Long Journies

If I could have described in a single word what a vacation meant to me it might have been "over-rated". My brain doesn't disengage from the responsibilities of home well; and, often, the idea of all the hassle of preparing things at work for my absence, changing the oil in the van, packing for the trip and then navigating to some place in a suburb 600 miles from home seems like more trouble than just staying home.

I have to say that doesn't describe the last few trips very well, however, and the last little foray we took after the wedding was an especially needed mini-vacation - which I could not have envisioned or planned. Perhaps it could be likened to that pair of old heavy, if comfortable, boots. Once you put on a set of light running shoes, you wonder how you put up with the old, clunky, stinky things…

Not sure how that fits, but the long journey idea reminds me of the Cessna 180 Skywagon that we saw at Tillamook on Sunday. Apparently, a pair of these (including the one pictured) were the first "Light Aircraft" on the North Pole.

I would not choose to make that journey myself. After all, it's just cold up there; but some hearty souls in search of adventure found themselves a little piece of history.
This 180 is no hangar queen... ...but it is a beautiful little plane nonetheless. The picture is heavily massaged, and my wife sort of cringed to see what I was doing to it. I figure, much like matching socks, what I don't know won't embarrass me – until I know better. Here's to Navy Blue on the left foot and Black on the right!

Somewhere along the way I heard someone say something about their dream car - maybe it was one of the questions that my wife recommended for the bridal shower... ...you know, to give the bride a little twenty questions about the groom? I think it was something about his ultimate vehicle... ...I immediately thought out loud "My ultimate vehicle would be a Skywagon..."

This Skywagon is a 180. Skywagons also come as 185's and may be equipped with skiis (such as seen here), floats or wheels of course. Many owners are upgrading theirs with larger engines, wing tip extensions, tips tanks and large, 3-bladed props for improved performance and, well, more adventure... …Sadly, due to litigation and economy Cessna stopped making these airplanes in 1981. Still, they are one of the most popular bush airplanes flying.

The banner on my blog is actually a 185 on a set of our floats... ...one of my favorite tag lines that we put into some of our mailers at one point was "Take Yourself Off The Map..." (We meant it in the nicest possible way!) I imagined that were it possible, one would find some impossibly private corner of the world and disappear for a while...

Hmmm... One of these on a long journey would go a lot farther than our aging van, huh?