Travel Day – Ashland to Fort Bragg

On June 4, 2016June 4, 2016 By The Flying DutchmanIn TravelLeave a comment

We spent the majority of Friday driving from Ashland, Oregon to Fort Bragg, California. There’s not a lot to complain about though because the scenery is beautiful. We would love to spend some time in the area around Yreka. It’s a beautiful place.

We stopped off in Redding to walk across the Sundial Bridge.

We drove on and on and finally got to take a break when traffic came to a standstill on Highway 20 between Willits and Fort Bragg. It is a gorgeous place to be stuck.

We finally got to our hotel an hour and a half later than we had planned. We decided to go explore a little before heading out for dinner and we ended up at the Pomo Bluffs. What a hidden gem! We spent the afternoon just walking around the bluffs and breathing the fresh air.

There were only a few other tourists other than us there. It was wonderful.

After dinner at a Noyo restaurant we took a wrong turn, a very fortuitous wrong turn, and ended up at the mouth of Noyo Harbor. We were treated to the most gorgesous sunset.

The next day we played tourist for half the morning and drove home. Nothing really special to report there. Al in all we loved our trip to Ashland and Fort Bragg and ~~would love to~~ WILL visit again!

Here’s a little treat… The surf at Pomo Bluffs

Ashland Oregon – Day 2

On June 2, 2016 By The Flying DutchmanIn TravelLeave a comment

This morning we woke up and headed down to the Ashland Food Coop for some breakfast and to do a little shopping. They have a buffet style food bar with all organic non-GMO foods. It was delicious! We went into the rest of the store to buy some water and stumbled on a nutritional wonderland for Cristy. Every homeopathic health suppliment and medicine you can imagine was there along with a huge variety of locally grown fruits vegetables, meats, and dairy items. We ended up only getting a few snack items, water, and coconut water. It even puts Whole Foods to shame. We really wish we had something like this back in Modesto.

Then we headed back to the cottage so Cristy could get ready for her massage and soak at Chozu Tea Gardens. She elected to have a deep tissue massage. First they had her go sit in the dry sauna for 10 minutes or so to soften her muscles up then she showered and spent an hour getting her muscles worked out by the masseuse. Then we spent another hour soaking in one of the private hot pools (since we forgot our bathing suits). It was heavenly. Then we finished up with 15 minutes in the dry sauna, a shower, and then went off for lunch. Sorry, no photos from inside. Please note that if you go there after 6pm it is clothing optional so if simple nudity offends you, please go there before 6pm. We got there at 8pm and were given wraps to wear. Some folks were wearing them, some folks weren’t. At any rate, you can avoid this if you get there earlier in the day.

A note on Chozu, they also have a tea and sake bar and can serve light meals. If you are evern in Ashland, please check them out!

IMG_20160602_104952132_HDR — Our cottage

IMG_20160602_104346408_HDR — Chozu Bath and Tea Gardens

After our soak we headed downtown to find some lunch. We ended up at a place called Pangea. Cristy had a salad and I had a vegetarian panini

Afterwards we explored the town until dinner time. We ran into a great little place along the creek that runs through downtown and had a wonderful dinner.

For the rest of the evening we just relaxed back at the cottage and enjoyed the views. We wanted to rest up because tomorrow we’re driving to Fort Bragg, California. Catch you tomorrow.

Ashland Oregon – Day 1

On June 1, 2016 By The Flying DutchmanIn TravelLeave a comment

For our combined birthdays I decided to take Cristy on a trip to Ashland, Oregon. It’s a college town that has a kind of hippie vibe that we enjoy. Most of today was spent driving up here. We are staying at Chozu Bath and Tea Gardens. They have two cottages next door at which you can stay. I didn’t get any pictures of the cottage today but I’ll take one tomorrow. Chozu is just a quiet place to soak or get a massage and enjoy the quiet gardens, something we could really used after the last year.

I’ll have a full write up of our full day in Ashland tomorrow. In the mean time enjoy some of the travel photos.

Raw Video Footage from Red Hills 2016

On May 29, 2016 By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Travel1 Comment

Here is the raw footage as I got it from Red Hills this year. It’s nothing special but it was fun. Enjoy!

Red Hills 3rd Annual Fly-In

On May 29, 2016May 30, 2016 By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, TravelLeave a comment

A little over three years ago my friend Joey Myers and I were visiting with Jack and Myrna Moyle telling them about a group of guys I had been flying with. We regaled them with stories of Johnson Creek and the High Sierra Fly-In over in Nevada. I commented how their runway would make a great fly-in destination. Jack loves airplanes and said he’d love to see some of the airplanes our group was flying. I asked if we could have a fly-in on their property and they agreed.

This year was the third year we had our low-key fly-in and it was the best yet. We had about 16 airplanes show up or stop in. Airplanes began arriving Friday morning. We had folks come in from Santa Maria and Santa Rosa, Oakdale and Calaveras. A great mix of local and cross-country folks. We even had Steve Henry’s old Yee Haw! Higlander show up with it’s new owner on the last day of the fly-in. Friday was just a day to chill out and set up camp. Jack and Myrna arranged for us to drive into Jamestown for dinner. We stopped in at Morelia Mexican Restaurant. Dinner was delcious! I wish yours truly would remember to take pictures though. After dinner we headed back to Red Hills Ranch to watch the sun set and tell lies well into the evening. It was a really warm evening so no campfire. We just enjoyed the cool breezes.

The next morning we piled into our airplanes (I am airplaneless at the moment so I bummed a ride) and headed out to Lodi Airport (103) to have breakfast at the Lodi Airport Cafe. We met up with a few others that were heading out to Red Hills and had an enjoyable breakfast catching up with old friends and getting to know new ones. Afterwards we caravaned back to Red Hills.

IMG_20160528_062850723 — Charlie enjoying her morning coffee

Around lunch time we had a small water bombing and spot landing contest. Rob Farlane took the water-bombing prize and Aaron Bartels took the spot landing prize. Well done guys! For the rest of the afternoon we all just kicked back and enjoyed the ranch.

IMG_20160529_075215722 — Jack Moyle getting his yearly airplane ride!

Saturday evening was our pot luck dinner. There was tri-tip, pork, chile, salad, and a host of other delicious goodies. Julie brough some of her signature wine and Tom grabbed a crate of apricots from his apricot factory. 🙂 No one ever goes hungry here. Eating and drinking went well into the evening when we talked, looked at stars, spotted satellites and even spotted the International Space Station going by.

Sunday morning there were some local fly-outs and folks just generally packing up. The highlight of the morning was Myrna’s breakfast of bacon, sausage, scambled eggs with peppers, and pancakes. Delicous! After breakfast goodbyes were said and then folks flew off into the clear blue western skies!

This was a very successul event but we did learn a few new lessons this year. The fist lesson was that just because some really skilled pilots make this strip look easy, doesn’t mean it is easy. This is not a beginner strip. Pilots who are inexperienced at landing off airport in a mountain environment MUST get short field, and mountain flying training before attempting to land at this strip. The liability waiver and informational video will be ammended to address this. Other lessons we learned will be addressed before the next fly-in.

Thank you to everyone who showed up and we look forward to seeing you all again next year!

Edit:
Raw video footage is located here: Red Hills raw video footage

Red Hills 3rd Annual Fly-In

On May 19, 2016 By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, TravelLeave a comment

Just a reminder for my airplane friends, the Red Hills 3rd Annual Fly-in is only a little over a week away!

Red Hills 3rd Ann Fly in Brochure

Day Trip to Bodega Bay

On May 16, 2016May 16, 2016 By The Flying DutchmanIn TravelLeave a comment

After the week’s drama of arranging things for our son, my heart stress test, and something I’m dying to talk about but just can’t… yet, Cristy and I decided we needed to hit the road. Even if just for a day. Bodega Bay was the destination of the day.

Normally it’s about a 2.5 hour drive from our home but we had to drop off a CD that Cristy sold to someone near Sacramento, and then we would drive from there out to Bodega Bay. This pretty much turned it into a 4 hour drive but what the hey, we’re together, eating snacks and listening to music on Spotify. Despite the traffic it’s pure bliss.

We ended up pulling into Santa Rosa at about 1pm. We were going to try to make it for lunch in Bodega Bay but Cristy was getting hungry and we both needed a bathroom break. Cristy checked her iPhone and found a place called The Naked Pig. They sell all natural, organic, farm-direct-to-table food. The greens for the salad were picked that morning on their farm, and the pig for the pork sanwiches was slaughtered the night before and smoked all night and morning. You may feel sorry for the pig but he (or she) was delicious!

I had the Naked Pig Sandwich…yep that pig was alive the day before. The freshly smoked pork was DEE-licious!

Cristy got a salad… yep those plants were alive that morning.

I’m not a big salad guy but this salad really was delicious. I’ve never tasted greens that taste so good!

We both got some strawberry-cream sodas made fresh to order.

The wait staff was extremely friendly and courteous. I can tell you we’ll definately be back!

After a few burps and some lingering at the table we hopped back into my trusty mini-van and once again pointed our noses to Bodega Bay. About 45 minutes later we were driving along the coast looking for a beach at which to waste some time before we had dinner. We ended up pulling off at North Salmon Creek Beach. We walked past these very fragrant flowering bushes being guarded by a very laid-back sparrow.

The very short trail leads down some steps to the beach. We spent about an hour walking along the beach and enjoying the sound of the ocean, talking, and watching the surfers.

That’s about what the beaches usually look like on the northern California coast. Bring a sweater. It actually wasn’t that cold this day, it was almost 70 degrees but the sun never came out.

Some beach-goers have constructed windbreaks from driftwood. You’ll find them all up and down the beach. Some of them can be quite large and elaborate.

We headed back up to the van and watched the ocean from the cliff for a while. The small creek you see is where Salmon Creek empties into the Pacific. It was a very peaceful place to take a snooze.

We decided to head back to the town of Bodega Bay and take a look around. Highway 1 is very cramped through here and parking is at a premium. We decided to just head to the touristy Tides Warf and Restaurant. They have a gift shop and a fish market and best of all, a large mostly-empty parking lot. We looked through the touristy gift shop and bought a few more snacks for the ride home at the fish market. We decided to have an early dinner before heading back home. You should couldn’t beat the view.

We started the long drive back home and decided to just follow Highway 12 the whole way so we could miss the traffic on 101 and I-80. This was a good call as it took us through wine country in Santa Rosa and Sonoma. We’re not wine drinkers but if we were, this would be paradise. The scenery was beautiful.

This isn’t my photo, I stole it from Google Maps to give you an idea of what we saw. We have to remember to take more pictures.

We finally arrived home at 10pm. We were kind of worn out from the travel but it was a good worn out. It was a great way to waste a Saturday.

Red Hills Work Party Rescheduled

On May 8, 2016May 8, 2016 By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, TravelLeave a comment

Yesterday a small group of us were supposed to drive up to the Red Hills Strip to help the owner, Jack, remove a tree that is leaning dangerously close to the runway. If you look just left of the airplane in this photo you will see the tree.

The plan was to cut this tree down and one other dead tree on the property also located next to the runway. However, weather did not cooperate. Two of the folks in our work party, who also had the chainsaw, were going to fly in. Since there are no IFR approaches to this runway (unless you count the railroad tracks that run next to it) it was decided that we would postpone the work party. Even if they drove up the rain would make for slick footing which is not optimal for working with chainsaws.

The the bright side of the rain this past weekend is that it ought to make the Red Hills stay absolutely beautiful for our Memorial Day Fly-In!

Drive Through Gold Country

On April 30, 2016 By The Flying DutchmanIn Travel2 Comments

It’s been a stressful couple of weeks so I decided to take a day trip with my wife up Highway 49 from Mokelumne Hill to Nevada City.

It was a pretty windy day down in the valley so it was refreshing to be up in the foothills where the wind wasn’t as strong.

We decided to stop off at Auburn Airport for a surprisingly delicious lunch. Usually airport food isn’t all that great but the cafe at the airport is really good.

We finally made it up to Nevada City. We spent some time walking the streets and checking out the shops. It’s my job to carry shopping bags. Luckily there were only two and they were very small. Cristy bought some super-duper special herbal tea of some kind and some Cacoco Drinking Chocolate.

Nevada City starts rolling up the sidewalks at about 5 pm so we headed back down to the valley to head back home. Sorry I don’t have many pictures of Nevada City. I have to remember that folks like to see pictures and not just read words. Something I need to work on.