The First Weekender!

After the successful flight Friday night, we decided to get a little more adventurous and take the plane for our first overnight trip with Good Dog (the plane)! So after Husband got a little solo time in on Saturday (now that he's out from under his big proposal-- or his rock, as he calls it-- he's trying to get ready for his checkride!), we loaded up and got underway... sort of! You wouldn't believe how long it takes to throw a some golf clubs, a duffel bag, and a dog into the plane. I never could manage to get the harness on the dog and through the seatbelt... so we finally just went without the harness. Flyer's usually pretty good on his own in the plane.

So after getting everyone settled in, and checking the weather, we were off! It's amazing how much cooler it is at altitude (thank goodness!). We decided to get flight following on the way up-- even though it was so clear that we had no trouble seeing everything around us. Our only hiccops were that I forgot to mark the chart that we were using with the route (I had done a flight plan using the AOPA flight planner so that we'd know time enroute, course headings, etc.), and I forgot to go over our route, instructions, etc. with Husband before we departed. Once we got that straightened out, it was a very enjoyable flight! In fact, it was so clear, we could see the Newcastle (ILG) airport from at least 20 nm out. Husband didn't believe it was the airport at first, so we used our pilotage skills to confirm. Tower cleared us to a left downwind for 32. After a little confusion over which runway was the correct one, and some s-turns while we figured it out, we settled into a left downwind and then were cleared to land. Thankfully, the landing was pretty smooth. I had called around prior to departure and had the name of an FBO that would give us a parking spot. What I didn't think of, though, was getting directions to the FBO for our friends who were picking us up! Fortunately, they found us pretty quickly-- and had even watched us land!

We had a great time hanging out with our friends watching the dogs (and their kids) play together. Flyer had the best time getting soaked by the hose and playing in the sprinkler. He even jumped in the hot tub with Husband, R, and the kids.

Sunday morning, after the guys enjoyed a little early morning golf, we headed back to JYO. Each flight, we seem to get more comfortable in the plane together. Flyer was exhausted-- no need for a harness on this flight! Though we forgot to put his mutt muffs on to protect his ears. Oh well, next time!

(Flyer, conked out in the back seat of the plane. He made himself right at home and even shoved our flight bag off the seat so he could stretch across it!)