After a 10 hour flight from Hawaii, we landed in Sydney with a 2 hour layover until our final destination for the night came to an end in Brisbane.  We really hadn’t made too many plans until we were in Hawaii which was just 2 days prior, and once we had a plan, we should have really booked a different destination other than Brisbane as we really needed or wanted to go farther north, but the tickets were cheap and that’s what we get for not planning ahead!  Nonetheless, we enjoyed a rest at the hotel right at the airport and then we were off the next day to Airlie Beach via Proserpine (local airport about 30 minute drive).

Since we knew we were going to get in late to Brisbane we got a ticket for around 1 or so to depart the next day…but due to the jet lag and sleep schedule, we were up around 3 A.M., so we managed to get on an earlier flight around 9 A.M. which worked out perfectly as we didn’t have too many days in paradise!  Once we arrived we knew we made the right choice as it was just like a postcard picture.  We enjoyed the rest of the day walking around the town, grabbing a local beer, and enjoying our view from our hotel.

Our second day in Airlie Beach was a sailboat tour.  Now….first things first…..when I was 10 years old or so, I went with my grandparents on a their sailboat in Ohio.  I absolutely LOVE the water….I love to swim, was a lake rat for 20+ years, heck, we even owned a houseboat for many years…..but for some reason, I am absolutely terrified of sailboats.  This was the one and only tour that had any availability and this was our last day at Airlie Beach, and we HAD to see the reef, hence the whole reason for this trip….lots of time has gone by since I was 10 (lots lol), so maybe I wasn’t even afraid anymore….so off we went for the ENTIRE DAY on a SAILBOAT.  The chartered 52′ sailboat had 2 crew members, the Captain at the helm and about 16 of us along for the ride.  The first 15-20 minutes were the most enjoyable…as the sail wasn’t up and we were just clipping along.  It was pretty windy the day we went,….which is perfect for sailing….bad for Tessie.  Once we got out of the bay and enroute…there was no turning back.  I had a good grip on the railing for the first 30 minutes…and the minute they threw up the sail and all I could do was hang on for dear life… that’s when it was all over for me.  The whole “heeling” thing is what I hate…which is what SAILING is all about lol.  I’ll spare everyone the dramatic details, but I couldn’t wait for it to be over which was unfortunate as it was an all day thing…so I tried focusing on snorkeling the reef….which was AMAZING.

After we snorkeled for about an hour, we had to get back on that cursed sailboat and head to one of the most stunning beaches I have ever walked on…Whitehaven Beach.  This beach is over 7 kilometers and boasts this brilliant white 99% silica sand that is among the purest in the world and evidently only NASA is allowed to remove and take any of it.  Unbeknownst to Aaron and I, this didn’t really register just how bright it would reflect from the sun onto our skin, well in fairness, Aaron was catching on quickly as the ginger….but with only an hours stay there….we sadly are still peeling and suffering from the effects.  Not good on our part…but the views were absolutely amazing.

The return back was just as bad getting over on the sailboat, and at one point, Aaron even thought we were going over…but obviously I am writing this so we lived!  That night we treated ourselves to some local seafood which was killer….next stop in the morning was Hamilton Island via the ferry boat.  We arrived around 11 and checked into our room for the evening and our view was unbelievable.

Aaron needed a little rest as the sunburn was making him a bit sick and the golf cart we rented wasn’t available until around 4ish so I just enjoyed the view from the balcony while he slept a bit and then once he was up….it was off to explore the entire island via a golf cart!

The views were unbelievable and we couldn’t have had a better time.  We enjoyed a wonderful night ride around on the golf cart and then took it to the airport in the morning where we caught our flight to Melbourne to start work.  What a trip!

We had a few weeks to get things in order at home and then it was back off to work.  But before we had to be in Australia we had a few places lined up.  The first stop was Vancouver to complete Aaron’s dunker training.  After a few days there it was off to Hawaii for a few days to rest up and break up the big trip across the pond.  We have been to Honolulu a few times before so we didn’t really plan on doing anything major or super touristy.  The first day we walked around downtown Honolulu and just took it easy.  The next day we awoke before the sunrise so we walked down to the beach and caught the sunrise with Diamond Head in the distance behind us, then we rented a cute little convertible and drove around the entire island, stopping along the way for some shaved ice, spam musubi, dim sum, POG juice and Aaron’s all time favorite Loco moco at the famous Rainbow Drive-In after treating me to a beautiful lei!  We soaked up all the sights in a quick but sweet visit.  It was a great layover until our early morning start to the land of OZ….Aloha!

We had a couple of weeks at home in Arizona before it was time to pack our bags and head down under.  As usual, we NEVER have enough time at home, but we tried to get it all in and then some.  I flew home the 20th of September, while Aaron flew to Boise to get his recurrent night vision google training all cued up for this season.  After that he made 2 trips to Vancouver, but once that was done…we had some of our own flying to do!  Our first order of business was going to pickup the R44 in Utah.  So Aaron and my dad flew to Salt Lake City, rented a car, drove a few hours south to where the chopper was being stored and Aaron picked it up and flew it to Spanish Forks, Utah for the night and they would leave in the morning.  Once it made it to Buckeye, a few hovering lessons were in store for my dad as well as a few rides around the valley for the family, including a Sunday Brunch in Chandler at the airport.  

Aaron wanted to get some more time in the Piper, so we took my parents to Bermuda Dunes Airport in Palm Valley for lunch one day and to Sedona for breakfast one Friday morning.  Sedona Airport at the moment is my favorite fly in restaurants, not only for the unbelievable scenery but the food was amazing as well!  Dad and I were able to get in a few more lessons with the Red Rocket and take some trips around the patch which are always fun….I will continue my flying lessons when I get home.  

Aaron’s dad had to take the ranch helicopter to the owner in Carson City, so we picked him up in the Piper and were able to stay at the ranch for a few days and catch up with his dad and check on the cows.  The ranch never gets old….it’s just one of those places that does something for your soul….we get so used to being tied to our electronic devices that it’s nice to unplug for awhile and just enjoy nature’s beauty.  It was a short but sweet trip and we are always grateful for our time with Mike as we don’t get to spend as much time as we’d like together.  

Normally when we fly our plane to the ranch we leave pretty early in the morning as it’s a smoother ride…but we had been tracking the weather in Buckeye and the winds were ridiculous, so we didn’t leave John Day until around noonish and bucked a headwind the ENTIRE trip home, which normally takes us about 5.5 hours.  This trip home took every bit of 7 hours which put us home at dark….so a nighttime landing was in order….but before I get to that…one of my most memorable moments on this trip was flying by the Grand Canyon on the way home at sunset watching all the helicopter tour machines on their way in for the night below us, listening to game 7 of the NCLS in my headset!  WOW!  

My mom promised Aaron a train ride out of Cottonwood, Arizona for many years now for his birthday present and he just has never been home long enough to collect on it….well, we did this time home and it was a great getaway!  Super cute little town, awesome hotel, and the train ride was fantastic….best part of all was the company!  Thank you mom for a wonderful gift.  

We were able to enjoy our own bed for awhile, see the bushes, shrubs, and flowering plants bloom which we are never around for, catch up with friends for a quick visit, start the 56’ long enough to put it safely back in the garage lol, and mark off a few honey do list items as well!

My time home was amazing but also bittersweet at the same time.  My mom and I have shared two kitties for 15 years and I knew when I left it was time to say goodbye to our precious Dee Dee girl.  Pets are remarkable creatures that bring us nothing but absolute joy and unconditional love.  Both my mom and I have relied on these two beautiful cats for many years as sometimes they were all we would come home to during the week and it always felt like we had someone waiting and counting on us to come home when the boys were hard at work or away for months on end.  So they become your “kids” and it isn’t easy to say goodbye.  I’m grateful she is no longer in pain and am grateful for all the love and lap cuddles she gave us for the past 15 years….but her presence in our home will be greatly missed.  If love could have saved you, you would have lived forever Dee Dee….

Once we parked the big chopper from our EPIC firefighting summer, Aaron and I decided to stay on the east coast for one more week for a few reasons.  Unfortunately in our business many of our jobs with the helicopter are “mother nature” related, so once we completed fighting the wildfires in Canada, it was immediately hurricane season and Hurricane Florence was due to arrive on the east coast in a few days and the calls were already coming in regarding our location.  So we decided to sit tight on the east coast for a few days until it made landfall and see if we were needed.  But as most of you know, Aaron and I don’t do too much “sitting” so we caught a last minute 5 day cruise out of Boston that was headed north, out of Hurricane Florence’s direction!  Our stops included Halifax, Nova Scotia, St. Johns, New Brunswick, and Bar Harbor, Maine.  We both needed this time to just relax and unwind from such an eventful and hardworking summer and I wanted to cross off a few more places off my bucket list.  

Our first stop was Halifax.  My parents had been here before on the Fall Colors Cruise, which Aaron and I were beginning to catch a glimpse of and were fortunate to see it from the helicopter the previous year on a ski lift job he did in Vermont.  But we missed this color change by about 3 weeks or so…anyway…the parents told us to go to Peggy’s Cove.  We hired a local driver for a couple of hours who did a great job of pointing out all the local attractions and points of interest.  The weather in Halifax was absolutely gorgeous and we couldn’t have asked for a better day to check out the city.  We really enjoyed our day there and it really was an awesome stop.  We were hoping to catch up with an old buddy Wally Workman but unfortunately our stop was too short…so hopefully next time!

Next up was St. Johns!  Once again, we got a taxi driver to drive us around for 2 hours and take us to the famous spot called The Reversing Falls, which are a series of rapids on the Saint John River that run through a narrow gorge before emptying into the Bay of Fundy forcing the flow of water to reverse against the prevailing current when the tide is high. I’m sure it would have been pretty cool to see it at the times when the tide is actually changing, but sadly our ship left by then….so if this is something on your list…definitely get the times before you go…or I’m afraid you’re going to be sorely disappointed. 

One thing that wasn’t on the list of the cruise ship or really anywhere was this stunning 600 acre coastal park which our driver took us to just to kill some time.  If we had known about it or had done some more research, I think we would have went out there first and spent more time hiking around and spent our whole time here.  It was the Irving Nature Park and it was an amazing little piece of paradise.  I’d say next time…but I’m pretty sure unless a chopper job takes us here…this is a “once and done” kinda town!  We grabbed our last Tim Hortons coffee for awhile and the best beavertail imaginable and got back on the ship.  

Probably our favorite stop on this cruise was Bar Harbor.  We had pre-booked Lulu Lobster Boat, which I would highly recommend.  That mornings visibility was maybe 50 feet, so I wasn’t sure what was going to happen once we got off the ship….which was a feat in it’s own just to get the tender boat ashore!  Be sure to catch the video below.

Bar Harbor is home to the largest parts of Acadia National Park, including Cadillac Mountain (also named after my car evidently), the highest point within twenty-five miles of the coastline of the Eastern United States.   After Aaron and I had an extremely educational Lobster Tour, which really was exceptional, we took a trolley ride up to the top of Cadillac Mountain and Acadia National Park, then came back down for some lobster and wild berry pie!  Another great weather day for sightseeing…minus the early morning fog…but it made for an interesting tender ride!

Once back in Boston we got word that we were not needed for Hurricane Relief Efforts but Aaron’s partner Fred planned to meet him in PA in a few days….so what else to do in the meantime but start crossing off MORE BASEBALL STADIUMS!!!  Ironically, the Boston Red Sox were playing at 1 P.M. the day our cruise got back into port….so we caught Boston vs. Mets and with Fenway being the oldest MLB (built in 1912)….it was an honor to be able to be there and see it in person. 

We stayed the night in Boston and then headed to Baltimore to catch the Orioles vs. BlueJays. Part of my bucket list is not only going to all the MLB Stadiums but getting some pretty amazing seats….most of the time we are close to home plate.  The reason I bring this up is because most of the time these seats cost a little bit of money….but we know this and this is why we work lol…..anyway, we got on SeatGeek to purchase our Orioles tickets and the total came to $16 for the two of us for 4 rows back from home plate!  Now, the weather was forecasted for rain, so we figured maybe that’s why they were so cheap…but worst case, we get our money back….and for $16 bucks we were willing to chance it anyway.  Uh….it turned out to be clear, blue, and 22….one of the best nights in Baltimore….gorgeous sunset, phenomenal stadium, and $16 SEATS FOR TWO!!!!  It doesn’t get any better than that. 

Last but not least, we returned to Philly and caught a night game.  I am left with only 4 more MLB Stadiums to go…..after that….I will need a new focus!

We started the journey at the end of June in Ontario which lead us to Quebec, back to Ontario, over to Manitoba, back to Ontario, across to Alberta, and ending in British Columbia.  The summer was nothing less than EPIC!  I was able to see so many faces that we worked with in Afghanistan that I hadn’t seen in almost 4 years, so it was so much fun to at least catch up and say hi!  Once the final call came that ended our fire season, we started making our ferry trip flight plan back to the home base.  Here was the route:  Fraser Lake, B.C ~ Prince George, B.C.~ Edmonton, Alberta ~ Saskatoon, Saskatchewan ~ Dauphin, Manitoba ~ Dryden, Ontario ~ Geraldton, Ontario ~ Timmons, Ontario ~ Val-d’Or, Quebec ~ Wendake, Quebec!

We were able to work alongside some of the most professional and hard working crews that are in the biz, which made it enjoyable for everyone. I am amazed at not only the crew at HeliCarrier but all the crews and helicopter companies that “make it work” all summer.  The days and hours are long and arduous, they go weeks without seeing their families, they sleep in not always the best conditions…forget about your dietary needs and nutrition, as you never know when your next meal might be or how long you go without one.  If you have to do laundry at 10 PM just so you can have clean underwear for the next week…then that’s what you have to do. When they fly 8 hour days or longer, sometimes they hit the start button and don’t shut down until the day is done…so on fuel stops they hop out quickly to go to the bathroom and stretch their legs for 5 minutes and then back in the chopper they go.  Don’t even think about planning anything on what may come the next day, let alone the next hour as you never know if you’re coming or going.  Sometimes its the release phone call on a fire at 6PM and they relocate you 6 or more hours to the next fire…then it’s the hurry up and get there flight and logistics. The only thing you can count on and plan is ABSOLUTE RIGID FLEXIBILITY.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved every minute (well mostly lol) of being able to tag along and see what happens behind the scenes on fires….as I used to be the one digging the dirt on the ground…not in the air!  But it definitely takes a toll on ones body and mind and this lifestyle isn’t for everyone.  Aaron and I have a unique situation and I’m lucky enough to be able to take some time off and travel along…but 99.9% of everyone else can’t have their significant other tag along…so it can become a lonely journey for sure.  

So the next time you meet a chopper pilot or crew member of a helicopter company….make sure you thank them…as the work isn’t easy and those guys and gals go above and beyond to make sure you have trees, homes, structures, parks, National Forests and cabins to go home to…and to the crew members at HeliCarrier and more importantly my favorite pilot of all times….THANK YOU for this unbelievable and indescribable summer.  We are like family…and we all look out for each other. Until the next adventure……cheers!

After a few days in Rocky Mountain House we headed to Springbank Airport which is close to Calgary and stayed for only 1 day to be relocated about 2.5 hours south to Pincher Creek, Alberta where we stayed for about a week.  Pincher Creek has one annual event that the town lives for….The Pincher Creek Pro Rodeo and we hit it just in time.  Unfortunately hotel rooms were a bit of a nightmare trying to find rooms for all the crew….but I was able to catch a few hours of the local festivity as well as an afternoon trip to Waterton Lakes National Park which was absolutely stunning even with the smoked in mountains from the fire.  

Once we got released from Pincher Creek we got picked up in BC on all the fires there.   Logistics can get somewhat complicated as we are using a Uhual for our Service Van….the joke is a Service Van in every town as typically there are Uhual rentals everywhere and with this amount of moving from the East Coast of Canada to the West Coast of Canada…it only makes sense to use this service and it works out great storing everything that is inside the helicopter and setting up a makeshift office.  Sometimes the other helicopter companies are driving 30+ hours in their service vans to get to the next location…so this works out well for us at this point in time. But what I have found in Canada with the Uhual companies is not all of them allow you to pay the drop-off fee to dump them in another city.  When that’s the case, then logistics become a nightmare as sometimes we have to backtrack and drop off the Uhual where we picked it up and usually we are nowhere NEAR where we picked it up. This is where I become useful…as the engineer can go with the chopper and I become the drop off driver and meet up with the crew later.  This was the case when we left Pincher Creek.  We had a rental car that needed to go back to Calgary….as Budget was not willing to let us pay a service charge to drop it off somewhere else close to our location and the Uhual had to go about an hour and some change east to Lethbridge.  So I followed the engineer in the Uhual to Lethbridge, we dropped off the Uhual, and then I drove him back to Pincher Creek, they blasted off to go to Hope, BC and then I drove the 3 hours North to Calgary to drop off the rental car and catch a flight to Vancouver to pick up another Uhual that was only available the next morning and meet them in Hope. So I had a quick night all to myself in Vancouver and then an early morning pickup at the Uhaul place and then a few hours drive to Hope, BC.  

In all of my own personal days of fighting fire before I met Aaron working on the ground in the States and of all of the times I have tagged along with Aaron all over Canada and in Australia…this is the worst air quality I have ever encountered here in BC.  The articles in the news coming out daily is that BC is currently the worst in the world for smoke inhalation….it’s like smoking 7 cigarettes a day right now….and I have to admit….it feels like it.  When I landed in Vancouver you could barley see a half mile.  It was unreal.  The only thing that is going to put out these fires is old man winter I’m afraid…but we will continue to do our part and fight the good fight!  We stayed in Hope for a week or so and then got released to go home to Quebec.  We all know how this works so we decided to wait for a 24 hour period to see if things changed…as they always do. The next morning we woke up to “no new news” so around noon we all made plans to head home for about 5 days as we had a Whistler job that we needed to come back to at a later time.  So we got the helicopter all situated at another local helicopter company to keep an eye on, bought airline tickets, took the Uhual back, rented 2 cars as 3 of us had to catch flights in Vancouver and the other crew member was driving back home….gave the hugs and said our goodbyes for now…..and that’s when the phone rang…..we got picked back up on fires….destination Fraser Lake, BC….OMG!  So, all 4 iPhones were going, cancelling all the plans, making new reservations….and 20 minutes later…we were off to Fraser Lake!  I was able to travel along via the big chopper on this relo and see the stunning scenery below…and sometimes not too far below as the mountains are HIGH!  These are the moments that make it all worth it…to be able to tag along and see these sites is surreal.  I was able to spot a few black bears and lots of geese and other birds.  Doesn’t get any better than that.  

Once in Fraser Lake, we got the last 3 remaining rooms at the Fraser Inn….none of us are high maintenance, but boy oh boy…that hotel was something else.  I think after 10 days all of us were ready for clean bedsheets, a real working shower with hot water, and just anything better than what we just encountered.  When we arrived at the airport, there were about 18 choppers on the scene.  WOW!  They had the crane, 4 Kamovs, 214ST, 214B, 3 S61’s, a few 212’s, a handful of Astars, a couple of Jet Rangers/LongRangers, and probably some other one off’s I can’t remember.  It was a regular Air Show everyday!  We flew quite a few 8 hour days at the beginning, but once a lot of the the heavy iron was released the days became super long as they weren’t launching us until after 4 PM or later at night….so you sit there all day….just waiting! It was a loooonnnngggg 10 days! Nonetheless, we got an extra 10 days of firefighting and shut the season down on September 7th!  It was an EPIC summer of fighting fire all across Canada.  Next stop….QUEBEC!

I took the summer off to join the “Helicopter Groupie” road trip!  As I never get to see Aaron anymore, I figured this would be a great chance to escape the Arizona heat and spend some time with Big A as they had a power line pole job in Parry Sound, Ontario.  We left at the end of June together and had about a week in Parry Sound at the Grand Tappattoo Resort on standby and were able to catch one baseball game in Toronto with the crew before the fire season went absolutely nuts. 

This picture below needs a quick explanation.  After work we usually all went out to go to dinner and enjoy the local restaurants of Parry Sound.  Evidently Billy Baldwin was in town filming a movie and happened to be at the same restaurant as us.  I wasn’t in a position that I could see him, so I asked Aaron to sneak a picture for me so I could check him out….and yes…eventually brag that I got to see Billy Baldwin in person….and this is what I got…..I think Aaron did it on purpose….as he could care less lol!!!  Nonetheless, once he got up and left, he had to walk right past us to leave…so I did really see him and yes it was him…but we have to laugh at this barely visible half head shot that Aaron took.  The first call came in around 5 PM and they needed us on a fire in Quebec…about a 7 hour flight away.  Well, with no time to spare, we hurriedly raced to the aircraft (luckily we had it all loaded and gassed up the day before as we thought we were headed to another fire earlier in the week) and headed to HeliCarrier headquarters in Quebec as that was as far as we could make it given the time of day.  We stayed the night there and then blasted off early in the morning to get headed to Forestville, Quebec.  Once we crossed the border…nothing but French, luckily the other machine was also on the same fire so we swapped one French speaking pilot for one non-speaking pilot and away we went! 

We stayed in Quebec for about 6 days or so before getting called to another fire in Ontario.  I hate to say it…but we were all ready to leave the Province as our French wasn’t getting any better, nor was their English…so off we went to North Bay, Ontario where we would stay for about a week working hard on the North Bay Sector 2b Fire before getting relocated to Earlton, Ontario on the Lady Evelyn Park Complex Fire. 

Once in Earlton, “fire camp” operations were in full effect….3 square meals a day, a dining area, washrooms, laundry facilities….life was good!  We had a mini Molson Air Reunion as Darren Davies, Mike Woodcock, Jason Beaton, Aaron and myself were all there working on the fire…so it was great to see familiar faces and all work together. 

After almost a week or so on that fire, we got relocated to Britt, Ontario….out in the middle of NOWHERE on the Parry Sound 33 Fire!  They basically took a 2 acre parcel from a local farmer….told him to cut down the weeds, and then put about 15 helicopters on his land….which, 15 helicopters and that tiny area is nuts!  I guess they do things a little different in Canada eh! Stu Wild, another Molson Air employee joined our group there. Nonetheless, we worked out of there for almost a week before Alberta called in need of choppers….so after a 15 hour ferry flight….Rocky Mountain House….here we come…ready to bucket!  

Aaron and I had to make a really quick trip to Albuquerque in order to do our last little sign off for our 133/137 certificate.  We made a quick stop in Chicago where we went to a WhiteSox game due to the fact that the last year when we came we got rained out!  We had time to catch a quick boat ride downtown Chicago showing us all the architectural buildings….which was awesome.  After a quick tour of the city and some stellar ice cream, we ventured out to the stadium as our seats included the buffet.  Aaron and I were beyond exhausted from all the fighting fires and traveling from here to there that we only made it to the 7th Inning Stretch (we always have to get the song in!!!) and then retired for the evening as we had an early flight in the morning and lots to do once we arrived in Albuquerque After seeing the WhiteSox lose to the Royals….I am left with only 7 more MLB Stadiums to see….insert sad face! 

Once we landed in New Mexico it was off to the races in order to get everything lined out for the FAA Inspection…which is always a stressful ordeal.  We hadn’t seen the Red Rocket since we dropped it off in PA.  We had someone ferry it to New Mexico as we didn’t have the time to do it ourselves…so once we figured out the correct location of where it was being stored (inside joke), we got to it!  

Our first objective was to figure out if the Bambi bucket (which we had to lease for this occasion as they are very expensive and we don’t plan on bucketing with this machine) held water and was is good shape.  We had a few issues with the bucket at first, but with the help of a local helicopter engineer watching us from down the road and Aaron’s knowledge, we got it figured out.  Then we had to go burn off as much fuel as possible because the DA (density altitude) in Belen, New Mexico was extremely high.  So we took everything out of the helicopter to make it as “skinny” as possible, including the doors and took her out for an early evening sunset tour!  Once again, Aaron never ceases to amaze me with his flying skills and the fact that he can jump into any chopper at anytime like it’s not a big deal.  

We had one more day to make sure we were ready to go, so we used it as a trial run and got a few buckets of water and took a few videos just incase it didn’t go as planned on the big day.  It’s that time of year where afternoon storms are very prominent, so as scheduled, our afternoons were pretty much shot for further flying and testing….but we felt pretty confident that we were ready to go the next day!  

Our meeting was scheduled for 1 PM in Belen, New Mexico.  We arrived around 9 in the morning to get the helicopter and bucket out and ready to go.  Once set up we got out all our necessary documents and then just had time to kill (or pace back and forth lol). The FAA Inspector arrived on time but then we had to wait for about 30 minutes for his partner.  With the temperatures only continuing to rise, afternoon T-Storms in the forecast, and more anxiety….the other gentleman finally arrived and it was Aaron’s time to shine.  After about 3 hours and a quick demo in the helicopter….Aaron successfully completed our 133/137 Certificate.  There really isn’t anything Big A can’t do….and I am so proud of him.  

In June of 2017…we bought our retirement vehicle….well, ok…something we had been planning on buying once we hit the age of retirement (what age that will be for Aaron will probably be never…hence the early purchase).  We found a decent deal in Placerville, CA and in typical Lighter fashion…one minute we are drinking our morning coffee and the next we are on a commercial flight headed to Placerville!  So, on the 5th of June we arrived around 6 pm and by noon the next day we were headed back to Buckeye in N2205U with the help of another pilot to get us home safely as we didn’t have anytime in a Cherokee 6!  The previous owner was an attorney and didn’t use it as often as he’d liked to….so after only a few days on the market….we decided that you’re never guaranteed tomorrow…so let’s take the plunge and make it happen (folks don’t try this at home)!   So after a little negotiation…we were the proud new owners of N2205U.  Little did I know that Aaron had big avionic plans for this new baby….details to follow….but for the first few months we took and few short trips and she was a dream to fly around in.

Placerville, CA to Buckeye, AZ

After Aaron got checked out we headed to Oregon where we picked up his dad in John Day and then headed to Hamilton, Montana for his half-sisters wedding.  The view was spectacular and it was fun taking this first trip with his father…pretty special for all of us!

Hamilton, Montana

After a few short trips…it was time for Aaron to go back to work but not before he dropped the bomb about taking it over to Falcon Field to put the latest and greatest avionics in her!!!  Six months and many payments later…. we were back in business.  Oh Aaron….

Falcon Field Avionics Shop

Once she was bedazzled in avionics…it was off to the races…we went to Oregon to the 96 Ranch a few times, went over to see Zoey in Albuquerque, New Mexico, went to Harris Ranch, flew over Lake Tahoe, zipped over to Prineville, OR for some recurrent Forest Service training, flew to Lake Havasu to cross that off my bucket list and a few day trips for some $100 hamburgers.  Our only regret….is not purchasing her sooner!  Moral of this post….if there is something you want to do in life…DON’T WAIT…life is too short…sure there’s always the little voice saying now isn’t the right time….don’t have the money….save for later…etc!  But make it happen, take the risk….because once again…life sometimes doesn’t give you tomorrow.  So enjoy the perfect present.

Headed to the 96 Ranch, Seneca, Oregon 

Oregon

96 Ranch

Harris Ranch, Coalinga, California 

Lake Tahoe and Carson City, Nevada

Lake Havasu, Arizona

Kingman, Arizona

Prineville, Oregon

Aaron and I had about 2 weeks that we had left before fire season began so we knew exactly where we wanted to go during that time…..THE 96 RANCH and see our moo-moos!  We hardly get the chance to go there as often as we’d like, which leaves Mike to do all the work.  So we figured this would be a great opportunity to help out as much as we could while we were there and it’s always a great time to just be with his dad at such a beautiful, bliss, scenic place.  There is something to be said for places such as this…it just does something to your heart and soul….maybe it’s not being able to have cell service or many distractions…but whatever it is…we always love being there.  I had my first experience at an auction which was pretty cool.  We ended up buying about 6 or so more heifers, a pair, and a few steers to our collection. I had my eye on two in particular…and named them Wanda and Sykes…..I know, I know…first of all…never name them as you get attached to them…and secondly, uh…why those names lol!  It doesn’t matter….what matters is, we won them and took them to their new home!  

We were able to vaccinate and brand the spring herd and take them all where they needed to be pastured for the next couple of months.  We got in a few horseback rides, one afternoon snooze at the Luce Pasture, and a few Lifetime movies with his dad in the evenings.  We never have enough time there and always hate to leave….but when the phone rings and it’s time to go back to work and pay the bills…well, that’s what you have to do!