Camping trip
I went camping on Friday night with some friends. We flew in to Grand Coulee Dam / Electric City, Washington (3W7).
We didn’t get in the air until almost 7:00 p.m. on Friday night, so we didn’t have much daylight left by the time we landed. That’s why I don’t have any pictures from Friday night.
3W7 has a nice little camping area along the waterfront, but some other planes had beaten us to it. A Tripacer, Champ, and one other type, I forget what, were already parked by the lake when we arrived.
We decided to camp on the shore anyway, so we dragged all our gear from the main parking area down to the water. It took about two minutes of vicious mosquitos biting us to realize we hadn’t chosen a very good camping spot.
Since I was the only one smart enough to bring a tent, we trudged back to the picnic area by the main parking ramp and set up camp there. It has a large cement pad and fire pit. After getting a fire going, we cooked supper, then sat around talking until late into the night.
Before long, the conversation inevitably drifted to crazy flying stories. We began recalling memories of larger-than-life instructors from the past, the nasty weather we’d been through, and the landings so rough we thought we’d surely broken something.
It’s times like that night that remind me why being a pilot is so great. The stories are good, but more than that, there’s a common bond pilots share with each other. It’s not just about flying planes. It’s about going through ups and downs together. We’re all working to get ahead, but we all want to help each other along the way, too. We all have something to learn from each other. It’s a family, in a way.
I suppose some of my nostalgic thoughts come from knowing I only have a few weeks left in this flight program that’s given me so many memories. When I look back at my time here, I really appreciate the other pilots who have helped me out in one way or another over the years. I try to pass along the favor whenever I can.
I wonder what stories people will tell about me when I’m done here. Will they talk about what a great stick I was? Haha…probably not. Maybe they’ll tell the new student pilots what a walking encyclopedia of regulatory information I was. Or maybe they’ll say there was this guy who never really did anything dangerous, but somehow managed to break 75% of the college’s rules. Oh well, whatever they say, as long as they say I was a nice guy who cared about being good pilot, that’s all I can hope for.
Here are some pictures from Saturday morning, getting packed up and flying home:
