeep and loaded our stuff. The Rush Creek Lodge was close and it was an amazing place to stay. They had a huge play ground for the kids, pool, playroom restaurant and a store on site. The only downfall was it was on a very large hill, so more walking than normal.
The timing of year to visit the park was impeccable! The snow melt was still going strong which meant the waterfalls were stellar. The days we spent in the park exploring: Hetch Hetchy, The valley floor, which included an open tram tour of Bridal Vail Falls, El Capitain, and Half Moon. While in the Valley we enjoyed lunch at the Majestic Lodge (soon to go back to its original name Ahwahnee. We of course brought our National Parks passport and got our stamp at the visitors center too!
The second day we traveled to the south side of the park, about 1:30 minute drive. We went for a ride on the Sugar Pine Railroad. While the history of the railway was being explained, we enjoyed the ride through the forest. After, we went to the Mariposa Grove of the Giant Sequoias. There we walked the forest amongst the famous Grizzly Giant and the California Tunnel Tree.
The resort was perfect for relaxing in the evenings. After our all day adventures it was nice to have a place to come back to relax, swim, have dinner and s’mores. We even got to have dinner with our friends the Baker family. Adventures are always better when you get to see friends!
This last minute trip turned out to be one of our best adventures yet. If we had to plan it again, we would stay at the same place. If we needed to rent a car we would fly into KMPI.
We still have to return to visit the east side of the park.
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