We arrived at Craig Air Field shortly after 1:00 p.m. After conducting a preflight inspection, which I found extremely interesting to watch,( I had a hundred and one questions but knew to contain myself) we boarded a Cessna 172...117 (I think...may need a correction to that) and prepped for take off !
(( this picture was stolen without permission from it's owner :-) ))
I had been looking forward to this moment all week. I prayed daily that we would have good weather and mother nature sure delivered! I also prayed that I didn't get queasy up there...this would NOT have been fun for either one of us. Just to be on the safe side, I skipped dinner the night before and had 2 Dramamine for breakfast.
It had been quite some time since I had been in a small plane...probably 12, maybe 13 years. It wasn't the flying that I was concerned with but rather the possibility that motion sickness might kick in at anytime. Just to be safe, I packed a baggie...O.K...I packed 2 in hopes that they would never be used. If I didn't need them, he would never know I had them and If I did need them...he would be thankful I had them. It was a win win situation :-) Fortunately, I never needed them.
I was fine and dandy during my passenger briefing until I heard the words..."In case we have an emergency..." STOP!! HOLD ON!!!...REWIND....!!! WHAT???? EMERGENCY??? He showed me a checklist and explained that in the event of an emergency he was depending on me to read from this little bitty card that was a total blur at the moment. I could barely see it now...what the hell was it going to look like should I need it for real?? For a brief moment, I felt like I was radiating from within. I tried not to let this come through my facial expression but I do believe I failed miserably. Seeing as an in-flight emergency could be a possibility, I paid close attention and squeezed in another prayer :-) The truth be told, on any given day I would trust him with my life...and today wasn't any different. I decided not to let the thought of an actual emergency tarnish the trip.
We taxied down the runway as I checked the latch on my door about 5 times to be sure it was fully engaged !! All of a sudden it felt like we caught a cloud and it lifted us up...up...up...
I am always nervous during take off but for some reason today, I wasn't. I was calm, settled and awaiting the view at 3500 ft. I was not disappointed. We flew out over the coast and headed towards St. Augustine. It was simply beautiful. We then headed towards downtown. The long, boring roads that you travel everyday are so much more interesting from up above. They curve and loop and have such character as they seem to dance through the city.
After a great flight, we landed safely back at Craig Airport and went about our day.
So instead, maybe I should say that it's great to have a very special friend that has access to high places and was so generous and willing to share this fantastic experience with me.
What a great day !!
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