My last blog was October 2020. For a few years I was pretty faithful in trying to keep up with our adventures and document our journeys…but then time got away from me and before you know it..3 years passed… Just…Like… That….

My mom is the inspiration for me to get this little blog site back up and running.  My parents have been on some pretty amazing adventures the last few years and she has been documenting it on her blog.  After reading and enjoying her posts…I decided it was time to get back on the horse.

It’s a little overwhelming thinking of where I should even begin, so I will resort to my pictures on my iPhone and try to fill in the blanks over the past 3 years and remember as much as I can.  You would think that 2 years of it would be pretty blank with the whole world shutting down for Covid…but our line of work kept us on as “essential workers” and logistics only became our worst nightmare…more on that a little later.  So for now, let’s go back to October 2020….where we last left off.  

After years of paperwork, Aaron was finally successful in getting all the required documentation and bids in for the USFS, ODF, and CalFire.  We wrote off that summer as it was late in the season and no call came in for us to be used…but one late evening around September 4th, a call came in from the desk of ODF (Oregon Department of Forestry) looking for an S61 for a fire on the coast of Oregon.  Our helicopter was in Quebec at the time and Aaron said it was available but that it was in Quebec, Canada.  The dispatcher asked where is that…Aaron replied “basically Maine”…the reply was “we will call you back.”  We figured that was the end of that conversation when the phone rang back about 4 minutes later and said…great we will take it!  

With no fuel truck, no service trailer, no second engineer, no co-pilot…really nothing in place….we said yes to ODF…and off we went. The crew had 2 days to get the helicopter to Oregon, while we tried to source a fuel trailer and the rest of the logistics.  Aaron never ceases to amaze me and within a day…was able to pull off the unimaginable.  The call came in on a Monday evening and by Wednesday evening the helicopter flew across the country and was in place for a Thursday morning start.  Now this is where the story gets crazy.  The morning we were supposed to go to the fire…they said to hold our current position and wait for a call.  About 2 hours later, they called and said we were released.  For those of you not in this industry…let me break it down for you…20 hour ferry flight from Quebec to Oregon, all paid for by ODF… overnight in Oregon…released before we even put one bucket on a fire…20 hour ferry flight back to Quebec..paid for by ODF.  

Aaron couldn’t believe it and really didn’t take no for an answer, so within an hour, ODF came to their senses and hired us for a fire out of Ashland, OR. The next 3 weeks we were hired and the devastation in the pictures below show you how cruel wildfires can be in urban interface.  These are of downtown Talent, Oregon and I5.  

After working for ODF for 3 weeks…fire season wasn’t over but our time for ODF was, so the only thing left to do was try and get the helicopter and fuel trailer carded for the USFS.  Aaron’s quick thinking and Aaron being Aaron…got us hired within 2 days after getting released from ODF and for the next few weeks we stayed in California finishing up our season in Weaverville, CA after an amazing first season ever working for USFS and ODF with our USA side of the helicopter company!  

When Aaron and I bought N2205U it was our dream retirement “vehicle of choice.”  We always thought instead of traveling in an RV when we retired, that an airplane would be our preferred “ride.”  Also, the word retirement never fit our program because we are too young, financially not ready, nor do we see that anytime in the near future or even 20+ years from now.  But when the opportunity presented itself to purchase this wagon, we took it and have always wanted to load up the family and use it that way it should be used.  So at the end of September, we did just that!  We loaded up the family and made a secretive quick trip to see my favorite niece and sister-in-law…oh ya…and my brother!  Just kidding Toddie Tu Tu.  

It was a 7 hour flight and we broke it up into a few separate stops to stretch our legs and eat some snacks (for some reason road trips always make you hungry)!  I think we had Todd totally unaware of our arrival until about an hour left to land…plus we needed a lift to his house and a set of wheels…so logistically we needed to let him know our plan lol.  It also let us get Zoey to the airport to see us land, which was pretty exciting from our view to see her excited to greet us.  

It was a super quick trip as Aaron only had a few days, and with no one else able to fly this plane back to Arizona, we packed in as much excitement as we could in the 4 days as we possibly could.  

On the way home, we had to navigate our way thru a pretty intense thunderstorm and dad and Aaron were checking their iPads and the weather radar minute by minute.  It provided mom and I a little excitement but they did an amazing job getting us home safely and one of the most amazing sunsets to touch down and land.  We had a surreal experience in the airplane and one that we hope we can duplicate in the near future.  

Fire season started off in May in Alberta this year and Aaron and crew were in Red Lake for about 3 weeks and flew almost 100 hours on a fire. I stayed in Arizona for the month of May and June to wrap up a few things I had going on my end and take care of Fraizer as it didn’t look like we had much more time with our 4-legged fur baby.  We also were super busy trying to get all of our paperwork submitted to go to Australia with a 61 in the fall once our fire season ended as well as submit for the U.S. Forest Service CWN Contracts for the next 5 years.  It sems that work never ends :). 

After a month or so apart, I flew to Alberta to meet up with Aaron on our 14th Anniversary (July 5th) and standby for our next “fire call.”  Two days later we loaded up the 61 and flew it across most of Canada to Ontario where we met up with 2 other HeliCarrier machines (another 61 and the Super Puma) and had about a 2 week contract on fires there.  I love Ontario with all the beautiful lakes…but with lakes and summer come mosquitoes….and not just little guys either…the BIG ones.  So after a 2 week stint we were ready to go and head west.  

We had a lift job lined up in B.C. so once again, loaded up the machine and flew back across most of Canada westbound.  I’m getting pretty use to these journeys and have a perfect seat in the back of the chopper with my own bubble window and 180 degree view, so needless to say the journey or ride NEVER gets old for me.  

Once the job was complete we got hired on in Penticton and spent almost another 2 weeks there.  We had a little time at night to enjoy the beautiful scenery around us.  After our contract ended it was time to get FIZA ready to go for a few lift jobs and then ready for her inaugural trip across the pond to Australia…so you guessed it…back in the chopper we went and ferried it once again across Canada to the head-shed…Quebec!  

Aaron spent most of the winter and spring months in Australia for the Bushfires but he had gotten me a very special present for my birthday in March and planned on scheduling it and surprising me when he returned home so we could go together.  When March came and went, he had completely forgot about it until they called and told him he better get it done before we missed out completely.  So in May, I had one of the most amazing and memorable experiences to date….I got to hand out the starting lineup card at the Dbacks vs Braves game.  My face says it all….thanks babe….you are absolutely amazing.   A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

In order to decrease our insurance premium in the R44, Aaron decided to take a safety course for the R44 in Torrence, CA which is where the Robinson Helicopter Factory is located.

We had planned to take the Cherokee 6 over as we needed to have some work done to it on the way home…but upon run-up the vacuum pump suction packed it in….so back to the hangar we went.  Now we easily could have unloaded and loaded up the truck and drove over…but what fun would that be.  So out came the R44 and off we went. 

It probably worked out better anyway as the visibility was pretty low once we arrived and Aaron had to get a special VFR just to land…plus, how cool is it to show up in a Robinson Helicopter right where it came from! 

On the way home we met up with my cousin Sean and his lovely wife and went out to lunch in the wine country.  A fun time was had by all.

My dad has always wanted to see the California Super Bloom, which for those who have never heard of this event, it is a rare desert botanical phenomenon in which unusually high proportion of wildflowers blossom at roughly the same time! 

You must have an unusually wet rainy season in order for this to happen.  Well, the stars couldn’t have aligned any better this year.  We had an almond-drying contract for the R44 in Santa Rosa, CA…so the chopper was perfectly positioned for us to go and pick it up once the contract ended and bring it back to Buckeye. 

So for my dad’s birthday we flew him with us to Santa Rosa and picked up the R44 and flew him over one of the most amazing sites to see from the air.  I think we all felt like rockstars as this was a pretty epic trip for all of us.  Let the pictures speak for themselves.

Our spring is never complete without a visit from our best friends from up north….the Inkster’s.  Due to our crazy schedules, it’s hard to find a time when we are all in the same continent!  But fortunately, we found 10 glorious days that we could spend together and catch up.

We had 10 days of nothing but sunshine, pool time, Batman movies, game-time, s’mores, drinks, and hot tub mornings…afternoons…and evenings lol!  We were able to catch the Easter Egg hunt downtown Buckeye, take a quick chopper ride around the Buckeye Airport…play games at Dave and Busters, and hit the Outlet Mall. 

I think the pictures and video speak for themselves and sum up our time of awesomeness….we love you Inkster’s and are looking forward to our next adventure!

Todd had another college trip planned for his students over Spring Break, so we met up with Krista and Zoey in New Orleans for a 5 day cruise on the Carnival Glory where it would take us to Cozumel and Progreso, Mexico.  Zoey was a rockstar at Camp Ocean Kids Camp where she met lots of other fellow kid cruisers and gave Krista a few hours to go and explore the ship and work out and mom and dad and I a little down time to enjoy the waves and catch up on our magazine reading and dad quizzing me on airplane stuff!

We had a short but sweet time together as we always do….certainly missed having Todd and Aaron along as Aaron was still in Australia working on wildfires…but always a great time with the family and my favorite niece! Until our next adventure little Zoey Bird!!!

The “Aviation Bug” finally hit me!  After all of this time being around the aviation world with Aaron as a helicopter pilot and having a Cherokee 6 to ride around in as well as my father being a Private Pilot 👨‍✈️….I decided that I wanted to get my Private Pilots Fixed-Wing license as well!  So mid January, I hired an instructor as I have a Cessna 150/150 at my disposal.  She’s called the Red Rocket and boy oh boy does she go. 

I have an amazing instructor that has taught for 50 years and also is an A&P…so I have the best of both worlds…anything that needs a little tuning up…he’s my go to!  Due to the Federal Government shutdown, I applied for a Student Pilots License in January and around April it finally arrived.

I accrued about 11 hours with my instructor and countless hours with my dad on the side circling the pattern over and over and over again, while making him take me to $100 hamburger lunches to try out other runways until I am ready to solo…but fire season and a few other projects took precedent, so I put her away for the summer and will get my license hopefully in the fall when we get done dropping water on wildfires for the summer.

I have loved the time this has given me with my dad….and learning from one of the best teachers ever…my husband who knows it all.  Between my instructor, my dad, and my husband….how can I fail.  But I will tell you, it isn’t as easy as I thought it would be and at times I wonder if it’ll ever really come together…but I know I am in the best hands possible and I am determined to see this thru.  Before I left we had a chance to try some sky writing….and FYI….it isn’t easy!  You are welcome A A Ron!  So for now…I shall just keep studying and get pumped for the fall…and hopefully cooler weather than our AZ Heat!!!

It’s a good thing that I don’t have a legitimate following on this blog site as I’d have no followers at this point due to my inconsistency on posting.  But I promised myself that I would continue to document our journeys as much as I could….so 8 months later….here we go again and I will try and not make it an 8 month dry spell for the few that follow along 🙂

Back in the fall/winter months after we left the Great Barrier Reef, we headed to Ballarat where Aaron would start the first ever NVG (Night Vision Google) flying for Coulson after years of trial runs.  It was a big deal in Australia, so lots of press releases, nightly news reports, and conferences.  I was a pretty proud wife to say the least.  

After years of going over to Oz and staying in Colac, it was nice to see and explore a new location.  Aaron and I had about 2 weeks or so to explore the area together as his night shift duty didn’t start until later.  So as usual, it was off to find Koala’s, Kangaroo’s, and Birds!

Ballarat is known for it’s Gold Rush….so at one point, another pilot, Aaron, and myself got a Miner’s Rights License and rented metal detectors for the day.  We had an absolute hay day trying to find our very own golden nugget….we didn’t strike it rich…but boy oh boy did we have fun!

Coulson had another successful winter season and I know Aaron had a large part to do with that.  It was another great winter of fighting fire and Aaron was able to come home for Christmas and celebrate with his dad and then head back over by himself for his last tour with Coulson and onto our next adventure with HeliCarrier Helicopters.